Woodlawn, Cisne set for Saturday clash
 Cardinals thump Odin behind 23-points from Gabe Owens; Lions rally past Waltonville
01-17-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
LOUISVILLE – It didn't take the Woodlawn Cardinals long to get rolling in their semifinal game against Odin on Thursday night at the Midland Trail Conference tournament.

In fact, after spotting the Eagles a brief 1-0 lead, Woodlawn scored the next 14-points to take command.

Coach Shane Witzel's club never let Odin off the deck in crushing the Eagles, 74-43 in the first semifinal game of the 84th annual event held at North Clay.

Gabe Owens, for those of you outside of the southern Illinois high school hoop scene, is a 6-foot-5 senior guard who has the reputation for getting the job done from long range.

On Thursday night this four-year vet added to his career numbers by nailing seven 3-pointers in route to a game-high 23-points as Woodlawn improved to 15-2 with the win.

Three other Woodlawn players each added nine points to the onslaught, a scoring spree that didn't let up on the 10-5 Eagles until the final minutes.

Jayson Hapeman, Kris Harlow and Logan Isaac all contributed points for Woodlawn, who has won every MTC tournament title since joining the league.

Owens, who will attend Washington University in St. Louis (MO.) next year, hit three of his treys in the first quarter.

By the time he hit his second 3-pointer with 4:45 left in the opening quarter, the Cardinals were in control at 12-1.

Woodlawn put the pressure on the Eagles, forcing nine first quarter turnovers and by the time Owens hit his third long distance shot on an assist from his brother, freshman Ross Owens, the Cardinals led 23-7 at the end of one.

Two more Owens scores from behind the arc forced an Odin timeout at 31-9 with 6:05 left before halftime.

“We felt like it was really important to get off to a good start. We knew that they were going press some
and we wanted to try and take advantage of that. We wanted to work for a great shot against their zone and I felt like for the most part we did that consistently,” said Coach Witzel. “We were able to find the open man for some easy baskets.”

Odin didn't have many highlights but Dustin Quick, a freshman guard, led the way for the Eagles with 11-points.

Both Ike Margum, a junior guard, and sophomore Gavin Wood each netted eight points.

Wood hit a pair of shots in the second quarter but none of the offense phased Woodlawn as the ABV second ranked team closed the half leading 44-23.

Two more offensive flurries by the Cardinals sealed the win in the third period.

Harlow and Hapeman each hit shots to open the second half and when Woodlawn scored seven straight points late in the frame, with Isaac, reserve Matt Kennedy and Hapeman all scoring, the Cardinals advantage was 61-30.

Woodlawn was effective in all phases, outrebounding the Eagles 29-14 and forcing Odin into 19-turnovers.

Nine of those happened in the first quarter as Woodlawn's pressure defense hounded the young Eagles.

Woodlawn was 28-of-50 overall (56 percent) and committed just nine turnovers themselves in the triumph.

Odin wasn't as fortunate as Coach Mike Finckbone's club wasn't too bad from the floor (15-of-34) when they weren't turning the ball over.

Woodlawn will face Cisne, the other semifinal winner on Thursday night, in the title game Saturday night.

Odin will take on Waltonville in Friday night's third place contest.

“We made some shots from the perimeter and Gabe (Owens) got going and shot it well from the 3-point line,” added Coach Witzel. “That allowed us to really get going offensively. The were switching up defenses and I think that the important thing was that we were sharing the ball and making the correct pass. We felt like we had some opportunities to get some points in the paint.”
1
2
3
4
-
F
Odin
07
16
12
08
-
43
Woodlawn
25
19
17
13
-
74

Odin (43) – Williams 1 1 2-2 7, Margrum 0 2 2-2 8, Horton 1 1 0-0 5, G. Wood 3 0 2-6 8, Perkins 2 0 0-2 4, Quick 3 1 2-3 11, Slusher 0 0 0-0 0, C. Wood 0 0 0-0 0, Zuelich 0 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Warren 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-10, 3FG-5, FT-8-15, PF-7.
Woodlawn (74) – G. Owens 0 7 2-2 23, Hapeman 3 1 0-0 9, Harlow 3 1 0-0 9, Isaac 8 0 0-0 9, Kennedy 3 0 0-0 6, Coleman 1 0 0-2 2, Robinson 1 0 0-0 2, Phelps 1 0 1-1 3, R. Owens 0 0 0-0 0, Wollerman 1 0 0-0 2, Hodge 0 0 0-0 0, Ballard 0 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Renaud 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-22, 3FG-9, FT-3-6, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.
CISNE 46, WALTONVILLE 45
In the second semifinal game on the night, the Lions and Spartans slugged their way through 32-minutes of “not-so-pretty” basketball.

