12/15/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - Heading into the title clash of the MTC tournament on Saturday the Webber Township Trojans only had two blemishes on their regular season record and both came from one team.

Their opponent on Saturday night.

Top-seeded Waltonville had conquered the Trojans in the semifinals at the Christopher Thanksgiving Tournament and again in a regular season conquest at Waltonville back on January 5th.

But in the title game on Saturday, Webber played one of its best games of the season and avenged the previous two defeats.

Six-two sophomore Nathan Marlow led the way with a game-best 28-points but it was the defensive effort by Coach Jaxon Helm's club that provided the needed difference from the two previous meetings.

Webber forced five crucial fourth quarter turnovers by Coach Anthony Lowery's squad and the Spartans hit just 4-of-12 field goal attempts in the same eight minute span.

This combination helped Webber Township win its first Midland Trail Conference tournament championship with a 58-51 win in front of a capacity crowd at Conrad Allen Gymnasium.

The Trojans rallied by outscoring Waltonville, 20-10 in the final quarter to win its sixth consecutive game at Wayne City, counting a semifinal win over Grayville and four consecutive victories to capture the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament back in December.

Senior Nikkos Ulm also came up big for Coach Helm, hitting for 17-points while senior teammate Dylan French added nine-points.

Both French and Ulm were factors on the defensive end, as the Trojans' defense made things difficult for Waltonville.

Spartans' sophomore Kyle Cooper netted 20-points but French made him earn them all.

Six-four sophomore Gage Peterson ended up with just 14-points before fouling out in the final seconds thanks mostly to Ulm shadowing the Spartans' forward.

Marlow also led the Trojans with nine-rebounds as Webber held a 28-26 edge on the glass.

More importantly they held Waltonville to just four offensive rebounds in a game where both teams shot the ball pretty well.

“Big kids are going to give us problems because our biggest kid is six-two and our point guard so we have to pay a lot of attention to Peterson tonight and not allow him to get post position and try to keep him off of the glass,” said Coach Helm. “Our guys went out and executed our game plan to perfection. I couldn't have asked for much more attention to detail. We wanted to go at him tonight. Ulm tonight in one of our first possessions tonight went right at him and I thought that helped set the tone.”

The Spartans canned 23-of-44 overall, 5-of-8 from the 3-point arc.

On most nights 52.7 percent shooting will win the game but Webber outscored the top-seeded club 11-6 from the foul line.

The Trojans were 22-of-46 overall, 3-of-6 from long range in a tight contest between Jefferson County rivals.

“All the credit goes to Coach Helm and the Trojans tonight. They executed down the stretch better than us. Nathaniel (Marlow) hit tough shot after tough shot to keep them rolling offensively,” said Coach Lowery. “We started up the fourth quarter and we were up four or three and then we had a couple of bad possessions and they (Webber) took advantage of it.”

Marlow (nine) and Ulms (eight) scored all 17 of the Trojans points in the first quarter.

Waltonville senior Makabe Devor finished the game with six-points but four of the points came on a pair of first quarter baskets.

Senior Seth Karnes also scored six-points in the title games on a pair of 3-pointers.

His first made long range bomb came in the first quarter for an early Waltonville advantage and Devor converted a fast break lay in on an assist from Cooper.

Marlow scored on a drive in the lane while being fouled by Peterson for a three-point play.

Ulm closed the frame on a rebound put-back that beat the horn for a 17-13 Webber lead.

Marlow only hit two shots in the second quarter but both were 3-pointers.

The second trifecta from the right corner made it 25-18 Trojans at the 4:27 mark.

Senior Damian Fleener scored four-points for Webber and his made only field goal was a nice drive in the lane in the second quarter.

Ulm scored again on the inside as the Trojans sported a six-point halftime lead.

Waltonville added to its own trouble by missing five of six free throws in the second quarter as they trailed at intermission, 30-24.

With four second quarter turnovers and just 5-of-12 shooting in the second stanza, the Spartans were fortunate to only be down single-digits at the half.

The best stretch of the game for the Spartans came to open the second half.

Peterson scored inside followed by shot from the baseline by Cooper and a 3-pointer by Karnes.

A score inside by Devor capped a 9-2 run that gave Waltonville its first lead since the opening minutes at 33-32.

Cooper scored eight of his points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 38-37 lead.

Peterson added a score and 1-of-2 charities from Cooper made it 41-38 Spartans heading to the fourth quarter.

Trailing by just a point (45-44) midway through the final chapter, Webber Township turned the page and made its championship move.

Ulm gave the Trojans back the lead on a drive in the paint before French made a steal and delivered a fast break lay in.

