01-24-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
WOODLAWN - The Woodlawn Cardinals accomplished two goals and perhaps took a step towards another one with a 47-44 double-overtime win over Christopher in the second game at the Woodlawn Invitational Tournament Tuesday night.

Coach Shane Witzel's club has been trying to get over the .500 mark all season.

With consecutive wins this week, these Cardinals have improved to 9-8 on the season and are sitting at 2-0 in the round-robin event that is annually rotated between Woodlawn and rival Waltonville.

The other accomplishment that shouldn't go unnoticed is getting a measure of revenge from the Bearcats.

Christopher kept Woodlawn from defending its Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament consolation championship back on December 30th with a 67-52 victory.

Also, with the two teams in the same sub-sectional for postseason play, this game takes on a bigger meaning when the seeding meeting takes place next Wednesday.

In what turned out to be a defensive matchup with neither team holding more than an eight point lead, the Cardinals' defense forced enough turnovers to overshadow a rough shooting first three quarters.

Five free throws in the second overtime held up to provide Woodlawn with a 'W'.

While the Cardinals struggled from the field early, the Bearcats (12-7, 1-1 in the tournament) committed too many costly turnovers.

The two teams defensively left it all on the court and when the dust had settled after 40 minutes, the Cardinals had the victory.

"It is big for us that we can come back and get a win like this," added Witzel. "We got down in the first overtime but we didn't give up. This is the kind of game that you can't simulate in practice and it's a game that will help us. We are trying to get better with each game and the last two nights we have had two of our best defensive games."

In the previous contest between the two schools, Christopher's Zach Thomas scored 32-points.

But on this night, the defensive play of the Cardinals, especially by John Kindle, kept Thomas in check.

"John (Kindle) did an excellent job on the Thomas kid," Witzel said. "He had 32 on us last time and we held him to just four tonight."

Coach Gary Gischer's club had opportunity and motive, but couldn't 'steal' a victory on this night.

A 'snail-like' first half was caused by a strong defensive performance by each club, making points a scarce commodity.

At 15-14 neither team got much accomplished offensively.

Christopher led for the most part in the first two quarters but couldn’t put together enough offense to get a comfortable lead, mainly due to five second period turnovers.

"From a fan standpoint it was probably a good game to watch but as a coach it was tough," added Gischer. "The ball was flying around out there and both teams played well defensively."

The Bearcats had the best shot to deliver a 'knockout blow' in the third quarter.

Woodlawn missed seven consecutive shots coming out of the intermission and fell behind.

Nick Minor, who topped the Bearcats with 18-points, scored on a conventional three-point play to open an 8-0 run to give his team a 23-15 lead with 4:58 to go.

But the Cardinals warmed up after that dry spell and, thanks to five turnovers and three straight missed shot by Christopher, worked their way back into the contest.

Kindle created two scoring opportunities on the defensive end for himself to help his team.

His second shot in the run, along with a steal and lay in before the third quarter buzzer by Scott McNeil made it 27-23 Bearcats.

"I would like to think our defense had a lot to do with them not being able to pull away from us in the third quarter," added Witzel. "On the same token, they were all over us, too. There weren't very many good looks at the basket tonight."

Woodlawn made its best move offensively and appeared to have the victory sown up late in regulation.

The Cardinals hit their first four shots in the quarter and led 36-32 with 1:26 remaining.

However a back door lay in by Justin Palmer and a steal by Minor, which resulted in a foul and two made free throws, knotted the game at 36-all.

Holding the ball for a final shot, Woodlawn had a last second shot by Jody Kabat misfire on an inbounds play at the buzzer, sending the game into the first of two extra sessions.

Christopher again appeared on the verge of victory, when Minor scored on a lay up while being fouled by Justin Bonifacius.

His three-point play and then 1-of-2 free throws just a minute later gave the 'Cats a 40-36 lead.

Woodlawn rallied and scored four points on baskets by Tiemann and Bonifacius to send the game to a second overtime.

