WEBBER TOWNSHIP @ WOODLAWN
12-10-02
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - Coach Clarence Gross thought that his Webber Township kids were prepared to 'hang tough' with Mid-South Conference favorite Woodlawn on the road on Tuesday night.

And for 24 of the 32 minutes in the contest, he was right.

However a six-minute 'snooze' in the second period and a two-minute 'nap' in the fourth quarter allowed Woodlawn to take command.

In a game marred by sloppy play by both teams, the Cardinals had just enough good play to improve to 3-1 on the season with a 62-49 Mid-South victory at home.

The Trojans record fell to 3-3 with a loss in their conference opener.

Woodlawn got its scoring act going early as a baseline lay in by Derek Burns, two free throws by Doug Junkins and pair of buckets by Luke Rollie (a 10-foot bank and a 3-pointer from the top of the key) pushed the Cardinals on top 12-7 with 3:40 left in the first quarter.

However Webber responded with its best flurry of the evening and grabbed the lead at the end of the stanza.

Senior point guard Brad Bane got the Trojans rolling with a 15-footer from the left side of the lane.

Teammate Joe Ullery hit Brad Porter with a nice pass on a break and he scored while being fouled.

He missed the charity toss, but Ullery got the rebound for Webber and 'stuck it' back in to put the Trojans up 13-12.

After a Woodlawn timeout, Webber continued its scoring outburst.

A steal by Porter and a nifty cross-court pass to Bane for a lay up to make it 15-12.

The next two trips down the court resulted in nothing for the Cardinals.

But when the ball came back across the court, Webber capitalized with points.

Porter got a pass in the left corner and found himself wide open behind the arc.

He hesitated for a moment and then launched a 'why not shoot it' trifecta that found the bottom of the net that gave the Trojans a five-point cushion with 1:10 left.

Bane scored again on a break opportunity, this time the 6-0 senior threw up an underhand 'circus' shot that went in to make it a 19-12 Webber lead.

After a Junkins basket cut the lead back to five, Jabe Michael took a pass from Bane and his lay in ended the first quarter in fine fashion for the Trojans at 21-14.

At this point, Webber Township had its crowd fired up and the kids were thinking upset at this point.

But what happened to this team in the next few minutes was something that had coach Gross scratching his head after the game.

" We were ready to play tonight, but I don't know how to explain that second quarter?" said Gross, who is in his first year as head coach at Webber. "And then we had chances in the fourth quarter, too. But we didn't get it done."

Although Woodlawn hardly set the house on fire with its play in the second quarter, they managed to outscore Webber 8-0 in the first 6:24 to take the lead 22-21.

Burns opened the scoring for the Cardinals with a nice drive in the lane.

Then two baskets by Luke Rollie, one on a jumper from the right elbow and another on a left-handed lay in, cut the Webber lead to 21-20.

A Junkins hoop put the Cards back on top but Webber responded with Bane hitting from in the lane to get the Trojans back on top.

Porter again scored for Webber as he bounced home a baseline shot with :29.1 left.

Woodlawn's Rollie ended the second quarter scoring with a two-point shot from the left corner and the brutally awful half ended at 25-24 Webber.

"We had a stretch there when we missed eight or nine shots where we had wide open looks." said Woodlawn head coach Shane Witzel. "We were stagnant out there tonight in the first half."

The Cardinals turned up the heat a bit in the first part of the third quarter to get the lead back.

After a basket by Michel gave Webber a 27-24 lead, Junkins nailed two consecutive 3-pointers for a 30-27 Woodlawn advantage. Webber bounced right back with baskets by Michael and Ullery to go back in front 31-30.

Webber' Steven Ward scored on a breakaway on a pass from Porter late in the quarter to put Webber on top 39-36.

However Woodlawn got a 3-point play from Nick Knapp, after he was fouled by Porter, and Junkins canned a short jumper in the lane with :06.4 left in the quarter to push Woodlawn back on top 41-39.

The Trojans got back in front of the Cardinals early in the fourth with a free throw by Ward and a bucket by Bane, who went 'coast-to-coast' after a steal to make it 42-41.

But then the Trojans went into their second 'slumber' of the night, giving Woodlawn an opportunity to go on a scoring streak to put the game away.

Junkins hit a soft bank shot in the lane that started an 11-0 run by the Cardinals. After a Webber turnover, Knapp scored on a short drive in the lane.

On its next trip, Woodlawn's sophomore Mike Pool found himself open for a 3-point attempt.

His shot went in with 3:15 left to make it 48-42 which forced a Webber timeout.

After yet another trip down the court that came up empty, Webber saw the Cardinals' Rollie score again on a shot in the lane.

Webber again missed a shot on the other end and, at this point, Woodlawn decided to run some clock.

Fifty-one seconds later, Porter fouled Pool. The sophomore calmly put in both free throws and Woodlawn had a 52-42 lead with just 1:45 remaining.

Forced to foul the rest of the way, Webber paraded Woodlawn to the foul line and made 10-of-13 charities to end the game.

"There are things we need to learn from this game and work on for the future. I am proud of the way these kids worked hard.

But we need to be ready to play for four quarters each night." added Gross.

Junkins led Woodlawn with a game high 21. Rollie added 13 and Burns 10 for the Cardinals.

Webber Township was led by Bane, who posted 19 points (including 10 in the first quarter) and Porter added 11.

"Derek (Burns) did a great job on Bane, especially in the second half." added Witzel.

Woodlawn plays host to Breese Mater Dei on Friday while Webber looks forward to playing at next week's Wayne City Holiday Tournament.