ALTAMONT 1A SECTIONAL SEMIFINAL
Oblong shocks defending state champs
Panthers oust Woodlawn in sectional semi's; Johnson nets 17 in upset win
02-26-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
ALTAMONT
- The Oblong Panthers had to wait almost a year to get another shot at Woodlawn and Coach Brent Harper's team made the most of it.

It was 361-days to be exact.

After suffering a 53-51 loss to eventual state-champs last March 2 at Red Hill in the 1A Sectional title game, the Panthers had their sights set on not only another shot at the Cardinals but to make a serious run at reaching the state finals in Peoria.

Behind 17-points from 6-foot-5 senior Anthony Johnson and a defensive effort that forced Woodlawn into a poor night offensively, Oblong got some sweet revenge from last season and kept their championship hopes alive with a 64-60 win at the 1A Altamont Sectional on Tuesday night.

The normally hot-handed Cardinals didn't get going offensively until late in the game and, by this point, their furious rally fell short as their season, and their hopes of a repeat title run, came to an end at 26-4.

Coach Shane Witzel's club hit just 17-of-60 shots from the field (7-of-26 from behind the 3-point arc) and trailed the entire second half in the loss, the first sectional defeat for the program since 2008 after eight-consecutive wins.

“Against Dieterich (Saturday night) we came out slow offensively but our defense was solid. But we knew it was going to take an all-out effort tonight against a good team (Woodlawn) and the boys were up to the task,” said Coach Harper. “We've played a lot of 2A schools this year and we've gotten beat up sometimes (physical play) so our boys are used to playing physical. Early in the season we struggled with physical teams but we've seen enough of it and it seemed like they (Woodlawn) were rattled by it.”

Johnson came up big in the second half.

After scoring just two-points in the first two quarters, this all-state candidate delivered most of his points from the foul line, nailing 10-of-12 shots from the stripe in the fourth quarter.

“He is good at that (free throw shooting) and even though they were keying on him, at the end of the game you want the ball in his hands,” said Coach Harper. “He is an excellent free throw shooter.”

Teammates Collin Meese and Jared Mayhew each scored 14-points in the triumph while Gerald Richardson added 12.

For Woodlawn senior guard Gabe Owens closed out his stellar career with 19-points to lead all scorers, including seven 3-pointers.

His long range shooting helped out in a rally that nearly resulted in a come-from-behind win.

Both Owens and Jayson Hapeman hit 3-pointers in the final :20 to make things close.

Woodlawn forced seven of Oblong's 16-turnovers in the final quarter, rallying from a 57-45 deficit to get it to 62-60 with :08 left.

But Meese, a 5-foot-9 senior guard, converted two-consecutive free throws to seal the victory in front of huge crowd at Altamont.

The Panthers were 20-of-25 from the foul line, including 17-of-21 in the final eight minutes.

Coach Harper's squad will take on the winner of Wednesday night's Nokomis-North Clay semifinal on Friday.

Mayhew, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, was bothersome for the Cardinals as he got 12 of his points in the first half, ten of which came in the first quarter.

He scored seven consecutive points in a 9-2 run to close the first quarter.

Two of his baskets came on offensive rebounds with the second one part of a conventional three-point play after being fouled by Woodlawn's Matt Kennedy.

“He (Mayhew) made some nice post moves in the first half but for the most part we did what we wanted to do defensively. They (Oblong) just played well offensively. It wasn't anything that we did wrong. It was just good offense on their part,” added Coach Witzel. “Johnson got going early in the fourth quarter, which is what you would expect from a good player. There were some times where we would chip into the lead and we thought we would be able to get the lead, but they always seemed to keep it at a 10-point differential.”

Meese took one of three Johnson first quarter assists for a lay in to close the quarter at 19-11 Panthers.

“I thought we could take advantage of our post play tonight with either Jared (Mayhew) or Anthony (Johnson) but they were keying on Anthony so Jared stepped up,” added Coach Harper.

Woodlawn's best offensive run came to open the second quarter, with Owens scoring six points of a 12-2 sprint.

He hit back-to-back 3-pointers within a matter of seconds to give the Cardinals a 23-21 lead with 4:04 left in the half.

However Oblong would close the quarter strong and assumed command with a 10-4 finish to take back the lead for good.

