03-01-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
JUNCTION - In the early going of Tuesday night's 1A sectional game at Gallatin County, the Woodlawn Cardinals found difficulty making long distance shots.

A normally proficient squad from the 3-point arc, the Cardinals couldn't get early shots from the perimeter to fall.

As it turned out, the going was much smoother closer to the basket.

Coach Shane Witzel saw his club get the ball inside to seniors Austin Ballard and Brett Harris and this duo powered the offense, scoring 22 and 21-points respectively, as Woodlawn advanced to the sectional title game with a 69-54 win over Mounds Meridian.

The 6-foot-5 Harris and the 6-foot-3 Ballard “bullied” their way inside, taking the ball right at the Bobcats as Woodlawn shot an astounding 25-of-36 (69.4 percent) in improving to 27-3 on the season.

With the outside game not working (3-of-16 from beyond the arc) senior leader Ross Owens began getting the ball inside to his teammates.

The 6-foot-5 Owens finished with just nine points but he pulled down five rebounds and dished out five assists.

Harris led the Cards with nine-rebounds on the night.

Junior guard Blake Wollerman added eight points as the Cardinals will now appear in their fifth sectional title game, the Cardinals are 4-0 in those previous title contests.

“I'm really excited for these guys, it is something that they have been working for since last year. We feel fortunate to be moving on to Friday night,” said Coach Witzel. “Our offensive execution was good, we ran a lot of good sets. We did not shoot the ball well from the 3-point line but we were able to score around the basket. Ballard and Harris had huge nights for us. Their guys (Meridian) are not easy to score over. We shot a very high percentage in there.”

For the Bobcats, they managed to get the Cardinals in a bit of foul trouble but they failed to convert from the free throw line.

Coach Erik Griffin saw his club hit just 13-of-27 from the line and they were no better from the field on this night.

Meridian saw its season end at 20-13 at the hands of their old nemesis from two previous supersectional games won by Woodlawn.

Daniel Valentine, a 6-foot-2 senior leader for this club, finished his career with a 17-point effort while his junior teammates Byron Nesby and Jabare Patrick each scored 10.

The good news was that the Bobcats crashed the boards, grabbing 20-offensive rebounds and holding a 36-20 rebounding edge.

The bad news is that 20-missed shots went with those boards as Meridian found it tough getting shots to fall.

Coach Griffin's team was just 20-of-52 from the floor and just 1-of-5 from the 3-point line.

“Usually we were able to checkout the first guy on the offensive rebounds but it was their second third guys in there that got the rebounds for them,” said Coach Witzel. “It was something that we emphasized at halftime. It wasn't for a lack of effort, they are just good at it.”

The Bobcats started out 4-of-11 in the first quarter as they trailed from the outset, never getting a lead.

Unfortunately for Meridian, they couldn't take any advantage of the good things that they did in the contest.

They got to the foul line six times in the first quarter, making just three as they trailed 15-11 at the horn.

While the Cardinals missed their first four shots from beyond the arc, Owens hit his only bomb of the night to close the frame with a four-point lead.

Ballard scored twice in the quarter and Wollerman opened the scoring with a conventional three-point play on a drive just seconds into the game.

Woodlawn got the lead to double-digits at halftime, with Meridian missing free throws and Woodlawn making shots in the paint and converting fast break opportunities.

Meridian had five of their eleven turnovers in the second quarter which led to Woodlawn expanding the lead.

Harris and Ballard both scored on drives to the basket and they each stepped outside and made shots.

When Harris took a pass from Wollerman on a drive in the lane, the senior calmly nailed the 3-pointer from the right corner for a 31-21 Woodlawn lead with 1:58 left until halftime.

Another Harris bucket on a rebound and Wollerman driving the lane again for a three-point play, the Cardinals led 36-25 at the break.

“The scouting report of them (Woodlawn) was that they were shooters. But they are 'makers' and there is a difference,” said Coach Griffin. “They had open looks, where ever they were at they were able to knock them down. All in all it was a learning experience for these kids. They are an experienced team and I know they were hungry because they were denied last year. We knew we had our work cut out for us.”

The Cardinals opened the second half with a 10-2 run with Owens, Ballard and Harris hitting shots.

Owens opened and closed the rush on inside shots.

His score on an assist from Harris in the lane forced Meridian's second timeout of the quarter at 46-27 Woodlawn.

Senior Garrett Minks got in on the fun, scoring points in the third.

Minks took a nice lob pass from Owens for a bucket and his fast break conversion in transition on a play that went from Owens to Isaac to Minks made the lead its largest at 54-33 with 1:34 remaining.

The Bobcats showed a lot of heart and persistence, making one final run at the Cardinals in the fourth quarter that got things a bit interesting.

An 11-2 blast, highlighted by a pair of scores from freshman reserve Eddie Robertson closed the gap to just 62-49 with 2:52 to go.

However the veteran Woodlawn team wasn't shaken.

The Cardinals would spread the floor and force the Bobcats to extend their defense.

Woodlawn hit 3-of-4 free throws and a back door cut to the basket by Minks on a pass from Owens finished off Meridian.

Woodlawn will face the winner of Wednesday night's Christopher vs. Goreville matchup on Friday night for the sectional championship. “I'm proud of the fact that our kids battled for 32-minutes. We could have rolled over and it would have been a 25 or 30 point loss. But we did our best to make a game out of it,” said Coach Griffin.

Meridian (54) – Nesby 5 0 0-0 10, Valentine 6 0 5-8 17, Lowe 1 0 1-2 3, Nicholson 0 0 4-8 4, Patrick 4 0 2-4 10, Sims 2 0 1-5 5, White 0 0 0-0 0, Robertson 1 1 0-0 5.
2FG-19, 3FG-1, FT-13-27, PF-13.
Woodlawn (69) – Owens 2 1 2-2 9, Wollerman 3 0 2-3 8, MInks 2 0 0-0 4, Harris 9 1 0-0 21, Ballard 7 1 5-5 22, Hoppa 0 0 0-0 0, Isaac 2 0 1-3 5.
2FG-25, 3FG-3, FT-10-13, PF-14.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.