12-30-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER – For the second time in three years the Woodlawn Cardinals captured the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament championship.

And for senior's Dawson Verhines and Josh Wiggs – two out of three ain't bad.

Jumping on the Goreville Blackcats early and never letting up – Woodlawn cruised to a 68-40 win on Thursday night in front of an overflowing crowd at Sesser.

Wiggs and Verhines were key players on the 2008 tournament championship club and these two led the Cards with 22 and 21-points respectively during a title game in which they trailed in the first minute of the game but no other time.

Although the two teams in the title game were the top two seeds – it was clear from the outset that the top-seeded Cardinals were going to have their way with the Blackcats.

A 13-0 run after spotting the Blackcats a basket in a the opening minute put Coach Shane Witzel's squad in control.

“I'm pleased where we are at right now but I still think we can get better,” said Coach Shane Witzel. “We want to get better each and every game out. We talked about at the beginning of the year that we wanted to get into as many championship games as we can to get that experience for our players. Other than Wiggs and Verhines we don't have that experience but I really like the poise and composure that our other kids showed. Our other players and even our bench guys gave us some good minutes off the bench. That is what it takes to be a good team.”

Verhines got things going for Woodlawn with a drive to the basket that resulted in a conventional three-point play.

Gabe Owens – a 6-foot-3 sophomore – nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing and later took a pass from Verhines for a fast break score to force a Goreville timeout at 8-2 with 5:20 to go in the first quarter.

Owens and Verhines closed the quarter with a pair of 3-pointers.

With Woodlawn holding the ball for a last shot Verhines – after picking up a loose ball near the Goreville bench – drove to the 3-point line for a shot that found nothing but the bottom of the net for a 19-7 lead at the end of one.

“How does he make all-tournament?” said a joking Coach Todd Tripp about Dawson Verhines. “He is a good player and he may not get that first shot but he is going to work hard to get that second or third shot. I tip my hat to that kid because he runs the floor really well and he does not quit working. That's what has gotten him to where he is at right now.”

Woodlawn never let Goreville off the mat after the first knockdown and controlled the tempo by never letting the Blackcats get going.

Coach Todd Tripp's team never got on track offensively after a 3-of-12 opening quarter from the field.

Wiggs – a 6-foot-7 senior forward – picked up two early fouls and spent some time on the pine to close the first quarter.

But he made an impact in the second quarter by scoring nine points in the frame as Woodlawn pulled away.

Taking one of Verhines' five assists in the contest – Wiggs scored in the lane while being fouled by Goreville's Kaleb Kinder. His made free throw pushed the margin to 33-14 with 1:19 to go before intermission.

Senior Jeremy Aparicio took another Verhines pass for a fast break lay in to close the half at 35-16.

“Coach (Witzel) just wanted us to come out strong and play hard giving 100 percent and that is what we attempted to do,” said Woodlawn's Dawson Verhines. “We (Wiggs and myself) have experienced this before but you have to give all the credit to the role players for us. Gabe (Owens), Christian (Hollenkamp) and AJ (Webb) all stepped up real big for us this week. They played great defense and helped us win the championship.”

The old adage that all teams make a run wasn't true on this night.

The Blackcats couldn't muster up even back-to-back baskets until the final minute and a half of the game as Goreville saw its record slip to 8-4.

A 6-0 run with AJ Webb scoring on a fast break on a steal and assist from Verhines along with another Wiggs score and two free throws by Verhines again pushed the lead to 54-29 at the end of three quarters.

No Blackcat player hit for double-figures as Sopczak led the way with nine points and Kinder added eight.

Goreville finished just 16-of-48 overall from the field and hit only one 3-pointer in 16-attempts.

Woodlawn improved to 10-2 on the season as Owens followed up Verhines and Wiggs with 15-points.

The Cardinals committed just six turnovers before the reserves played giveaway in the final minutes with five more miscues.

Woodlawn was 26-of-45 overall from the floor (58 percent) while nailing 5-of-9 3-point attempts.

Woodlawn outrebounded the 'Cats 30-22.

There was nothing but praise from Coach Tripp after the contest about the Cardinals.

“We finally started attacking in the second half but you have got to get some stops but we didn't. They (Woodlawn) are a nice team,” added Coach Tripp. “I felt like coming in here that they are the one seed – we are the two seed – and we are on that short list of 1A teams that will have a chance in the postseason. They are the team at the top of that list with Trico. And I told the kids you have to come out and prove what we can do and we didn't do that tonight. Maybe down the road we will get better and have a chance to do it again.”

Goreville (40) – Tripp 1 0 0-0 2, Smith 1 0 1-1 3, Webb 1 1 0-0 5, Stout 3 0 1-2 7, Kinder 3 0 2-3 8, Madden 0 0 0-0 0, Sopczak 4 0 1-3 9, N. Andros 0 0 2-2 2, A. Andros 1 0 0-0 2, Nixon 0 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 0 0-2 2, Shadowens 0 0 0-0 0, Runge 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-15, 3FG-1, FT- 7-13, PF-20.
Woodlawn (68) – Owens 3 3 0-0 15, Webb 2 0 0-0 4, Wiggs 8 0 5-7 21, Hollenkamp 1 0 0-0 2, Verhines 6 2 4-5 22, Aparicio 1 0 0-0 2, Isaac 0 0 0-0 0, Harlow 0 0 1-2 1, Kennedy 0 0 0-0 0, Hill 0 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Peterson 0 0 1-2 1. 2FG-21, 3FG-5, FT-11-16, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

SESSER-VALIER 97, SPARTA 88 (2OT)
The Red Devils held on for a wild double-overtime win with 6-foot-1 senior Dustin Hicks leading the way with 30-points while teammate 6-foot-4 junior Tim Witcher added 23.

Sesser-Valier let Sparta (6-8) rally to force overtime by missing some free throws in the fourth quarter but made the charity shots at the end to hold on for the third place win.

Sparta got 17-points apiece from London Oliver and Jordan Thompson in the loss.

SVHT ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM consists of Dawson Verhines and Josh Wiggs of Woodlawn; Lee Sopczak and Kaleb Kinder of Goreville; Dustin Hicks and Tim Witcher of Sesser-Valier; Jordan Thompson of Sparta; Zach Lochhead of Chester; Joey Martin of Marissa-Coulterville and Austin McPheron of Johnston City.