01-16-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
WEST FRANKFORT - All is not well in the Lions' den. At least not in the last two games.

Carterville, after having been man-handled on Friday night at Pinckneyville in a conference contest on the road, looked to get back to winning as they opened play at the 30th annual West Frankfort “Mid-Winter Classic” Saturday night at Max Morris Gymnasium.

And they appeared to be in a fowl mood, jumping all over Vienna in the early going, leading by 21-points early in the second quarter.

Everything was going right for Coach Dave Brown's team as they were well on their way to their 12th win of the season while taking a step toward defending their tournament title from last January.

However the sweet smell of victory was premature as the Eagles quickly turned things around in the second quarter and rallied for a startling comeback.

Turning the tables with some big runs of their own, Vienna shocked the crowd at WF with a come-from-behind 68-64 victory.

Carterville, who finished the first half of the season with a championship victory at the Pinckneyville “Duster Thomas Classic” were considered the favorite to capture the WF title for the second straight season.

But after the fast start, the Lions failed to keep the momentum going.

Coach Cory Waters' Eagles, turned up the pressure on Carterville, forcing eight turnovers in the second half (five in the fourth quarter) as they improved to 10-8 on the season and 1-0 in their Pool.

Zach Moore, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, came up huge in the final two quarters for Vienna.

He netted 11 of his 19-points in the second half and was part of the pressure defense that forced Carterville into a mistake filled second half.

Guard Brendan Casey, a 6-foot-3 junior, added 18-points for the Eagles. He did his damage in the middle two quarters.

Senior guard Jarrod Wiggs added 16-points to the comeback, with 14 coming after intermission.

“When he (Moore) is active like that, especially defensively, it works for us,” added Coach Waters. “We are getting more production out of everyone. Usually it is Moore, Wiggs and Casey leading us but now we are getting more from our bench.”

In what was the equivalent of a championship prize fight, Carterville landed a hay-maker in the opening round and Vienna looked to be headed for an early TKO.

The Lions, who led by senior guard Austin Swalls with a game-high 23-points, landed the best blows of the fight early.

Carterville pressed from the opening bell and forced eight Eagles' turnovers and a 3-of-14 shooting first quarter for Coach Waters' team.

Swalls netted four field goals in the first frame and had his hand in two other scores.

His fast break lay in after a Vienna turnover forced an early Vienna timeout at 6-2.

Senior guard Colt Wilkey added 13-points for the Lions and 6-foot-5 junior forward Taylor Heil tossed in 11.

Junior guard Brendan Beasley added nine-points in the contest with three 3-pointers.

The Lions closed the quarter with a spirited 12-2 run.

Swalls added a couple of assists, one which found Wilkey on the fly for a lay in that forced another Vienna timeout at 14-4 with 3:11 left.

The second 3-pointer from Beasley, followed by two more buckets by Swalls, closed the final minute of the frame as Carterville was in total control at 21-6.

Swalls' lay in off Vienna's eighth turnovers beat the buzzer for a 15-point spread.

The 7-0 run that closed the quarter turned into a 13-0 jaunt.

Three consecutive baskets by Heil, Wilkey and Swalls gave the Lions their largest lead of the game.

Swalls put an exclamation on the sprint with a fast-break slam as Carterville led 27-6 at the 7:02 mark.

At this point, the Eagles could have folded up the tents and headed back to Johnson County with a humbling loss.

However Coach Waters decided to shake things up a bit with a mass substitution and it helped spark the rally.

His club responded with their first offensive push, coming off the ropes with an 11-2 retaliation.

A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Nolan Dahncke helped get the ball rolling.

The Eagles began taking the ball to the basket which forced Carterville to foul.

Getting to the line, Vienna made 8-of-8 foul shots as part of their closing run to halftime.

Casey hit four of the freebies while Moore and Dahncke hit two apiece as Vienna trailed just 36-25 at the intermission.

“I woke them (my team) up a little bit when I went five-in and five-out in the second quarter and that second five did a good job for us,” said Coach Waters.

After Swalls opened the second half with a score, Vienna continued on the comeback trail.

Two scores from Beasley, a 3-pointer and a score in the paint, a transition basket by Wiggs and a lay in from senior Ryan Bradley got Vienna within four.

Moore gave a preview of what was to come in the fourth quarter when he closed the frame with a step back 15-footer as time expired to cut the Eagles' deficit to just 50-47 heading to the fourth quarter.

Vienna took its first lead of the game thanks to Moore, who scored on consecutive steals with fast break results.

After teammate Ben Daine scored on a baseline move, Moore made a steal near mid-court and his drive to the basket resulted in a two-handed dunk while being fouled by Heil.

He converted the free throw and just moments later picked off another errant Carterville pass and drove the lane for a step-back jumper in the paint for a basket at a 57-55 Vienna advantage with 4:59 to go.

One of the many problems that the Lions had on this night came from their trips to the free throw line.

The Lions finished just 7-of-16 from the stripe which kept Vienna close.

Swalls scored Carterville's final seven points, including a 3-pointer and a spinning drive to the basket that gave his club its final lead with 1:06 left, 64-63.

Moore hit a pair of free throws to give back the lead to Vienna and Carterville wasted two different opportunities to get back in front.

Vienna's senior forward Chase Ennis missed two free throws with :14.7 remaining but Carterville didn't block out on the second attempt.

Wiggs cleaned up the second miss with an offensive rebound.

After being fouled, Wiggs hit both of his free throws in the clutch for a 67-64 lead.

Swalls had a 3-point look to tie the game in the final seconds, but his shot was well short and went out of bounds giving the ball back to the Eagles.

A final free throw from Wiggs (1-of-2) completed the comeback as this one went the distance with Vienna getting the split decision.

The Eagles took advantage of the Lions in the second half as they shot the ball better from the foul line.

Coach Waters' club connected on 20-of-26 free throws.

After a poor beginning Vienna closed the game strong offensively.

The Eagles finished 22-of-52 overall (42.3 percent) and 4-of-10 from the 3-point line.

They held a rebounding edge at 33-27 and both teams committed 15-turnovers.

Vienna, however, made its mistakes early while the Lions had their troubles late.

Carterville saw their record slip to 11-6 on the season and 0-1 in the tournament.

Coach Brown's team ended up 26-of-55 from the floor for 47.2 percent but just 5-of-21 from the arc.

Combined with the free throw shooting issues, the miscues and the missed shots doomed Carterville.

For Vienna, after starting the season 1-5, this was the ninth win in its last 12-contests.

Both teams head back to the floor Wednesday as Vienna will take on Goreville at 5:30 pm while the Lions will play the host Redbirds at 8:30 pm.

“Last night we had a great win against Eldorado where we played four quarters but I was afraid we would come out a little flat. Carterville is a great team but we kept battling. We had to match their intensity. They came out playing hard but we didn't,” said Coach Waters. “We just tried to match that intensity and get some stops.”