They had the final shot in the first overtime, just as it did to end the fourth quarter.

But McNeil's off-balanced shot at the buzzer was just short.

After falling behind in the second half and in the first extra session, Woodlawn got the upper hand in what turned out to be the last overtime needed.

Kindle scored just seconds into the second OT and a minute later he started the Cardinals' free throw shooting parade.

Coach Witzel's team made just 5-of-10 of the charities in the final 2:10 but Christopher couldn't get enough shots to fall to benefit.

A Minor 3-pointer cut the lead down to 46-44 and, after another made free throw by McNeil with :09.8 left, Christopher reserve John Martin misfired on a 3-pointer.

Kindle got the rebound and dribbled out the clock, ending this dramatic defensive battle.

Minor's 18 markers topped both teams while Palmer added 13.

Woodlawn got 11-points each from Kindle and Tiemann. Bonifacius and McNeil added 10-apiece.

Both teams were nearly identical offensively in a 'Twilight Zone' sort of way.

Woodlawn finished 14-of-37 overall (2-of-7) while Christopher was 13-of-37 and also 2-of-7 from behind the arc.

The Cardinals made 13-of-21 free throws, the Bearcats were 12-of-21 from the stripe.

One of the stats that stood out was Christopher's 32-22 rebounding edge.

But 17 turnovers overshadowed the board work and the Bearcats will have to regroup before Thursday night's game with Patoka.

"This was a hard fought game and I knew it would be," said Gischer. "We exerted a lot of energy tonight, especially early, and it kind of took its toll on us. We didn't play very well in the first half. We did wake up in the second half but we had our chances early and didn't take advantage."

The Cardinals are off until they hook up with rival Waltonville on Friday night.

"We were really struggling offensively tonight in the first half and a lot of that has to do with their defense," added Witzel. "They (Christopher) get after you on the defensive end and I thought our defensive effort was good, and that is what kept us in the game whenever we were having trouble scoring."

Christopher will play Patoka on Thursday night.

"We told the kids tonight to forget about the last time we played them because that 15-point win doesn't mean anything now," added Gischer. "We told them that they would be a war tonight on their floor it was nothing less than that."

	1	2	3	4	1OT	2OT	Final
Christopher	8	6	13	9	4	4	44
Woodlawn	6	9	8	13	4	7	47

Christopher (44) - Minor 4 1 7-10 18, Niblett 1 0 0-0 2, Palmer 6 0 1-3 13, Thomas 0 1 1-4 4, Toney 2 0 3-4 7, Twitty 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-2, FT-12-21, PF-17.
Woodlawn (47) - McNeil 3 0 4-7 10, Kindle 4 0 3-6 11, Tiemann 2 2 1-2 11, Bonifacius 4 0 2-2 10, Kabat 1 0 2-2 4, Ritchey 0 0 0-0 0, Shurtz 0 0 0-0 0, Boldt 0 0 1-2 1.
2FG-14, 3FG-2, FT-13-21, PF-13.
Fouled Out - Tiemann, Woodlawn; Minor, Christopher.
Technical Fouls - None.

WALTONVILLE 75, PATOKA 48
From the tone of the head coaches after Waltonville's 75-48 victory over Patoka on Tuesday night at the Woodlawn Invitational Tournament, one coach was very happy with his teams' effort while the other one was very disappointed.

Oddly enough it was the Spartans' mentor Mike Denault that wasn't pleased with his squads' effort while Patoka coach Joe Eddy came away from the game with a better feeling than he did the previous night.

If one didn't know better, it sounded as if the Spartans had lost.

While Waltonville was clearly in charge for the entire game, the Spartans didn't look sharp.

Playing in its second game without senior guard Adam Kitowski, Waltonville didn't play with the intensity that this coach has been used to in its previous 19 contests, all victories.

Despite placing nine players in the scoring column, five of which hit for double-figures, the Spartans struggled for the most part on the other end of the court that has been a place that this coach has been satisfied with for most of the season.

