Verhines and Wiggs combined to score 11 of the Cardinals 19 fourth quarter points as Woodlawn held on for a 62-53 win in the championship contest of the Okawville Post-Thanksgiving Tournament.

Verhines led all scorers with 24-points to go with Wiggs' 19.

As a team the Cardinals shot well all over the floor but the free throw line is where they shined the brightest.

Woodlawn (4-0) connected on 21-of-26 from the stripe (81 percent) for the contest - which included 13-of-15 in that final stanza.

“Those seniors (Wiggs and Verhines) have been through every battle you can be in and they made some tough plays and made their shots,” said Okawville head coach Jon Kraus when talking about Woodlawn. “I think that we (Okawville) will get there at some point in the season. We have a pretty young group. Even though we have some varsity experience the kids are still learning some things.”

Okawville saw its record slip to 3-1 on the season even though a pair of young players scored 19-points each.

Junior guard Taylor Walton and sophomore guard Jeremy Weeke combined for those 38-points and nearly helped the Rockets rally for the win.

Trailing by 15-points early in the fourth quarter – Okawville charged back into contention by forcing Woodlawn into turnovers (four) in the final moments.

Okawville got to within five points with under a minute remaining but couldn't keep Woodlawn from putting the contest to rest from the foul line.Three-point baskets by Jacob Brammeier (2) and Ryan Burrough fueled a run that cut Woodlawn's lead to just 58-53 with :32 seconds left.

However Verhines picked up a key rebound and fed A.J. Webb for a fast break lay up and Christian Hollenkamp nailed two more free throws to ice the game and the tournament title for Woodlawn who won all four of their contests at the invitational this week to open the season.

“We shot the ball well from the free throw line but we had three bad turnovers there in the fourth quarter and you have to give them credit. They didn't give up. They went all out and gambled for steals and were able to make a good run,” said Woodlawn head coach Shane Witzel added. But we were able to withstand that and that is part of it. It is something that we will get better at when we are in those situations more and more.”

Woodlawn began the game strong and led the entire contest – breaking the games' only tie at 2-all with a quick 7-0 burst with Verhines nailing his first of two 3-point baskets and a pair of “in the paint” buckets from Wiggs.

“We need to play in these kind of games and that is why we start the year with sort of atmosphere. We want to do this as much as we can,” said Woodlawn head coach Shane Witzel. “We have two players (Verhines, Wiggs) who have been through this before but the other ones haven't. Both of those guys are special players and we are going to rely on them a lot. He (Verhines) does all the little things that make us successful. He is a good leader and the young kids look up to him. He plays well on both ends of the court and he does a little bit of everything.”

Senior guard Jeremy Aparicio scored the final four points of the first frame for Woodlawn – which included a buzzer-beating rebound basket that “rainbow-ed” in from the left wing.

Aparicio grabbed a Verhines miss in the final moments and his turn-around shot found the bottom of the net for a 15-8 lead.

Another run (8-0) for Woodlawn gave the Cards their first double-digit spread of the night.

Verhines had a hand on all eight of the points.

He picked up a pair of assists by getting the ball to both Wiggs and sophomore Logan Isaac for scores. He also scored a couple of times in the lane.

His rebound bucket made it 23-11 with 4:10 left before intermission.

Walton netted seven of his points in the second quarter to help keep Coach Jon Kraus' club in contention. He hit on a pair of shots on drives to the basket and his 15-footer from the left elbow cut the Rockets' deficit to 25-18.

But Verhines scored two more times on an assist from Wiggs and on a drive down the right baseline where his bank shot beat the horn for a 29-19 lead at the break.

“I really like the way we competed in the second half. I didn't think in the first half we competed on both ends of the floor,” added Coach Kraus. “These are great games (early in the season) playing good teams in a good environment. This was a regional-type atmosphere and that is where you learn things about your team. Now we have time to work on certain things that we need to improve on. I thought both teams played really hard and it was a good game.”

The Cardinals were on the brink of blowing away the hosts with a strong third quarter that included more damage from the charity stripe and 3-point bombs from Webb and Verhines.

Verhines trifecta with 2:42 remaining completed an 11-4 run for a 41-27 lead.

Another drive to the basket by Verhines and two more free throws by Wiggs seemed to put the Rockets away early in the final quarter at 47-32.

Nevertheless Okawville – the defending tournament champs from a season past – weren't about to go down with a fight.

Okawville's rally fell just short because a few key possessions where the Rockets came up empty after forcing Woodlawn into mistakes.

“There were some times tonight – even in the third quarter – where we were down seven or eight points and we had a couple of possessions where we missed a lay up and they (Woodlawn) would go down and score,” Coach Kraus explained. “Those are four-point swings. We missed some key free throws and even in the third quarter those are big plays. You hope as the year goes on you can make those plays.”

Coach Kraus' club missed seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and didn't get enough second chances (two offensive boards) to complete the comeback.

Woodlawn won the game on the stat sheet as well – drilling home half of its shots on the night (19-of-38 overall, 3-of-6 from the 3-point arc) while holding a substantial 31-21 rebounding edge.

Along with his 24-points – Verhines grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists.

Wiggs snagged six rebounds to go with his 19-markers.

Hollenkamp and Webb were next on the scoring list with six and five points.

“I'm confident that those young guys as the year goes by will get better and do their part,” finalized Coach Witzel. “They will be ready to step in and make some shots and do all those things that we need to do to be successful.'

Okawville's Brammeier and Burrough netted six points apiece as the young Rockets committed only five turnovers in the game but were just 17-of-46 from the floor and 4-of-19 from behind the arc.

Woodlawn will head back into action next week with a game Tuesday night at rival Waltonville and then will host 3A powerhouse Breese Mater Dei on December 10.

Okawville will hit the road with tough games at New Athens and at Trico on those same nights.