12-20-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
WAYNE CITY - Don’t look now but the Cisne Lions have taken over the Conrad Allen Wayne City Holiday Tournament.

Head coach Kevin Bowen has supervised three championships in the last five seasons – including Saturday night’s 57-47 win over Thompsonville in the title game.

Riding the machine like accuracy of Ronnie Hyder from the foul line and Hayden Byars precision from the field – the Lions (8-3 overall) took home their second consecutive WC crown by running the table in the pool play event 4-0.

Putting all doubts to rest by nailing 10-of-11 fourth quarter charity tosses – Cisne captured its fourth overall title in front of a large crowd Saturday night.

Hyder (10-of-10 for the contest) hit eight of those free throws down the stretch – which included six consecutive conversions when Thompsonville was forced to foul.

Byars was busy breaking down the Tigers defense in the second half on drives to the basket.

Thompsonville (5-7 overall) had its chances but couldn’t find the mark enough (5-of-15 from the field) in the final eight minutes.

And the second chances didn’t materialize with the Lions dominating the glass by out-manning Thompsonville 10-2 in rebounds in the fourth quarter.

A switch to a zone defense for most of the final three quarters also helped frustrate the Tigers.

When the dust had settled – Cisne had yet another trophy to put away.

“I thought the guys did a pretty good job of competing tonight after the battle we had this afternoon,” said Bowen – referring to his team’s 48-46 win over Crab Orchard that put his club in position to repeat as champions. “I thought we did an excellent job tonight.”

The Lions – after a slow start – made a big move to close the second quarter.

Trailing 21-14 with 3:11 remaining before intermission – Cisne finished the frame with an 11-3 run to lead at the break 25-24.

Byars and Hyder both hit big shots in the run while Andy Thomason picked up big offensive rebounds that resulted in points.

He grabbed a rebound of a Zach Talbert miss and stuck it home with :03 left to finish the first half scoring.

Thompsonville committed a pair of turnovers in the Cisne run and Coach Robinson’s club – which controlled most of the first 16 minutes – found themselves trailing at intermission.

“We just got very lazy there at the end of the second quarter and allowed them to comeback,” said Robinson. “That was a huge swing for them.”

Thompsonville looked like the fresher team when the game began.

Back-to-back baskets by Jacob Nielson and Scott Gaither gave the Tigers an early 10-4 advantage.

But Coach Bowen used a timeout and reminded his troops what this game was all about.

“I thought the kids responded tonight after a slow start,” Bowen added. “I reminded them that this wasn’t a third place game – that this was for the championship. We were kind of flat and I put in Keelin Davis and he is kind of a high-energy guy and he kind of sparked us.”

Thompsonville got its final advantage of the game with 2:44 left in the third quarter.

A 7-0 run with Nielson, Josh Fisher and reserve Zac Lindsey producing points – put the Tigers in charge briefly at 34-32.

As they had accomplished at the end of the second quarter – Cisne made a final scoring push to end the third quarter.

Hyder made two nice drives to the basket through Thompsonville’s defense for scores.

Talbert caught the Tigers napping on an inbounds play and out-hustled Thompsonville to the ball for a fast break score and a 38-34 lead heading to the final quarter.

Thompsonville’s last offensive burst came when Fisher and Nielson converted consecutive 3-point shots to cut the deficit to 42-41.

However Byars and Hyder polished off the game by scoring all of the Cisne points in the fourth quarter.

Byars sent a dagger straight into the Tigers heart when he connected a 3-point bomb from the top of the arc while being pushed to the floor by Jordan Browning.

Byars connected on the free throw to give Cisne a 50-43 lead with 3:18 to go.

“I thought Browning did a pretty good job on him (Byars) tonight but you just have to give the kid credit,” said Thompsonville head coach John Robinson. “He was hot and scoring and they (Cisne) went to him in the second half.”

The Lions worked the ball for free throw opportunities the rest of the way and hit 7-of-8 in the last 1:30 while the Tigers missed their last five attempts from the floor.

Byars led all scorers with 25 while Hyder finished with 20.

Nielson topped the Tigers with 14 with Browning and Fisher added 10 points each.

Thompsonville was just 19-of-53 from the floor and were out-rebounded 33-25.

“They went to a zone and we had some good looks at the basket but we didn’t crash the boards on our missed shots like we should have,” added Robinson.

Cisne was 19-of-44 overall from the field and hit 3-of-8 shots from behind the arc.

