12-26-02
WOODLAWN VS. Z-ROYALTON
@ SESSER-VALIER HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - When the Woodlawn Cardinals found out that they were seeded #9 at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament; they got the feeling that they were not getting the respect that they deserved.

But in the case of their first round victory over #8 Zeigler-Royalton Thursday afternoon, the Cardinals earned something far more important than that.

They earned a trip into the quarterfinal round with a 62-43 win over the Tornadoes.

"We talked this past week about getting to the winners side of the bracket." said Woodlawn coach Shane Witzel. "We felt all along that we were one of the top eight teams here. I guess we proved that today."

The Cardinals (6-2) struggled early against Z-R, but then came out fired up in the second half.

The Tornadoes got early baskets by Rickey Menckowski, Kyle King and Tristin Tripp to bolt out to an 18-14 edge at the end of the first quarter.

These three put in 15 of those points and they looked like they were taking command of the game.

However the Woodlawn defense put the clamps on this trio the rest of the game, holding them to just 13 points in the last 24 minutes and zero points in the second frame.

"We have yet to put together a game this season where we can sustain anything good for four full quarters." said Z-R coach Quent Hamilton. "After the first quarter, nothing good really happened for us."

In the meantime the Woodlawn offense got cooking, especially in the third quarter.

After trailing early in the second half 27-25, the Cards went on a quick 8-0 run to take command, capped off by a Doug Junkins lay in on a fast-break to make it 33-27 Woodlawn with 4:46 left.

Late in the third quarter Junkins stuck a 3-pointer in the basket, and in the heart of the Z-R hopes, as his shot with :04.9 left made it 40-31 Woodlawn.

Four quick points to start the fourth increased the lead.

A put back bucket by Thomas Knox and a Derek Burns lay up after a steal by Mike Pool, forced another Z-R timeout with 7:22 to play.

The Tornadoes did make a final run with Tripp scoring twice in the lane to cut the lead to 51-41.

On the next possession, Woodlawn's Jeremy Clinton got a pass from Burns to score inside to make it 53-41.

After a turnover by Z-R, the Tornadoes were forced to foul.

With fouls to give it took three fouls to get the Cardinals to the line.

But the Cardinals hit 7-of-8 charities to put the game away and send themselves into an evening clash tomorrow against top-seeded Century, who toppled Elverado 99-48.

Junkins and Pool led the Cardinal attack with 21-apiece.

Clinton came off the bench to add six while Luke Rolle and Nick Knapp add four each.

Branden Moyers, who was a bright spot for Zeigler-Royalton (4-4) as he scored 11 point. Tripp and King finished with 10 points while Menckowski dropped in eight points.

The Tornadoes will face Black Diamond Conference cohort Elverado tomorrow afternoon in the consolation quarterfinals.

CENTURY 99, ELVERADO 48
The Josh Tabb/Ray Nelson combo for Century (9-0) outscored the Falcons 50-48 Thursday afternoon.

The Centurions got 12 points apiece from Collin Crain and Matt Miller to cruise into the quarterfinals.

Elverado (2-8) was lead by Zach McClanahan who notched 20 points. Coach Andy Palmer's club led 82-35 after three quarters.

CHRISTOPHER 52, COBDEN 38
In the opener of the tournament, the Bearcats advanced with a win over the Appleknockers.

Christopher got 13 points from Joe Kretz and eight points from Ryan Marchetti in the victory.

Guy Draper put in a game-high 18 points for Cobden.

Christopher outscored Cobden 33-14 in the middle two quarters to post the win.

TRICO 51, SHAWNEE 47
The Pioneers nearly blew a 14-point lead but managed to hang on for the opening round win.

Despite being outscored 22-10 in the fourth quarter, Trico moves into the quarterfinals behind Joel Eggers' 18 points.

Doug Taylor paced the Redskins with 16 points while Matt Ashworth chipped in 10, including 2 3-pointers during the fourth quarter surge that nearly produced a big upset.

VIENNA 56, WALTONVILLE 46
Brandon Bundren scored 20 points to help push the Eagles past Waltonville in the opening round.

Trailing after three quarters 32-30, Vienna lit up the Spartans 26-10 in the fourth. Tommy Waters and Trey Thompson added nine each to the Vienna cause.

Waltonville got 17 from Derek Lamke and nine points from Justin Williams.

CARTERVILLE 76, GALATIA 58
The second-seeded Lions (9-3) raced to a 61-38 advantage at the end of three quarters to advance past the Bearcats.

Coach Scott Burzynski got 20 points out of Matt Rowald; 14 points from Justin Barrington and 12 each from Ben Drust and Dan Pearson in the easy win.

Sophomore Derek Sloan with a game-high 24 points led Galatia.

Late Games
GOREVILLE 60, COULTERVILLE 54
SESSER-VALIER 75, JOPPA 32