01-11-09
BY JACK BULLOCK
OLNEY -

Using its athletic ability to turn up the heat on Olney East Richland and hitting an unconscious 19-of-21 free throws in the contest (10-of-12 in the fourth quarter) Mount Zion took complete control of the Apollo Conference race with a 54-45 win on the road Friday night.

Head coach Jay Driscoll saw his club improve to 14-2 overall and 7-0 in the Apollo by forcing the Tigers into a 16-of-50 shooting night and out rebounding their conference mates 33-23.

“Our guards did a good job of pressuring without fouling and really the whole team stepped up tonight,” said Mount Zion mentor Jay Driscoll. “In the second half I thought that we rebounded much better and we didn't give them many second chances. And our big guys made Thomann catch it out of his comfort area. We didn't give him any easy points. He had to work for everything he got.”

It what some had billed as a battle between two players with college basketball futures both Olney's Keane Thomann and Mount Zion's Mark Yelovich played well.

Six-foot-eleven center Keane Thomann was a bright spot for Coach Rob Flanagan's Tigers with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Yelovich scored 14 points and also corralled 10 boards as this 6-foot-5 guard/forward hit 8-of-10 free throws on the evening.

However it was the play of the Mount Zion backcourt – specifically twin brothers Caleb and Colby Long - that proved to be too much for East Richland to handle.

Those two 6-foot juniors combined for 27 points and put down 10-of-11 free throws between them.

They were – as it turned out – the real Tigers on the night by helping to force Olney into 11 turnovers and a 2-of-14 showing from behind the 3-point line.

“First of all you tip your hat to Jay and his team because they did a great job tonight,” said Olney head coach Rob Flanagan. “I thought that we had the pace of the game the way we wanted. It wasn't easy for us tonight because they are a very talented club. We rushed a lot of shots and that is to their credit.”

The Braves – who have just loses to Decatur Eisenhower and East St. Louis on the season – got off to a good start and grabbed hold of the games' remote control and refused to share the programing decisions on this night.

Jumping out to a quick lead thanks to the play of the Long twins – Mount Zion held it until midway through the third quarter.

With defensive attention paid to Yelovich by the Tigers – Caleb and Colby combined for 10 of Braves 13 first quarter points.

Caleb scored five consecutive points to give MTZ a 6-2 lead.

A conventional three-point play occurred when Long drove the right side of the lane and put in a shot while being fouled by Charlie McDowell.

He then stole an inbound pass intended for Thomann and then streaked to the other end of the court for a score that forced an Olney timeout.

Colby Long wasn't to be outdone as he connected from 3-point land at the 2:16 mark to push the Mount Zion advantage to 11-6.

His drive to the basket and subsequent pull up jumper closed the first quarter scoring at 13-8 Braves.

Thomann – who had to work hard to get open – finally made some noise in the second quarter with a pair of scores.

He converted a three-point play of his own on a rebound in which he was fouled by Mount Zion's Trevor Good. The made free throw gave him five points for the quarter and cut the Olney deficit to just 17-13 with 5:55 to go until the break.

Two more scores by Mount Zion on a fast break lay in by Alex Birge off an Olney turnover and yet another basket by Caleb Long on a drive in the lane sent the times to the locker rooms at 21-17.

Olney had chances in the third quarter to turn the momentum around but couldn't get enough scores and stops in succession.

A 7-2 run to open the third quarter lifted the Tigers to their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

McDowell scored five of those points. His 3-pointer from the right wing found the mark and gave Olney a 22-21 lead.

After a Mount Zion basket by Caleb Long – McDowell answered again with a steal and fast break lay up.

Mount Zion committed three of its four third quarter turnovers to help get Olney rolling early - which included back-to-back miscues to begin the half.

However the Olney run sparked the Braves into one of their own that eventually gave them the lead back for good.

A drive to the basket by Colby Long while being fouled by Tyler Miller became a three-point conversion that pushed Mount Zion back into the lead at the 3:58 mark.

The score and the made free throw started a game-changing 11-2 scoring romp that gave Mount Zion its first double-digit advantage.

Yelovich did his damage to Olney mostly by getting to the foul line. He made all four of his third quarter attempts as part of the scoring run.

A score by Good and another transition bucket by Caleb Long pushed the lead to 36-26.

Thomann closed the scoring by hitting an arching 3-pointer from the top of the key that looked wet when it came down through the net to finished the third quarter at 36-29.

The Tigers closed the gap to four point twice in the early part of the fourth quarter by riding the Thomann coat tails.

This senior center - who is headed to Missouri Southern next season to play Division II basketball – muscled in for a three-point play to cut into the Mount Zion advantage with 5:35 left.

His score in the lane on a pass from Keith Kermicle whittled the deficit back down to 40-36 just less than a minute later.

But at this point the athletic Braves made the big plays the rest of the way.

The biggest came on a defensive gem by senior guard Jordan Ginestaff.

Stepping into a passing lane – this 6-foot-1 senior grabbed a pass and drove to the basket past Olney's Miller for a score and a 42-36 lead with 4:14 to go.

“He (Grinstaff) made a huge defensive play on that steal in the fourth quarter,” said Driscoll. “He is an all-conference quarterback and is a winner.”

The Braves wouldn't allow Olney to get any closer than five points the remainder of the game.

In fact the quicker Mount Zion club eluded the Olney defense for over a minute in one possession before finally being fouled.

By the time the Tigers got the Braves to the foul line – the game had less than a minute of game clock remaining.

Coach Driscoll's club put down their rivals by hitting seven consecutive free throws and 10-of-12 total in the last :52.6 of the contest.

“Our kids have good preparation and work hard from the free throw line,” said Driscoll whose team is shooting 77 percent from the free throw line in 2007-08. “They are pretty good shooters.”

Mount Zion was just 17-of-46 from the field overall (37 percent) but it was the defensive end of the floor that separated the top two clubs in the Apollo.

Olney got just five offensive rebounds with Thomann grabbing two of them.

Following Thomann's 22 points the Tigers got 10 points from Miller and seven from McDowell.

Coach Flanagan's team hit just 16-of-50 shots from the floor overall.

“We are not holding our heads on this loss because we know how good they are,” added Flanagan. “When you win a lot you want to keep winning and it should hurt some to lose but when you lose to someone that is good you tip your hat and get back to work.”

The Tigers head back to work next week with games at the Carmi-White County Invitational Tournament while Mount Zion will take a trip next Saturday to Chicago Mount Carmel to play Coach Driscoll's former school.

“We were able to take care of the ball in the fourth quarter and I am proud of the kids and how we played tonight,” finalized Driscoll – a former Chicago Mount Carmel guard who played with Antoine Walker and Donovan McNabb for the 1993-94 Caravan team. “This is a great place to play with unbelievable atmosphere. We hadn't won here in two years so that was one of our goals to come here and get a victory against a really good Olney team.”

Mount Zion (54) - Grinestaff 2 0 1-2 5, Caleb Long 6 0 5-5 17, Colby Long 2 1 5-6 12, Vetter 0 0 0-0 0, Yelovich 3 0 8-10 14, Birge 1 0 0-0 2, Good 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-16, 3FG-1, FT-19=21, PF-15.
Olney East Richland (45) - Miller 2 0 6-7 10, McDowell 2 1 0-0 7, Thomann 7 1 5-8 22, Dunn 0 0 0-0 0, Berry 2 0 0-0 4, Kermicle 1 0 0-0 2, Herman 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-2, FT-11-15, PF-18.
Fouled Out - McDowell- Olney East Richland..
Technical Fouls - None.