02-03-04
NCOE @ WEBBER TOWNSHIP
BY JACK BULLOCK
BLUFORD - Tuesday night's game between NCOE and Webber was the first such meeting of the season for the two Mid-South Conference clubs.

And one thing was painstakingly clear from the second quarter on; the Fighting Cardinals couldn't go the distance with the up-tempo Trojans.

Despite hanging with the 13-4 Webber club for the first eight minutes, NCOE could do little to stop the Trojans onslaught.

Behind four double figure scorers, including a game high 18-points from Cody Swartz, coach Clarence Gross' club rolled to a 65-43 win.

Swartz made good on four 3-point shots on the night, pacing Joey Ullery, Jabe Michel and Brad Porter who pitched in 17, 14 and 10 respectively.

Webber is now 5-2 in the Mid-South Conference while NCOE drops to 4-18 overall, and 2-6 in the MSC.

"Cody (Swartz) had a huge game for us tonight," said Gross, whose club got balanced scoring once again from its top two scorers with a bonus of two other point producer. "We have our typical two guys that step up (Ullery and Michel) but then Swartz and Porter both played well. Anytime we get two other guys coming through as well, we will be tough to beat."

NCOE took advantage of some early Webber breakdowns on defense keep the game close in the early going.

Heath Laughard, the Fighting Cardinals' 5-10 senior guard, hit his first two attempts early in the contest.

He scored on a shot in the paint and then on a 3-pointer from the right corner to give NCOE a 5-3 lead with 6:01 to play.

But Swartz and Porter combined for three 'trifectas' in the opening frame. Swartz's second long range bomb from deep in the right corner gave Webber back the lead at 9-8.

The Trojans distanced themselves from NCOE in the next few minutes with an 8-1 scoring push.

Michel tipped in a Swartz miss which was followed a steal and fast break lay in by Porter. Michel scored an easy lay in on a pass from Ullery and Swartz did the same after getting a pass from Porter which made the score 17-10 with 2:38 to go.

NCOE made up five points of the deficit with a 15-foot shot from Andrew Simmons and a 3-pointer from the left corner by Matt Lemons, which cut the Trojan lead down to 17-15 at the first break.
However the chance of pulling the conference upset on the road dissipated quickly in the second period for the Cards as Webber made another huge move to take command.

After a Simmons bank shot in the lane got NCOE within 21-17 with 5:06 until halftime, Webber scored 11 of the next 13 points.

Michel connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to start the run.
Ullery hit on a fast break lay in, which was followed by Swartz doing the same thing. Both of those breaks came on the heels of two NCOE turnovers.

When Ullery found Porter on a back door lob pass for a lay up, the Trojans had a 31-19 advantage.

"I told the guys that we were overplaying the passing lanes early which caused us to give up some easy stuff," added Coach Gross. "So I told them to lay back and play solid. Stay in position and let them make mistakes, which they did."

The half ended at 33-23 when Webber's Cory Braden stepped off the bench and hit a shot in the lane. NCOE's Chad Garrett followed that shot with a lay in just before the horn.

The Trojans removed all doubt with a 10-0 run to open the third quarter. Ullery scored six straight points in this spurt. When Swartz hit his fourth 3-pointer late in the quarter, the score reached 49-32.

Webber scored 11-straight points open the final quarter to close the book on its fifth MSC win.
NCOE got 10-points from Travis Mitchell to go with eight points each from Heath Laughard and Simmons.

NCOE (43) - H. Laughard 1 2 0-0 8, Moore 1 0 0-0 2, Daugherty 0 0 1-2 1, Mitchell 2 0 6-6 10, M. Laughard 1 0 2-2 4, Lemons 0 1 0-0 3, Schreifels 1 0 2-2 4, Simmons 4 0 0-0 8.
2FG-10, 3FG-4, FT-11-14, PF-14.
Webber Township (65) - Porter 2 1 3-4 10, Swartz 3 4 0-0 18, Ullery 8 0 1-1 17, Michel 5 1 1-2 14, Withrow 1 0 0-0 2, Braden 1 0 2-5 4.
2FG-20, 3FG-6, FT-7-12, PF-15.