"I am not going to make any excuses because we had a week off but we didn't play very well tonight," said Denault, whose team is now 20-0 with the win. "We shot the ball exceptionally well in the first quarter which got us a lead, but we didn't play very well defensively. We spend a lot of time on defense and we weren't talking out there and made mistakes by not talking on screens. When you don't come ready to play things like that happen."

On the other end of the gym, coach Eddy was complimentary about his teams' effort, which was much more positive than the previous night in a loss to Woodlawn.

"We had the effort tonight and if we had had that same effort last night it would have been a different story," said Eddy, who was referring to a lack-luster 45-30 loss Monday night. "I don't know if it was because we had nothing to lose but we played loose and we played more aggressive. They showed some heart tonight and I think it is going to help get us over the hump."

The Spartans were led in scoring by Anthony Lowery with 14-points while Derek Tepovich added 11. Brandon Spotanski, Josh Ralls and Jordan Kabat all tossed in 10.

Even though the Spartans obviously didn't get a passing grade from their coach, they did more than enough to win this game in their tournament opener.

Leading just 6-5 with 5:59 to go in the first stanza, Waltonville took control with a 17-4 run.

Derek Tepovich closed out the first quarter with a pair of 3-point shots, one from each corner.

His shot with :03 from the right side made it 23-9 at the end of one.

Lowery put in a pair of shots in the early part of the second quarter and Spotanski helped finish off the Warriors just before the break.

The 5-foot-11 senior guard turned Patoka turnovers into points on back-to-back scores. His second one was a conventional three-point play after being fouled by Marcus Carroll.

The 6-foot-8 Spotanski, who started in the place of Kitowski as Denault used a big lineup, scored a pair of baskets in the lane on an offensive rebound and also a shot after receiving a pass from Jon Kash.

Another Lowery score on a fast break just a few seconds later ended the first half scoring at 37-17 Waltonville.

The Warriors, as Eddy alluded to, had some positives to build upon.

Five-foot-ten junior guard Matt Thompson topped Patoka with 16-points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, and Rio Hames, who at 6-foot-5, is a junior that has yet to reach his potential according to Eddy. Hames chipped in 14 for the 3-15 club.

"I pulled him (Hames) aside last night on the way home and told him that 'you have so much potential that you don't even know about yet' and I told him to go to the basket until somebody stops you," added Eddy. "I think that he can be something special if he gets over not having the confidence to get the job done."

Although they trailed by over 20-points for most of the second half, Patoka continued to play hard.

Hames, Metcalf and Jordan Potter combined to help the Warriors outscore Waltonville 20-16 in a 'mop-up' fourth quarter.

"We had a lack of focus and intensity tonight, top to bottom in our lineup," added Denault.

Both teams have work to do the rest of the week including games Thursday night, as Waltonville will take on Sandoval while Patoka will tackle Christopher.

	1	2	3	4		Final
Patoka	9	8	11	20	-	48
Waltonville	23	14	22	16	-	75

Patoka (48) - Thompson 4 2 2-2 16, Cain 0 0 0-0 0, Back 0 1 0-0 3, Potter 2 1 0-1 7, Sullens 0 0 0-0 0, Hames 5 1 1-2 14, Metcalf 2 0 2-2 6, Carroll 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-13, 3FG-5, FT-5-7, PF-11.
Waltonville (75) - Owens 1 1 0-0 5, Ralls 4 0 2-4 10, O'Bryant 0 1 0-0 3, A. Kash 2 0 0-0 4, Tepovich 1 3 0-2 11, Reeves 0 0 0-0 0, Lowery 4 1 3-5 14, J. Kash 4 0 0-0 8, Kubiak 0 0 0-0 0, McGovern 0 0 0-0 0, Kabat 2 2 0-0 10, Talbert 0 0 0-0 0, Spotanski 4 0 2-4 10.
2FG-22, 3FG-8, FT-7-15, PF-11.
Fouled Out - Metcalf, Patoka.
Technical Fouls - None.