12-21-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
BREESE – Total domination.

From the opening tap to the final horn – the Wesclin Warriors had no chance on Tuesday night in their match up at Breese Central.

Wesclin – considered by many to be the main threat to unseat the two time defending Cahokia Conference Mississippi Division champs in 2010-11 – put up little resistance to the Cougars on this night.

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

Central jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never looked in the rear view mirror on the way to a convincing 49-23 romp.

Rolling to a 20-4 first quarter lead – Coach Stan Eagleson's Cougars cruised to its seventh win of the season and improved to 3-0 in the Mississippi Division.

“We said it had to start with our defense and I thought defensively – especially in the first half – we were good,” said Breese Central head coach Stan Eagleson. “I thought our ball pressure was very good. Our offense was there at time but it wasn't there at times. I don't know what our shooting percentage was but we still won the game easily which tells me our defense must have been pretty good.”

As for the Warriors – a team that returned all five starters from a season ago – they shot just 18 percent from the field and left the court with a lot of question marks heading into the Vandalia Holiday Tournament next week.

“I told my guys you can't give any team a 16-point lead and if you give a team like them (Central) a 16-point lead you're in trouble,” said Wesclin head coach Chris VanderBunt. “We came out flat and I will take a little bit of credit for that as a coach. I didn't get them ready to play tonight and Central kick our butts for four quarters.”

Central celebrated the return of starter Brandon Book – out since a football injury sidelined him for the first six games – with a defensive effort that also forced 15 turnovers. Along the way – Central crushed Wesclin on the glass by out-rebounding the Warriors 37-20.

“The kids were excited to get Brandon (Book) back tonight – he hasn't played all year and he is going to be a big help for us,” Eagleson explained. “I know he didn't shoot that well tonight but as the game wore on he was less tentative and moved to get the ball and defensively he was in better position.”

Central allowed Wesclin just one offensive rebound in the contest while grabbing nine second chances of their own.

Book was the only player on either side to finish with double-digits as he led all scorers with 10-points.

But it was the defensive end of the floor that spun this yarn.

Wesclin managed to hit just 2-of-17 shots in the first two quarters and limped into halftime trailing 30-11.

Within a few seconds of the opening quarter – Wesclin knew it was going to be a long evening as Central jumped out to a quick early lead.

Jacob Timmerman – a 5-foot-11 freshman – scored the first two baskets for the Cougars on a baseline drive and a shot from the right wing.

Teammate Nick Grapperhaus made a steal and scored on a fast break lay in while being fouled by Wesclin's Chad Klein.

The three-point play made it 7-0 Central.

Book hit his first shot of the season – a 3-pointer from the left wing – to get Central up to a double-digit lead.

The next sequence for Central summed up the Wesclin problems on the night.

Six-foot-three senior forward Blake Norrenberns was fouled by Klein and went to the line for a pair of free throws. After making his first shot his second attempt missed.

However Wesclin failed to block out the shooter and Norrenberns swooped in for a rebound and score to make it 13-0 Central which forced a Wesclin timeout at the 4:57 mark.

“We had a lot of hustle rebounds tonight. Brandon Rakers and Blake Norrenberns were very active going to get the ball tonight. They both played with a lot of intensity.” added Coach Eagleson. “We've got a deep bench and the kids come in and keep the pressure on. I thought watching them on film we had more foot-speed than they (Wesclin) did and I thought that they would have a hard time matching up with us man to man”

Wesclin finally hit paydirt with a basket by Alex Wilken but Central responded with a 7-0 run.

Brandon Rakers, Alex Timmermann and Justin Becker all had points in the jaunt that made it 20-2.

Two free throws by Wilken closed the quarter at 20-4.

As if things couldn't get any worse for the Warriors – Wesclin started putting the Cougars on the foul line in the second quarter.

Central hit 4-of-7 free throws in the frame and got three scores from Grapperhaus and reserve Kyler Scheer.

Grapperhaus started the second quarter with a fast break lay in and closed the half by taking a nice assist from Book for a inside score to make it a 19-point spread at intermission.

Wesclin committed 10 of its turnovers in the first 16-minutes.

Norrenberns and Grapperhaus both scored on offensive rebounds in the third quarter and Book got a hook shot to fall with 1:21 left.

A fast break score by Rakers on an outlet pass from Keaton Scheer pushed the advantage to 42-13.

Wesclin managed to get over the 20-point mark with a couple of fourth quarter scores – a 3-pointer from the right wing by freshman Bradley Kunz and a Chris Isenhower basket.

Central didn't exactly set the world on fire offensively but the defensive end more than made up for the 19-of-47 shooting overall.

The Cougars win could have been a wider margin had they been more efficient from the foul line as they hit just 9-of-18.

However it was the defensive effort that put a stamp on this postcard to the rest of the division. The topic being that Central is still the team to beat in the Cahokia Conference.

Wesclin stands 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the division.

Both teams head into holiday tournament action next week with Central being one of the favorites at the Mater Dei Holiday Tournament while Wesclin will try to regroup at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament.

“I think at different points tonight we had some kids that worked very hard but I think the biggest problem is that we didn't have five guys working hard at the same time on the court,” added Coach VanderBunt. “But a lot of it had to do with Central. They played pressure man-to-man defense and wore us down. They did a good job and it is what it is.”

Wesclin (23) – West 0 0 0-0 0, Wilken 1 0 2-2 4, C. Klein 1 0 2-4 4, P. Kunz 1 0 1-4 3, Emig 0 1 2-2 5, Isenhower 1 0 0-0 2, M. Klein 1 0 0-0 2, Eversgerd 0 0 0-0 0, C. Klein 0 0 0-0 0, B. Kunz 0 1 0-0 3, Hilmes 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-5, 3FG-2, FT-7-12, PF-15.
Central (49) – Rakers 4 0 0-1 8, J. Timmermann 2 0 0-0 4, Grapperhaus 4 0 1-1 9, A. Timmermann 2 0 0-1 4, Becker 0 0 1-2 1, Thomas 0 0 0-0 0, Norrenberns 2 0 3-4 7, Rickhoff 0 0 0-1 0, Ke. Scheer 0 0 0-2 0, Pelker 0 0 0-0 0, Book 1 2 2-4 10, Ky. Scheer 2 0 2-2 6.
2FG-17, 3FG-2, FT-9-18, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.