Guard's Gerald Richardson and Koert Mehler each nailed 3-pointers to close out the second quarter as the Panthers led 31-27 at the break.

Oblong took its first double-digit advantage by scoring seven points in succession.

Johnson hit his only 3-point basket and Richardson scored twice on a rebound tip in of a Johnson miss and a drive to the goal for a 40-30 lead which forced a Woodlawn timeout with 3:15 remaining the third quarter.

The Panthers added a pair of scores from Meese on a long rebound that turned in to a fast break lay in and a conventional three-point play while being fouled by Kennedy.

He added another bucket on a drive in the lane.

His second score made it 45-35 heading to the final eight minutes.

“I felt real comfortable with our defense tonight. Everyone was communicating and doing the things that we had worked on the last few days,” added Coach Harper. “These boys take a lot of pride in their defense. I tell them each game that our defense will make up for a lot of our other mistakes, especially if we are not shooting the ball well. Tonight they came out and gave the effort.”

Woodlawn's bench picked up an unlikely technical foul to begin the fourth quarter on a coaching box violation and Johnson hit two free throws for a 47-35 lead.

The Cardinals were guilty of a Cardinal sin in the fourth quarter as they sent Oblong to the foul line way too often.

Coach Harper's team took full advantage, hitting just enough shots to keep Woodlawn at bey.

By the time the defending state champions made their final move, the clock was on the side of the upset-minded Panthers.

“We made a few shots, finally, there at the end and that gave us a chance.” said Coach Witzel. “We've seen a lot of good defensive teams this year and tonight was no different. You score 60-points on most nights and that is enough for us to win but it wasn't tonight.”

Oblong won despite its late turnover issues by hitting 23-of-39 shots overall (58.9 percent) and 7-of-11 from behind the 3-point line.

Woodlawn held a 33-28 rebounding edge due mainly to 23-offensive rebounds created by crashing the boards on 43-missed shots.

The Cardinals, after hitting 46 percent of their overall attempts through 28-games, hit just 28.9 percent on Tuesday night as their season came to a screeching halt.

Following Owens in the scorebook was seniors Kris Harlow and Kennedy with 11 and 10-points respectively.

Senior guard Ty Coleman added nine points as that group finished their prep careers on Tuesday night.

“We did the same thing (defensively on Owens) last year but I thought we did a better job on him tonight,” said Coach Harper, whose defensive forced Owens to just 6-of-20 shooting. “Our four guys out on the perimeter did a good job of switching up on him.”

The Panthers play in the rough-and-tumble Little Illini Conference and now stand at 22-11 on the year, with 10 of those losses coming to 2A teams.

“When it got down to about four and a half minutes left, we had to go for broke and went into scramble mode. We tried to be patient as long as we possibly could but to make up 10-points we had to really scramble on both ends of the court and we were able to do that. And it worked late as they had some turnovers and they forced some shots that they probably shouldn't take. That allowed us a chance to get back into the game. Eventually the sting of this, it won't completely go away. I'm still bitter about losing 25-years ago. As a competitor that won't totally go away. But that is one of the things that we left them with (lockerroom after the game) is that they have been a part of a lot of special things. They are a very enjoyable group that loved to play the game,” finalized Coach Witzel, mentioning himself as a player losing a sectional game to Pinckneyville in 1988. “They played hard and were very coach-able. They are everything that a coach could want.”

1
2
3
4
-
F
Oblong
19
12
14
19
-
64
Woodlawn
11
16
08
25
-
60

Oblong (64)
– Richardson 2 1 5-6 12, Meese 4 1 3-3 14, Johnson 2 1 10-12 17, Knollenberg 0 0 0-1 0, Mehler 2 1 0-0 7, Mendenhall 0 0 0-0 0, Mayhew 6 0 2-3 14.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-20-25, PF-21.

Woodlawn (60) – Kennedy 2 0 6-9 10, Coleman 1 1 4-4 9, G. Owens 1 5 2-2 19, Phelps 0 0 0-0 0, Isaac 0 0 4-5 4, R. Owens 0 0 0-0 0, Hapeman 1 1 0-0 5, Harlow 4 0 3-4 11, Robinson 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-10, 3FG-7, FT-19-24, PF-21.

Fouled Out – Mehler - Oblong.
Technical Fouls – Woodlawn Bench.