12-11-07
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - On a night where the Cisne Lions need some key baskets some plays made – senior Brandon Kincart stepped up and carried his team to a physical victory.

His 16 points – mostly on drives to the basket – helped Cisne start out 1-0 in Pool B of the 54th Annual Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament with a 52-42 win over Edwards County on the second night of this long running event.

This 6-foot senior guard hit a pair of big baskets – one in the last minute of the third quarter and another to begin the final period.

Those two shots swung the momentum into these Lions’ favor and head coach Kevin Bowen’s club improved to 3-5 overall with the win.

Teammates Ronnie Hyder (14) and Jordan Obrecht (10) also hit double-figures in the Cisne triumph.

The Lions overcame 22 turnovers by out-rebounding the physical Edwards County team 32-24 while holding those Lions to just 16-of-49 shooting from the field.

“We got a little sloppy tonight with the basketball especially in the second half,” said Coach Bowen – talking about his team’s 22 miscues. “We made some passes to the post that were tough for our big guys to handle.”

Kincart struggled a bit early in the game - as did his teammates – getting the offense rolling.

The two pairs of Lions combined for nine first quarter turnovers with Cisne leading 10-5 at the first horn.

Kincart helped Cisne outscore Edwards County 10-3 in the first two minutes of the second quarter.

Back-to-back drives to the basket by Kincart and an Obrecht shot in the lane made it 20-8 Cisne with 3:58 before halftime.

Edwards County got a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter from sophomore Michael Aaron and senior Mathew Brown.

But a defensive breakdown toward the end of the frame resulted in another Kincart drive and a wide-open 3-pointer from Hyder.

Hyder found himself alone at the top of the circle and rattled home a trifecta for a 25-11 lead.

Edwards County’s Ben Kinsey hit 1-of-2 free throws to end the first half scoring and Coach Nick Toothman’s club headed to the lockerroom with a lot of work ahead of them.

The best run of the night for Edwards County was at the beginning of the second half – a 14-5 sprint that saw E.J. Fisher, Stephen Vallette and Brian Winter score four points each.

That scoring surge cut the Cisne advantage to 30-26.

However Kincart hit his two key baskets to end the third quarter and to begin the fourth. Both scores were on drives to the basket.

A 3-pointer from Byars from the left corner on a pass from Kincart pushed the lead back to double-figures at 41-31.

“He (Kincart) missed some outside shots early so I told him he needed to take the ball to the basket more and get to the foul line. Get some easy shots,” added Coach Bowen. “He made some big shots in the second half for us.”

Five more points by Hyder on a conventional three-point play and a transition score force an Edwards County timeout at 46-33 with 4:17 left.

When Hyder hit his final basket of the night with 1:33 remaining – Cisne had its largest lead at 52-36 as both coaches emptied the benches.

“The difference in the game tonight was when we would get the game close that they (Cisne) would get a big offensive rebound and stick back and we never got that for ourselves,” said Edwards County head coach Nick Toothman. “When it came down to it, that Number 3 out there (Kincart) is tough to guard.”

Cisne finished the game with a 23-of-42 performance from the field while Edwards County hit just 16-of-49 attempts.

Trent Simpson added seven points for Cisne in the win to go with the 40 points scored by Kincart, Hyder and Obrecht.

Ed Co. only hit 7-of-15 free throw attempts as well – which made things even more difficult when trying to make a run.

Fisher was the only double-figure scorer for Edwards County with 15.

Ed Co. only hit 7-of-15 free throw attempts as well – which made things even more difficult when trying to make a run.

“They’re a solid ballclub and you have to give them credit tonight,” added Toothman. “They (Cisne) have five guys out there that can put it in the hole. We are still learning how to play the game. It is a mistake here and a mistake there – when we can cut down on those mistakes we will be a good ballclub.”

As a high school in Wayne County and a long established member of this tourney – head coach Kevin Bowen knows how much this tournament means to the kids in his program and the fans of his club.

“The kids look forward to this tournament and they talk about it,” finalized Coach Bowen whose team won this event for the first time in 2004. “This is a great place to play and we have had some success here.”

Edwards County (42) - Winter 1 0 0-0 2, Vallette 3 0 0-0 6, Smith 1 0 0-0 2, Kinsey 1 0 2-4 4, Hayes 0 0 1-4 1, Brown 1 1 0-0 5, Giese 0 1 0-0 3, P. Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Columbia 0 0 0-0 0, C. Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Fisher 6 0 3-4 15, Winemiller 0 0 0-1 0, Aaron 0 1 0-0 3, Perti 0 0 1-2 1, Lingafelter 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-3, FT-7-15, PF-15.
Cisne (52) - Kincart 7 0 2-2 16, Talbert 1 0 0-0 2, Hyder 5 1 1-1 14, Obrecht 5 0 0-0 10, Byars 0 1 0-1 3, Lowe 0 0 0-0 0, Simpson 3 0 1-3 7, Lampley 0 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Nixon 0 0 0-0 0, Maloy 0 0 0-0 0, Helm 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-21, 3FG-2, FT-4-7, PF-13.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None

GRAYVILLE 65, WEBBER TOWNSHIP 46
The Bison improved their record to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in Pool B with a win over Mid-South Conference rival Webber Township on Tuesday night.

Taylor Lynn topped all scorers with 22 points for head coach Will Knight’s group while Drew DiMaggio finished with 14 points.

Jon Kiel was the leading scorer for Webber Township (0-2 in Pool B).

Grayville led 20-10 at the end of the first quarter and 35-20 at the half.

CRAB ORCHARD 57, WAYNE CITY 42
The Trojans evened their WCHT record in Pool A at 1-1 with the win over the host Indians.

David Brainard and Adam Perry led all scorers with 18 points apiece for the 6-5 Crab Orchard club.

Wayne City (1-1 in Pool A, 4-5 overall) received 11 points from Kory Blank in the loss.