01-08-04
WAYNE CITY @ WEBBER TOWNSHIP
BY JACK BULLOCK
BLUFORD - With teammate Joey Ullery saddled with some early foul difficulty, Jabe Michel came up with one of his best performances to date to lead his team to victory.

The 6-3 junior scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in leading Webber Township to a 57-51 home court victory over rival Wayne City in a make up game on Thursday night in Bluford.

With classmate Ullery missing several minutes in the second half, Michel clearly put this team on his back.

His seven fourth quarter points, including 4-of-5 late free throws, helped the Trojans move to within one win from the 20-win plateau at 19-5, 8-3 in the Mid-South Conference.

"Jabe really stepped up for us tonight on both ends of the court," said Webber coach Clarence Gross.
"He got us some big rebounds and when Ullery had to sit with foul trouble he picked up the scoring. They (Wayne City) out played us most of the night, but Michel kept us in the game."

In a slow paced game for the most part, Wayne City coach Steve Strickland had things right where he wanted for most of the first three quarters.

But some defensive plays by the Trojans late in the third quarter and in the early part of the final period along with some poor shot selection during that same time frame gave Webber Township the advantage it needed to pull away.

With the Indians clinging to a 33-31 lead after a J.D. Loker made 15-footer from the left side, Webber took advantage by scoring six points on two trips in the last minute of the quarter.

Webber's Brad Porter stepped out and buried a 3-pointer from the right wing on an assist from Michel to give his club back the lead.

A Wayne City missed shot when it looked like the Indians were going to hold the ball for the last shot of the quarter resulted in another 3-point play.

Ullery found teammate Cory Braden underneath the basket and his lay in and subsequent made free throw after being fouled by WC's Nathan Butler pushed the Trojans' lead to 37-33.

"We had a couple of mental break downs tonight at the end of the first half and again at the end of the third quarter," added Coach Strickland, whose team fell to 15-12, 6-6 in the Mid-South. "We wanted to go for just 'lay ups only' in the final minute of both of those situations and we let them have some easy baskets. And you can't do that against a good team like Webber."

Even though Wayne City's Dustin Eckles got loose underneath the basket to cut the lead to 37-35 right before the third quarter horn, Webber had momentum heading into the fourth quarter.
The Trojans, behind a quick basket by Michel and a rebound basket by Ullery, led 41-37 with 6:27 to play.
However Wayne City managed on more tie when J.C. Taylor and Eckles each scored baskets.

Eckles 15-footer from near the free throw line evened the score at 41-all.

Webber took back the lead for good on its next possession when Michel got an assist on a nice pass to Cody Swartz who scored on a back door lay up.

Bryce McKenzie, a 5-9 sophomore reserve for Coach Gross, made perhaps the defensive play of the game when he stole a pass from Nathan Loker and went the length of the court for a score and a 45-41 lead.

Eckles scored two straight baskets for Wayne City to try and keep his team in the game. But Ullery hit his only 3-pointer of the night in between those two Indian scores to keep the Trojans ahead by three at 50-47.

Wayne City missed four straight shots and was forced to foul Webber.

McKenzie, Ullery and Michel combined to make 9-of-10 free throws in the final 2:03 while to seal the Webber Township victory.

"Our kids play hard but we don't have the horses that they have and we can't give them any freebees like be did tonight," added Strickland. "They (Webber) hit their free throws and they deserved to win."

The Trojans connected on 17-of-20 from the charity stripe compared to Wayne City's 7-of-11 on the night.

Webber won the game despite hitting just 19-of-51 from the field. But they did manage to hit on 4-of-12 3-point attempts.

Wayne City shot much better, going 22-of-48.

However the Indians, not known for their 3-point shooting, didn't attempt a 3-point shot on the night.

After Michel's 22, Ullery added 10 (5-of-6 from the line) while Porter and McKenzie pitched in nine and eight respectively.

Nathan Loker topped the Indians with 18 points while Eckles added 13 and J.D. Loker 10.

Webber Township goes for its 20th victory tonight at home against Waltonville and will take on Hamilton County Monday night at the Johnston City Class A Regional.

Wayne City will also be in action Monday night at JC, taking on the host Indians.