12-17-03
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - Coach Steve Strickland knew after the first two weeks of the season that his team needed to make some changes offensively in order to win more ballgames.

Simply put, the Indians needed to work for the kind of shots that they are capable of making.

According to the coach, his kids have worked hard learning a new system, and it is paying dividends this week at home.

Nathan Loker, a 6-0 senior guard, scorched Webber Township for 24-points while teammate Dustin Eckles provided two huge offensive rebound baskets in the Indians 44-32 win in Wednesday night's final game.

With the win, the Tribe is guaranteed a spot in Friday night's championship contest.

More importantly, the Indians are now hitting their shots that they were missing earlier in the season and Coach Strickland attributes the turn around in fortune to better-shot selection and an offensive philosophy change.

"The offense that we were using early in the season was causing us some problems so we spread it out a little more now," said Coach Strickland, who took over the club this season after an 18-year hiatus away from boy's basketball.
"I told some people early in the year that 'I think we can shoot it a little bit' but after those first four games I didn't know if we could."

This coach and their loyal fans found out that they could shoot the ball.

And on this night, so did Webber Township.

The Trojans had their sights set on winning the school's second tournament title of the season this week.

But Wayne City had other ideas as they avenged a 48-32 loss to Webber back on December 5th.

Individually, this night belonged to Loker as his overall play set the tone for the Indians.

He got things going early, scoring eight-points in the opening quarter.

His baseline drive past Webber's Joey Ullery got WC the lead at 4-3 with 4:57 left.

At this point, Webber showed why they are a team that came into the game with a 6-1 record.

Ullery scored on Webber's next possession to give the Trojans back the lead. After a Wayne City miss, Ullery found teammate Brad Porter for a short baseline bank and Webber hit its biggest lead of the night at 7-4.

But then Loker took the game into his own hands.

He scored the games next six points on two 15-foot jumpers coming off of strong picks and another driving lay in.

Eckles hit the first one of his baskets on an offensive rebound and Wayne City led 12-7 at the first horn.

Eckles and J.D. Loker scored the first two baskets of the second quarter; with Eckles ripping down another offensive rebound. His his close range made basket followed by J.D.'s 15-foot jump shot from the left side gave WC a 16-8 advantage just a minute and a half into the second quarter.

Late in the frame, Webber Township went to the 'long ball' to trim the Indians lead as 'back to back' 3-pointers got the Trojans to within four points of lead.

Porter and teammate Cody Swartz each hit from 20-feet to cut the lead to 21-17.

But after Webber got the ball back on an Indian turnover, Wayne City's Nathan Butler stole the ball away from Webber's Bryce McKenzie and sprinted toward the basket.

The Trojans' Jabe Michel fouled Butler on the shot and the 5-10 junior put in both foul shots with :00.3 left to send the Indians to halftime with a 23-17 lead.

"Those were big plays when we got the steals against them." added Coach Strickland, whose team finished with 10 steals. "When we played them before, they (Webber) were the one's 'picking our pockets'."

Webber made its best run of the evening during the middle part of the third quarter.

After Eckles hit a lay in on a 'backdoor cut' to the basket to extend the lead to 25-17, the Trojans scored the next seven points.

On two consecutive trips down the floor Michel scored on a baseline move and Porter canned his second 3-pointer of the game.

After Wayne City worked the ball for over a minute on its next possession, the Indians came up empty after a J.D. Loker miss.

Ullery then found Swartz open underneath the basket and his shot cut the lead to 25-24 with 2:39 remaining.

But at this point the Indians turned to Nathan Loker once again and he responded with a four-point run to finish off the quarter.

After working the ball for a good shot again the Indians got the ball to Loker, who went down the baseline again only this time on the left side (see photo above) for another score to make it 27-24.

McKenzie missed two free throws for Webber and Loker drilled home a 17-footer from near the top of the circle for a five-point margin at the end of three quarters.

"We have talked about our shots having to be in the 15, 16 and 17-foot shot, that is our 3-point shot." said Strickland. "We probably haven't shot more than 25 3-pointers all year."

It didn't take the Tribe long to finish off the 'scalping' of their visitors in the final quarter.

Loker again got the scoring started, going the length of the floor for a lay up just seconds into the fourth.

His 15-footer from the right side of the circle pushed the Indians lead to 33-24.

Michel scored on a lay up of his own after a steal to keep the Trojans within shouting distance for a brief moment.

But Loker came up big on the defensive end once again late in the game. He made his fourth steal of the night count as he went the distance for a score to give Wayne City its biggest lead at 41-28.

McKenzie and Ullery each hit shots in the final moments to cut the lead back to single-digits.

But Loker scored his final points of the night by splitting a pair of Webber defenders for yet another lay in with :46.7 left.

Butler ended the scoring for Wayne City with a single free throw, the first of two attempts, at :26.5.

