12-19-03
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - It has been quite a while since folks in the southeast corner of Franklin County had much to celebrate in the way of boy's basketball success.

But if you hear some of them 'crowing' this week, let them be.

Their team deserves a few accolades.

Thompsonville received a strong game from everyone on the court on Friday night and had just enough left in the tank in the fourth quarter to hold off tourney host Wayne City, nabbing its first ever Conrad Allen Holiday Tourney title with a 50-43 win.

Despite playing without starter Aaron Ruzich, who was home sick with the flu, the rest of the Tigers rallied around Brandon Chaplain.

This 6-4 forward ignited a fourth quarter rally by scoring nine of his team-best 23-points in that pivotal final eight minute stretch that allowed Thompsonville to erase a six-point deficit.

His 23 matched the point total of Wayne City senior guard Nathan Loker.

"Brandon hit some big shots for us tonight and that is the kind of thing that you hope you get from your seniors," said Thompsonville coach John Robinson. "He and (Cody) Murphy made some big plays tonight. Our kids played smart at the end and that helped get us this win."

The Tigers watched as a fired up Wayne City team, that was determined to be patient on offense, got an early lead thanks to the first quarter scoring of Loker.

He scored all ten of the Indians points in the opening stanza, staking his Tribe to a 10-5 lead. In fact, Chaplain scored all of his teams points in that quarter as well.

Thompsonville gradually made its way back into the game in the second quarter, led by Miles Vaughn who got into the scoring act.

His 3-pointer from the left wing got the Tigers within 16-12 with 5:20 left before halftime.

After Wayne City's Dustin Eckles scored a short lay in from an in bound pass that made the score 18-13, Murphy and Chaplain combined to score the game's next seven points.

Murphy hit his first basket of the night on a drive in the lane.

Then Chaplain followed that score with a baseline move that banked in while being fouled by Wayne City's Nathan Butler.

Chaplain's made free throw tied the game at 18-all.

Thompsonville freshman Alex McClerren made a steal of an errant Indian pass and got the ball to Murphy, who was fouled in the paint by Butler. Murphy hit both tosses to give the Tigers back the lead at 20-18.

Eckles hit 1-of-2 free throws with :03.3 left to send his team to intermission trailing by just a point.

"We did what we wanted to do on offense in the first quarter," said Wayne City coach Steve Strickland. "We were patient for most of the night, but in the second quarter we did a few things that we didn't want to do and that allowed them to take the lead back at the half."

McClerren hit his only basket of the game to open the second half, which gave the Tigers a three-point lead.

But like he did in the opening minutes of the contest, Loker took over.

He hit a pair of 'mid-range' jump shots to give the Indians a 23-22 edge.

After Eckles scored again on a leaning shot in the lane, Loker gave the Indians their biggest spread of the night with a 'right-side' baseline drive for a 28-22 lead with 3:41 left in the third.

Late in the quarter, Eckles scored his final bucket of the night on a fast break after a steal to push the lead once again back to six.

But Vaughn dialed long-distance for his second 3-pointer of the night, sending the game to the final quarter at 34-31 Wayne City.

"We came back out and preached patience on offense and we ended up getting back on top again," added Strickland.

It appeared that the Indians were going to be able to win the school's 14th Conrad Allen title when they opened the lead up to 37-31 on a 3-pointer from J.D. Loker just :35 into the fourth.

But after Murphy and Loker traded baskets, the Tigers went on a terror in the next 4:24.

Chaplain was the main cog in the scoring machine down the stretch.

He made a pair of free throws on the first trip and then he quickly followed that up with a 3-pointer from the top of the circle that bounced off of the front of the rim and nestled down into the basket to make it 39-38 Indians.

Wayne City proceeded to run some of the time off of the clock by spreading the floor on its next possession.

But a defensive stand by Thompsonville produced a 'held ball' with the possession arrow favoring the Tigers.

It took Thompsonville and Chaplain only :17 to get the lead back for good as he hit on a nice turn around jump shot from 10-feet making it 40-39 with 3:11 left.

The Indians couldn't score on their next possession and then they saw Jennings score his only basket in the second half driving down the left baseline.

Free throw shooting, which has been the Thompsonville 'Achilles Heel' so far this season, was not a problem in the final minutes for Coach Robinson's team.

A succession of Wayne City miscues and missed shots allowed Vaughn, Murphy and Chaplain to hit 7-of-10 free throws in the last 1:43 of the contest to finish off the Indians.

"Thompsonville has five or six kids that are just tremendous athletes," finalized Strickland, whose team is now 7-4 on the season. "Our kids played with a lot of heart and gave it everything they had and I am proud of them. Thompsonville is a 'heck of a ball club."

