12-15-03
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - Was there anyone in attendance Monday night at the 50th Annual Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament in Wayne City that was expecting anything but a tight contest between rivals Thompsonville and Crab Orchard?

After all these teams last played just three weeks ago at the Crab Orchard Tournament, with a 79-76 overtime win for the Tigers as the outcome.

Most anticipated more of the same.

But the close game that nearly everyone seemingly expected never materialized.

Thompsonville broke open the game in the second quarter and crushed Crab Orchard 82-33 to open the Conrad Allen Tournament while reaffirming their status as one of the tourney favorites.

Eleven of the twelve Tigers that played dented the scoreboard with Brandon Champlain leading all scorers with 20-points.

Thompsonville, coming off a loss Saturday night at home to Christopher, improved to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in Pool A of this event.

Crab Orchard, who came into the event 7-2, got 10 points from Raymond Kissing.

"We didn't expect this kind of game tonight after how the game went the last time we played," said Thompsonville head coach John Robinson. "We talked about coming out and being more aggressive defensively because Kissing and (Lucas) Odom can 'flat-out' shoot it and I thought our guys did that tonight."

At the beginning, it looked like Crab Orchard was the team that was ready to play.

Kissing scored on his first shot from the right elbow just :18 into the contest.

Crab Orchard followed that basket with a stop on the defensive end and a 3-pointer from Odom for an early 5-0 lead with under a minute gone.

The Tigers got on the board with Aaron Ruzich hitting on a baseline drive to the basket.

But Crab Orchard took its biggest lead of the night when Odom converted a conventional 3-point play with 6:37 left to stake the Trojans to an 8-2 advantage.

The two clubs traded points, a pair of Tyler Jennings made free throws for T-Ville and a Odom basket for CO, before Thompsonville shook loose for its first scoring run of the night.

Champlain scored on an offensive rebound then Cody Murphy hit a short bank shot in the lane.

Champlain's next attempt, a driving bank shot, tied the game at 10-apiece.

The Trojans last stand, so to speak, came at the end of the quarter.

Trailing 14-10, Crab Orchard's Odom rebounded his own missed shot and Bryce Hill scored his only three points of the night on a 20-footer from the left corner for a 15-14 CO advantage.

But Murphy hit on a lay in just before the first quarter buzzer giving the Tigers a 16-15 lead.

At this point Crab Orchard looked like it was ready to hang with Thompsonville until the very end.

However as it turned out the Hill 3-pointer, which ended the Trojans first quarter scoring, would be the last points anyone wearing Orange and Black would put up over the next five minutes of playing time.

The scoring famine can be attributed to the suffocating Thompsonville defense that held Crab Orchard to a Kissing basket and one Odom free throw in the entire second quarter.

After Murphy converted the back end of a two-shot opportunity, Miles Vaughn, the Tigers 5-6 point guard made a diving steal on the right side of the defensive end of the court.

He hopped up and found Ruzich on the fly with a pass that resulted in a lay up and a 19-15 Thompsonville lead.

After a Crab Orchard timeout, Coach Robinson's club scored the games next 12-points.

Eight of those points came from Champlain as the 6-4 senior scored from all over the court.

His hustling rebound of a missed Jennings' lay in attempt pushed the Tigers lead to 25-15 with 5:13 left.

Murphy then found Champlain with a pass underneath the basket for another score.

Champlain returned the favor as Murphy scored seconds later on a fast break and suddenly Thompsonville was in complete command at the 3:27 mark, 31-15.

"We got the lead and kept building on it in the second quarter." added Robinson. "We wanted to contest shots and for some reason 'it' was on for us tonight. I was interested to see how they would handle themselves after a tough loss on Saturday."

Thompsonville finished off the quarter by scoring the final seven points.

Champlain, Murphy and Ruzich all scored baskets and a Miles Vaughn free throw made it 38-18 at intermission.

It went from bad to worse for Crab Orchard in the third quarter as Thompsonville never let up.