But as it turned out, the Lions had just enough at the end to finally take the lead as Coach Adam Ellis'
team will get a shot at Woodlawn on Saturday night.

Cisne senior Matt Paul hit 1-of-2 free throws with :45.7 left in the fourth quarter and Waltonville couldn't come up with a score in the final seconds as the Spartans fell into the third place game.

Trailing for most of the contest after a horrendous night from the field and foul line, the Lions stayed in the contest by being pesky in their “triangle-and-two” set up to try and hold down Waltonville top-guns Jordan Hale and Trey Witges.

Although Hale finished with 14-points and Witges 10, the Spartans never got into any flow on the offensive end of the floor.

“This was just a gutsy effort from out kids. They just decided that they wanted to win that game,” said Coach Ellis. “And they found a way. I'm proud of them. Our defensive effort was super. Hale and Witges are two of the best players in the area and we know that. The game plan was to go “triangle-and-two” and to put Bjorn in the middle who is a pretty good help defender. It worked tonight.”

Despite their offensive short comings, Coach Brian Gamber's team had mulitple chances to put Cisne away but couldn't get enough stops in the final quarter.

Six-foot-seven senior Bjorn Fjermedal scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter, with two baskets in the early going which sparked the Lions' rally.

Cisne's first lead of the contest came on an Austin Atteberry steal and fast break lay in to make it 42-40 with 3:30 left.

Waltonville turned the ball over two times in the final seconds, committing five miscues in the fourth quarter (13 for the game) in the loss.

After two missed free throws by Cisne's Atteberry with :04.8 left, the Spartans had a final chance.

However Hale, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, saw his off-balanced shot on a drive to the basket come up way short as the horn sounded.

Cisne could have won this game going away had they converted better on offense.

Coach Ellis' squad was just 19-of-48 from the field and a “down-right awful” 7-of-22 from the free throw line.

Hitting just 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from the charity stripe is usually a recipe for disaster.

Waltonville was worse from the field than its counterpart on the evening. The Spartans, after a pretty good start, ended up 16-of-42 (38 percent).

The rebounding edge went to Cisne 29-28.

The Spartans in the second quarter got a pair of 3-pointers from Hale and a long distance score from junior Hunter Coggins.

A drive by Hale with 1:29 left gave Waltonville its biggest lead at 24-16.

One Cisne shooter, sophomore Logan Hosick, hit some big shots.

A pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter by Hosick helped creep the Lions back into contention.

Waltonville saw its mark slip to 12-5 while Cisne improved to 16-3.

“This was about the fifth or sixth time we have seen a “triangle-and-two” defense and it slows the game down. At times we did okay with it and we got some good looks at the basket. But we have just got to have other guys step up and hit shots,” said Coach Gamber. “You have to do a better job on the boards against “junk” defenses and obviously we have just got to get better.”
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3
4
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F
Waltonville
13
11
10
11
-
45
Cisne
11
07
12
16
-
46

Waltonville (45) – Winchester 2 0 0-0 4, Laird 0 0 0-0 0, Whisenant 2 0 0-0 4, Coggins 0 1 0-0 3, Rogers 2 0 0-0 4, Witges 2 0 6-9 10, Hale 1 3 2-4 14, Zahm 3 0 0-1 6.
2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-9-14, PF-19.
Cisne (46) – A. Atteberry 4 0 5-11 13, Po well 2 0 0-1 4, D. Atteberry 3 1 0-4 9, Mathews 2 0 0-0 4, Paul 0 0 2-6 2, Fjermedal 3 0 0-1 6, Hosick 1 3 0-0 8.
2FG-15, 3FG-4, FT-7-23, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.