South Central vs. Pana - Vandalia Holiday Tournament

VANDALIA HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT

Pana romps past Cougars, Eagles, 3-0 in Pool A
Gibson scores 17-points in 49-29 win; Greenville, Maroa-Forsythe post morning triumphs

12-27-12

BY JACK BULLOCK
VANDALIA – The Pana Panthers, under head coach Gary Bowker, have always had the type of team that could score a lot of points and run and gun their opposition.

However the 2012-13 edition has bought into the defensive strategy that has the Panthers in contention for the championship of the Vandalia Holiday Tournament.

Pana forced South Central into 19-turnovers through three quarters and used an inside-outside offensive scheme to run the table in its 49-29 win in Pool A to improve to 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the VHT.

Pana got 17-points from Kyle Gibson (mostly from the outside) while teammate Robbie Hester scored 10-points (mostly from the paint) in the victory.

“One of the best things that happened to use was that we lost to A&M by 22-points early in the year and I told the kids that they had to buy into the fact that we have to play defense,” said Coach Bowker. “We don't have the firepower to outscore teams. We have to do the job on the defensive end. The kids have bought into it and have done a great job.”

South Central (3-6 overall, 0-2 in Pool A) struggled on both ends of the floor in the loss despite 16-points from guard Rudy Hablewitz, who netted 12 of those markers in the second half.

One of the keys to the win for Coach Bowker's team was holding high-scoring senior forward Fischer Tharp to just three points.

“We did not handle the ball well and I thought we were stagnant on offense. We stood around and we would get half way through a good set and then we would do something outside of the offense,” said Coach Simmons. “You have to give credit to them (Pana) because they basically took Fischer out of the game and we didn't adjust and react to it. That was it in a nutshell.”

Jumping out to a good start, Pana never trailed as they move a step closer to another championship game at this long-standing and successful holiday event.

The Panthers have played in ten tournament title tilts in the 40-previous years of this tournament, including last season's loss to Flora. Pana has won this title five times.

Gibson and Hester got Pana rolling in the first quarter, each hitting an early shot to give the Panthers a 5-0 lead.

Hester scored just seconds into the game and Gibson nailed the first of his three 3-pointers to give their club a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

South Central made some runs but never got the game tied or managed a lead.

Hablewitz, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, scored twice before the quarter ended and his shot from the right wing closed the quarter and the gap to just 9-7 at the end of the opening stanza.

Three other Panthers got into the act to open the second quarter with a 6-0 sprint.

Andrew Rybolt, Clint Kircher and Ian Kirk all scored in the first two minutes of the second quarter while holding South Central scoreless.

Gibson closed the quarter with a drive to the basket and a 3-pointer from the right corner on a set out of bounds play to give Pana a 12-point lead.

“We've got some good shooters around the perimeter in Hester, Gibson, Zahradka, and Metzger so we have some kids who can make shots and can get us 10 or 12 points on a given night,” added Coach Bowker. “We talked about (our size advantage) about getting the ball inside and getting the big kids involved. I thought we did that today.”

The Cougars didn't hit a field goal in the second quarter and got just three free throws as they fell behind 22-10 at intermission.

Coach Rick Simmons' team got within 12-points twice in the third quarter on the strength of two more Hablewitz scores but Pana pulled away with a 9-2 run to close the third period.

Hester and Raustin Zahradka each muscled in for shots in the lane and Gibson's third and final trey closed the door shut at 37-18.

A brief South Central (Hablewitz) run made things sort of interesting to begin the final frame before Pana settled in with another run, 8-0, to end the drama.

Junior Alex Metzger scored four of his six points in the run, beginning it with a shot in the lane on a pass from Hester and then closing the book with a short jumper in the paint to make it 45-24 with 4:08 left.

Pana hit 20-of-49 shots from the floor, 3-of-13 from 3-point range in the win.

But it was the defensive end of the gym that the Panthers shined.

South Central was held to just 12-of-32 from the field and the 19-turnovers were too much for the Cougars to overcome.

Pana outrebounded the Cougars, 28-14.

Pana will head back to action in the evening session taking on South Central Conference rival Greenville at 5:00 pm while South Central will play twice on Friday; taking on Greenville at 11 am and then St. Elmo at 3:30 pm.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
South Central	07	03	08	11	-	29
Pana	09	15	13	12	-	49

South Central (29) – Henken 0 0 0-0 0, Marmeier 1 0 1-2 3, Hablewitz 8 0 0-0 16, Tharp 1 0 1-5 3, Ratermann 0 0 0-0 0, Rose 1 0 1-2 3, Langley 0 0 0-0 0, Schwarm 1 0 0-0 2, Riley 0 0 2-2 2, Powless 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-12, 3FG-0, FT-5-11, PF-19.
Pana (49) – Rybolt 1 0 0-0 2, Kirk 1 0 0-0 2, Miller 1 0 0-0 2, Metzger 3 0 0-0 6, Gibson 2 3 4-6 17, Trexler 0 0 0-0 0, Kircher 1 0 0-0 2, Zahradka 3 0 0-0 6, Hester 5 0 0-0 10, Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Hudlin 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-18, 3FG-3, FT-4-6, PF-16.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

GREENVILLE 50, ST. ELMO 49
The Comets Austin Lawrence beat the final buzzer with a 3-pointer as Greenville shocked the Eagles in the morning opener of session three of the VHT.

Jacob Hall led led Greenville (3-6 overall, 1-1 in the tournament) with 11-points while Craig Faulkner added 10 and Lawrence pitched in nine.

St. Elmo saw its mark drop to 0-2 in Pool A and 6-4 overall despite 25-points from junior guard Levi Maxey.