The Lions were “money” from the foul line thanks to Hyder – hitting on 16-of-19 free throws.

Both teams took care of the ball with a combined 17 turnovers in the game.

“We thought they (Thompsonville) could hurt us on the offensive boards because they have some kids that can rebound,” Bowen added. “They are athletic and strong but I thought our guys did a good job of boxing out and then going and getting the basketball.”

Cisne heads to the Christmas break looking forward to the rest of the season.

”I think our conference (Midland Trail) is stronger now and it will make us a lot better playing tough competition each night,” finalized Bowen.

The Tigers have a rugged part of its Greater Egyptian Conference schedule ahead.

“We came in here this week struggling and we came out of here with a second place trophy and I feel a lot better about this team now then I did a week ago,” added Robinson. “We came in here 2-5 and not playing very well but we are leaving 5-7. I think the kids are improving and coming together. Hats off to Cisne. Kevin (Bowen) does a great job.”

Cisne (71) – Talbert 2 0 1-2 5, Hyder 5 0 10-10 20, Simpson 0 0 1-2 1, Byars 6 3 4-5 25, Thomason 2 0 0-0 4, Maloy 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 1 0 0-0 2, Helm 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-16, 3FG-3, FT-16-19, PF-13.
Thompsonville (47) – Williams 0 1 0-0 3, Browning 5 0 0-2 10, Nielson 3 2 2-5 14, J. Fisher 3 1 1-2 10, Lindsey 0 1 0-0 3, Kerley 3 0 0-0 6, Orrill 0 0 0-0 0, Z. Fisher 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-4-11, PF-17.
Fouled Out – J. Fisher - Thompsonville.
Technical Fouls – None.

CRAB ORCHARD 70, CLAY CITY 69
The Trojans snagged third place honors with a helter skelter win over the Wolves.

Coach Jon Brown's club finished 3-1 in the week with the one point win.

Adam Perry's free throw with 1:03 remaining provided the final margin.

Wilting under pressure - Clay City (8-2) committed five fourth quarter turnovers (18 for the contest) in the loss.

Tyler Fauver of Crab Orchard topped his team with 20-points while Perry and Ben Kissing added 13 and 12.

The Wolves were led by 31 points from Dami Eastin in the loss.

Crab Orchard (70) – Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Hutchins 1 2 0-1 8, Kissing 3 0 6-6 12, Fauver 1 6 0-0 20, Anderson 1 0 0-0 2, Perry 4 0 5-8 13, Killen 2 1 4-4 11. 2FG-14, 3FG-9, FT-15-19, PF-14.
Clay City (66) – Duvall 2 0 2-3 6, Duff 1 0 0-2 2, Frank 0 1 2-2 5, Lewis 2 5 0-0 19, Fehrenbacher 3 0 0-0 6, Eastin 11 0 9-11 31, Bayler 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-19, 3FG-6, FT-13-18, PF-19.
Fouled Out – Lewis - Clay City.
Technical Fouls – None.

EDWARDS COUNTY 80, PATOKA 79
Behind 29 points from Jacob Columbia - the Lions took home the fifth place award with the one point win.

Chad Smith and Michael Aaron added 18 and 10 points respectively for Edwards County (7-5).

The Warriors' Derek Black notched 27 markers for Coach Joe Eddy's club (5-5).

Patoka (79) – Baldridge 7 0 1-5 15, Jenkins 1 0 0-0 2, D. Murfin 1 0 0-0 2, Whisler 3 1 1-2 10, L. Murfin 4 3 0-0 17, Allen 1 0 0-0 2, Back 9 3 0-0 27, Wimberly 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-14, 3FG-9, FT-15-19, PF-21.
Edwards County (80) – Columbia 2 7 4-4 29, Vallette 2 0 4-6 8, Harris 2 0 1-3 5, Smith 6 1 3-4 18, Aaron 2 1 3-4 10, Winemiller 4 0 0-0 8, Head 0 0 0-0 0, Pertl 1 0 0-2 2.
2FG-19, 3FG-9, FT-15-23, PF-14.
Fouled Out – Baldridge - Patoka.
Technical Fouls – None.

All-Tournament Team
Derek Black of Patoka; Jacob Columbia & Chad Smith of Edwards County; Cody Lewis and Blake Fehrenbacher of Clay City; Cody Thomason of Wayne City; A.J. Hutchins and Drew Johnson of Crab Orchard; Jacob Nielson and Jordan Browning of Thompsonville; Ronnie Hyder and Hayden Byars of Cisne.