Fittingly Loker made his final move of the night, stealing another pass before holding the ball near mid-court as the clock ran out on the Indians win and the Trojans shot at winning the tournament.

"The kids are responding and that is what we want," finalized Coach Strickland as his team improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in Pool B of the tournament. "In Wayne City this (the Conrad Allen Tourney) is a big time deal to win some ball games."

By beating both Webber and Sesser-Valier the Indians, even with a loss to Clay City on Thursday night, would hold all 'tie-breaking' advantages and will play for the tourney title Friday.

Besides Loker's brilliant performance, the Indians got eight points from Eckles and five points each from Butler and J.D. Loker.

Webber (6-2 overall, 1-1 in Pool B) produced no double-digit scorers. Ullery, Michel and Porter all finished with eight points.

Both teams are back in action Thursday night with the hosts taking on Clay City at 5:30; Webber and Sesser-Valier hook up at 8 pm while the middle contest of the night pits Thompsonville against Cisne at 7 pm.

The winner of the Thompsonville/Cisne game will face Wayne City in Friday night's championship game.

Webber Township (32) - Porter 1 2 0-0 8, Swartz 1 1 1-2 6, Ullery 4 0 0-0 6, Michel 3 0 2-4 8, McKenzie 1 0 0-2 2.
2FG-10, 3FG-3, FT-3-8, PF-11.
Wayne City (44) - N. Loker 12 0 0-0 24, Shreve 0 0 0-2 0, Eckles 4 0 0-0 8, J.D. Loker 1 1 0-0 5, Butler 1 0 3-6 5, Taylor 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-3-8, PF-11.

CRAB ORCHARD 84, GRAYVILLE 47
The Trojans got back on track after losing their previous games in the tourney to toppled Grayville in the second game on Wednesday night.

Raymond Kissing and Lucas Odom struck for 30 and 27 points respectively in the lopsided win for Crab Orchard (8-4 overall, 1-2 in Pool A).

Odom canned six 3-pointers, three in each half while Kissing finished with four 'trifecta's' on the night while scoring 20 of his points in the second half.

Bryce Hill added eight points for the Trojans, who are destined for the fifth place contest on Friday night.

The young Grayville squad (0-11 overall, 0-3 in Pool A) bowed out of the tournament.

The Bison got 16 points from Leland Garner, seven points from Tommy Conner and six each from Travis Rudisill and Greg O'Neal.

Cody Lynn and Cameron Scarlett each added four points.

Grayville (47) - Rudisill 1 1 1-1 6, Cullison 1 0 0-0 2, O'Neal 3 0 0-2 6, Lynn 2 0 0-0 4, Garner 8 0 0-1 16, Thompson 0 0 0-2 0, Conner 3 0 1-2 7, Scarlett 2 0 0-3 4, Linnemenn 1 0 0-0 2, Jenkins 0 0 0-2 0.
2FG-21, 3FG-1, FT-2-13, PF-15.
Crab Orchard (84) - Odom 3 6 3-4 27, Hill 4 0 2-3 8, Boester 1 0 2-3 4, T. Kissing 0 0 2-3 2, R. Kissing 8 4 2-4 30, Nevious 2 0 2-4 6, McRay 1 0 0-0 2, Duty 1 1 0-2 5.
2FG-19, 3FG-11, FT-11-18, PF-17.

SESSER-VALIER 67, CLAY CITY 47
Balanced scoring prevailed on this night for Coach Rick Metcalf's Red Devils.

Tony Martin muscled up for 18 points to lead all scorers in the win over Clay City in Pool B.

Sesser-Valier (6-4 overall, 1-1 in Pool B) got 13 points from Jack Mohret, nine points from Joe Motsinger and eight points from Jordan Mohret.

Clay City (2-6, 0-2 in Pool B) placed two players in double-figures with Jonathan and Tyler Frohling pitching home 16 and 13 points respectively.

Devan Cook and Scott Michels added seven and five on the night.

S-V and Clay City were tied at nine at the first horn, but the Red Devils sprinted away with a 21-11 second quarter advantage.

Clay City (47) - J. Frohling 6 0 4-6 16, T. Frohling 5 1 0-0 13, Michels 2 0 1-2 5, Cook 2 1 0-0 7, Hance 1 0 2-4 4, P. Bangert 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-17, 3FG-2, FT-7-12, PF-23.
Sesser-Valier (67) - Jake Mohret 0 3 4-4 13, Petro 0 1 1-2 4, Motsinger 3 0 3-9 9, Kramer 1 0 2-2 4, Jordan Mohret 4 0 0-1 8, C. Wingo 2 0 3-3 7, Shelton 0 1 1-2 4, Martin 6 0 6-12 18.
2FG-16, 3FG-5, FT-20-35, PF-15.