The Tigers managed to hit 18-of-26 free throws on the night with Chaplain hitting 7-of-9.

Murphy was the second best scorer for Thompsonville with 10 points, while Vaughn added nine.

Other than Loker's 23, no other Wayne City player hit for double-figures. Eckles did all of his damage in the middle two quarters and ended up with nine points.

"This is a big win for this team and this program," explained Thompsonville coach John Robinson after his team improved its record to a sparkling 11-1 on the season. "Two years ago this team lost 24-games and last season we won 14. We are going to take it easy for a few days, our kids are tired and one is home sick so we need this Christmas break."

Before this tournament started, defending champion Sesser-Valier, Grayville Tourney winner Cisne and Christopher Tourney champ Webber Township were getting most of the talk when it came to winning this event.

Even after winning the Crab Orchard Thanksgiving Tourney three weeks ago, the Tigers were still lightly regarded coming into the 50th Annual Conrad Allen Holiday Tourney.

But when the dust settled late Friday night, it was the Tigers who got to take down the nets and take home the title after winning four consecutive times this week.

Thompsonville (50) - Vaughn 0 2 3-7 9, Murphy 2 0 6-6 10, Chaplain 5 2 7-9 23, McFarland 0 0 0-2 0, Jennings 2 0 2-2 6, McClerren 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-18-26, PF-16.
Wayne City (43) - N. Loker 9 0 5-7 23, Hutchcraft 1 0 0-0 2, Eckles 3 0 3-5 9, Butler 2 0 2-3 6, J.C. Taylor 0 1 0-0 3. 2FG-15, 3FG-1, FT-10-15, PF-20.
Fouled Out - Thompsonville (Jennings).

CISNE 37, SESSER-VALIER 34
In a battle between last season's Conrad Allen finalist the Lions, behind the late game heroics of Drew Glover, topped Sesser-Valier in the third place game.

Glover finished the night with 14 points to lead all scorers. But more importantly, he scored Cisne's final four points on a drive to the basket and a pair of free throws with just :04.7 left to finish off the Red Devils.

Lance Endsley finished with seven points for the 8-2 Lions.

Sesser-Valier, now 7-5 overall, got seven points each from Jordan Mohret and Tony Martin.

"I wanted the ball in that situation," explained Glover, who is Cisne's top scorer this season. "There was no set play, just me taking it to the hole. I was for sure going to make that last one."

Sesser-Valier (34) - Jake Mohret 1 1 0-0 5, Motsinger 2 0 0-3 4, Kramer 2 0 0-1 4, Jordan Mohret 2 1 0-1 7, C. Wingo 1 0 0-0 2, Shelton 1 1 0-1 5, Martin 2 0 3-4 7.
2FG-11, 3FG-3, FT-3-10, PF-13.
Cisne (37) - Glover 2 2 4-4 14, Endsley 3 0 1-2 7, Smith 0 2 0-0 6, Tannahill 3 0 0-0 6, Simpson 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-5-6, PF-14.

WEBBER TOWNSHIP 59, CRAB ORCHARD 47
Joey Ullery and Jabe Michel scored 18 and 15 points respectively in Webber Township's 59-47 win.

Coach Clarence Gross' squad improved to 7-3 overall by winning the fifth place contest.

Michel hit all seven of his first throws while as a team the Trojans finished 13-of-16 from the stripe.

Brad Porter and Cody Swartz each added eight points.

Lucas Odom and Raymond Kissing each tallied 18-points as Crab Orchard saw its record fall to 8-5, 1-3 in the tournament.

Crab Orchard (47) - Odom 4 3 1-4 18, Hill 0 1 0-0 3, Boester 1 0 0-0 2, T. Kissing 1 0 0-0 2, R. Kissing 5 2 2-3 18, Bean 1 0 0-0 2, McRay 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-13, 3FG-6, FT-3-7, PF-17.
Webber Township (59) - Porter 4 0 0-0 8, Swartz 4 0 0-0 8, Ullery 8 0 2-3 18, Michel 4 0 7-7 15, Withrow 2 0 2-2 6, Mckenzie 1 0 0-0 2, Braden 0 0 2-4 2.
2FG-23, 3FG-0, FT-13-16, PF-12.
Fouled Out - Crab Orchard (T. Kissing)

The Conrad Allen Holiday Tournament All-Tournament team consisted of 12-players. Cody Murphy, Brandon Chaplain and Miles Vaughn of Thompsonville; Nathan Loker and Dustin Eckles of Wayne City; Drew Glover and Lance Endsley of Cisne; Jake Mohret of Sesser-Valier; Jabe Michel and Joey Ullery of Webber Township; Lucas Odom of Crab Orchard; and Jonathan Frohning of Clay City.