The Eagles were just 2-of-11 from 3-point range and 18-of-48 overall from the field.

Conner Beasley added nine points for St. Elmo.

Greenville was 21-of-52 overall from the floor in the win.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Greenville	15	13	08	14	-	50
St. Elmo	14	14	07	14	-	49

Greenville (50) – Schaufelberger 1 0 0-0 2, Faulkner 5 0 0-1 10, Young 1 0 1-2 3, Hall 1 3 1-1 11, Hutchinson 1 0 0-0 2, Lawrence 2 1 2-2 9, Leitschuh 2 0 1-2 5, Manning 4 0 0-1 8, Alderman 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-4-8, PF-14.
St. Elmo (49) – Bartels 3 0 0-0 6, Brady 1 0 0-0 2, Beasley 2 0 3-4 9, M. Maxey 2 0 0-0 4, L. Maxey 8 1 6-9 25, Smithson 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-16, 3FG-2, FT-9-13, PF-11.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

MAROA-FORSYTH 72, EFFINGHAM ST. ANTHONY 55
The Trojans, the tournament's two-seed, improved to 2-1 in the tournament (Pool B) and 8-2 overall with the win over the Bulldogs.

Four M-F players ended up in double-figures in the victory, their third in less than 24-hours in the event.

Curtis Clawson scored 19-points while teammates Matthew Leighton (16), Jack Hockaday (15) and Aaron Smith (14) as the Trojans stayed in contention.

The Bulldogs (2-8 overall, 0-2 in Pool B) got 16-points from Jacob Schuette and 15-points from John Goeckner in defeat.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Effingham St. Anthony	18	15	13	09	-	55
Maroa-Forsyth	26	13	17	16	-	72

Effingham St. Anthony (55) – Williams 2 0 2-3 6, Z. Gardewine 1 0 0-0 2, Schuette 6 0 4-5 16, Gibson 1 0 0-0 2, Martelli 1 0 0-0 2, Hartke 0 0 0-0 0, Rogers 0 0 0-0 0, A. Gardewine 3 0 0-0 6, Hoelscher 2 0 0-0 4, Goeckner 6 0 3-7 15, Vogel 1 0 0-0 2. 2FG-23, 3FG-0, FT-9-15, PF-13.
Maroa-Forsyth (72) – Hockaday 7 0 1-2 15, Smith 4 2 0-0 14, Beaulieu 0 0 0-0 0, Leighton 7 0 2-4 16, Aschermann 2 0 0-0 4, Clawson 7 0 5-6 19, Murphy 2 0 0-0 4, Hise 0 0 0-0 0, Beckman 0 0 0-0 0, Bryan 0 0 0-0 0, Ejankowski 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-29, 3FG-2, FT-8-12, PF-14.
Fouled Out – Schuette - Effingham St. Anthony.
Technical Fouls – None.

SHELBYVILLE 52, EFFINGHAM ST. ANTHONY 50
The Rams rallied from a nine-point deficit to edge the Bulldogs in Pool B in the first game of the evening session. Shelbyville (2-1) outscored St. A 20-11 in the fourth quarter for the victory.

Effingham St. Anthony (2-9, 0-3) got 25-points from Jacob Schuette and 16-points from John Goeckner while dropping its third game of the tournament.

The Rams were paced by 18-points from Spencer Shadwell and 16-points from Nate Standerfer.

Shelbyville hit all eight of their free throw attempts in the triumph.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Shelbyville	18	15	13	09	-	55
Effingham St. Anthony	26	13	17	16	-	72

Shellbyville (52) – Keown 1 0 0-0 2, Shadwell 3 3 3-3 18, Schwengel 0 0 0-0 0, Standerfer 3 3 1-1 16, Breeden 0 0 2-2 2, Bence 4 0 2-2 2, Peifer 0 0 0-0 0, McConnell 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-13, 3FG-6, FT-8-8, PF-14.
Effingham St. Anthony (50) – Williams 0 1 0-0 3, Z. Gardewine 0 0 0-0 0, Schuette 10 2 2-2 25, A. Gardewine 1 0 0-0 2, Hoelscher 1 0 2-2 4, Goeckner 7 0 2-2 16, Vogel 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-2, FT-6-7, PF-14.
Fouled Out – Schuette - Effingham St. Anthony.
Technical Fouls – None.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Pana	12	19	08	24	-	63
Greenville	09	07	11	17	-	44

Pana (63) – Hester 2 0 0-0 4, Zahradka 3 1 2-2 11, Hudlin 2 0 4-4 8, Gibson 6 3 2-2 23, Metzger 0 1 0-0 3, Kircher 1 0 0-0 2, Rybolt 0 1 0-0 3, Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Kirk 2 0 0-0 4, Clark 2 0 1-2 5, Lin 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-183, 3FG-6, FT-9-10, PF-9.
Greenville (44) - Schaufelberger 0 0 0-0 0, Faulker 0 1 0-0 3, Young 0 0 0-0 0, Hall 0 4 1-3 13, Hutchinson 4 0 0-0 8, Lawrence 1 2 4-4 12, Leitschuh 3 0 0-0 6, Omo-Osagie 0 0 0-0 0, Manning 0 0 0-0 0, Laesch 0 0 2-4 2. 2FG-8, 3FG-7, FT-7-11, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Pana	12	19	08	24	-	63
Greenville	09	07	11	17	-	44

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Pana	12	19	08	24	-	63
Greenville	09	07	11	17	-	44

	1	2	3	4	-	F
Pana	12	19	08	24	-	63
Greenville	09	07	11	17	-	44