The two scores triggered a 10-2 run for a 54-47 lead with just 2:06 left.

Marlow scored twice in succession to close the run with the second one coming on a drive in the lane as Webber Township used its spread offense to create a driving lane.

“He (Marlow) is tough for a lot of people to try and guard. He's six-two and an incredible shooter. Today we wanted to push the ball and sometimes we don't push the ball enough against good teams that we play. Today we wanted to push the ball the whole time,” said Coach Helm.

Although Peterson would counter with a pair of inside scores, including a put back off of a Cooper miss, the Spartans were running out of time.

Forced to foul late, Waltonville watched as Fleener, Ulm and French made 4-of-6 shots from the foul line in the final :40.8.

Waltonville missed three-consecutive attempts while French and Ulm came up with defensive efforts late.

Ulm had a key steal and French grabbed the final two defensive rebounds that the Trojans needed to wrap up the MTC tournament championship.

Webber Township is now 18-2 on the season and have won six-straight games while Waltonville sits at 16-4.

Since the Midland Trail Conference expansion in 2008-09 when the Mid-South Conference teams Waltonville, Wayne City, Woodlawn and Grayville joined the league, going into Saturday night's contest neither Waltonville or Webber had ever won the championship. Woodlawn won 11 of the 15 tournaments with Wayne City, CORL and Odin winning the others.

The Trojans can add the 2024 title to the case on Monday.

“It's hard to beat someone three times, especially a good basketball team,” said Coach Lowery. “They got us tonight and it's all the credit to them.”

WOODLAWN 50, GRAYVILLE 48
The Cardinals took care of business with a narrow win over the Bison to snag the third place game on Saturday night.

Woodlawn improved its overall mark to 9-12 with the victory.

Coach Luke Cooper's club was led in scoring by 6-3 senior Wyatt Rollie with 15-points and 10-rebounds.

Josh Lewis, a 6-foot senior, added 13-points and eight-rebounds in the victory and sophomore Baylor Rollie added nine-points.

Grayville and head coach Travis Thompson fell to 14-10 overall with the defeat.

The Bison were led by by 6-3 senior guard Ty'zae Rowland and 6-4 sophomore Jake Hosman with 13-points each.

Hosman led Grayville with 11-rebounds while senior guard Kanaan Worley scored nine-points.

Zach Leavens, a 6-foot junior, netted eight-points for the Bison.

WAYNE CITY 63, CISNE 57
The host Indians held off Wayne County rival Cisne to capture the fifth place honors in the MTC tournament in a foul plagued contest on Saturday.

Head coach Jake Talbert's club got double-digit scoring from 6-4 senior Tanner McNeil with 21-points, 15-points from sophomore James Walker and 13-points from senior Koby Anderson.

The Tribe improved to 7-14 with the win by hitting 9-of-12 fourth quarter free throws.

Cisne and head coach Kevin Bowen saw their overall mark slip to 9-12 with the defeat.

Senior guard Anden Atwood topped all scorers with 26-points, including 8-of-8 from the foul line.

Sophomore guard Kade Atwood added 13-points (7-of-8 from the foul line) and junior Gavyn Harrell scored 10.

Senior Kaden Baker and junior Cooper Bowen each scored four-points for the Runnin' Lions.

Wayne City out rebounded Cisne 27-17 in the triumph.

Woodlawn (50) - Lee 1 0 1-2 3, Ba. Rollie 0 3 0-0 9, Lewis 1 3 2-2 13, Palmer 0 2 0-0 6, W. Rollie 7 0 1-2 15, Frick 1 0 2-2 4, Bo. Rollie 0 0 0-0 0, Heater 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-10, 3FG-8, FT-6-8, PF-7.
Grayville (48) – Rowland 5 1 0-0 13, Hosman 5 0 3-6 13, Leavens 4 0 0-0 8, Neeley 1 1 0-0 5, Worley 3 1 0-0 9, Kleinschmidt 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-3-6, PF-8.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Wayne City (63) – Anderson 3 0 7-10 13, McNeil 3 4 3-4 21, Greenwalt 4 0 0-2 8, Walker 5 1 2-2 15, Loker 2 0 0-0 4, Thomason 0 0 2-2 2, Nguyen 0 0 0-2 0. 2FG-17, 3FG-5, FT-14-22, PF-21.
Cisne (57) – K. Atwood 3 0 7-8 13, Harrell 1 2 2-2 10, Baker 1 0 2-4 4, A. Atwood 6 2 8-8 26, Bowen 1 0 2-2 4, K. Dagg 0 0 0-2 0, Howard 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-21-26, PF-20.
Fouled Out – Howard, Bowen - Cisne; Walker, Thomason - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls – None.