The Tigers roared out to 10-2 run to begin the second half.

By the time Ruzich scored in the paint from 10-feet out and reserve Greg McFarland hit the second of a two-shot free throw opportunity, the lead had expanded to 48-20.

Miles and Ruzich each hit 3-pointers in the final three minutes to get the score to 59-25 at the end of three quarters.

Nearly everyone wearing a Thompsonville uniform got in on the scoring parade in the final frame.

Freshman Alex McClerren scored a pair of baskets in the final moments, as did 5-9 sophomore Wade Dial.

Just seconds before the final buzzer, sophomore Derrick Fisher tipped in one of the few Tiger misses to finish off the scoring in the 49-point cakewalk.

"We didn't play very smart the first time we played them (Crab Orchard) at their place," finalized Coach Robinson. "I challenged my kids to come out and play better as a team and they responded."

Murphy followed Champlain's 20-points with 16. Ruzich pitched home 12 while Jennings (9) McFarland (7) and Vaughn (6) all played big roles in the lopsided win.

Other than Kissing's 10-points, Crab Orchard got eight points from Odom and four points apiece from Curtis Boester, Garrett Nevious and Tommy Kissing.

Both teams' head back to the court Tuesday night at the Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament.

Thompsonville plays Grayville at 5:30 pm while Crab Orchard tackles Cisne at 7 pm.

Crab Orchard (33) - R. Kissing 10, Odom 8, Hill 3, Boester 4, Nevious 4, T. Kissing 4.
2 FG-9, 3FG-3, FT-6-12, PF-18.
Thompsonville (82) - Champlain 20, Murphy 16, Ruzich 12, Vaughn 6, Jennings 9, McFarland 7, McClerren 4, Clark 2, Dial 2, Fisher 2.
2FG-32, 3FG-2, FT-12-21, PF-15.

WEBBER TOWNSHIP 59, CLAY CITY 39
Another of the tournament favorites stayed on track on opening night as Webber Township overcame a lackluster first half to pull away from Clay City in the second contest.

Coach Clarence Gross got 21-points out of Joey Ullery (12-of-12 from the free throw line) and 12-points each from Jabe Michel and Kurtis Withrow to improve to 6-1 on the season, and 1-0 in Pool B.

Leading just 23-20 at the half and 39-30 after three quarters, Webber outscored Clay City 19-9 in the final eight minutes.

Clay City (2-5, 0-1 in Pool B) got 12-points from Jonathan Frohning and 11-points from Devan Cook.

Clay City (39) - J. Frohning 12, T. Frohning 4, Michels 4, Bryan 4, Cook 11, Hance 4.
2FG-14, 3FG-3, FT-2-6, PF-14.
Webber Township (59) - Porter 3, Swartz 3, Ullery 21, Michel 12, Withrow 12, McKenzie 7, Trout 1.
2FG-13, 3FG-6, FT-15-20, PF-11.

CISNE 61, GRAYVILLE 20
The Lions topped Grayville for the second time in a tournament this season as Drew Glover and Jake Tannahill score 12-points apiece in the easy win.

Lance Endsley helped out with 11-points while Luke Smith added 10.

Grayville (0-9) was paced by freshman Travis Rudisill with five points while Robert Cullison and Greg O'Neal put in four points each.

Cisne beat the Bison on the way to winning the Grayville Thanksgiving Tournament three weeks ago.

The Lions played without Coach Dennis Arnold, who missed the game due to illness.

Assistant coach Kevin Bowen filled in for Arnold on Monday.

Grayville (20) - Rudisill 5, Cullison 4, O'Neal 4, Lynn 3, Conner 2.
2FG-7, 3FG-1, FT-3-7, PF-5.
Cisne (61) - Glover 12, Endsley 11, Smith 10, Tannahill 12, Simpson 6, Hough 6.
2FG-27, 3FG-0, FT-7-8, PF-12.