01-04-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER - The Christopher Bearcats jumped out to a quick early lead in its game against rival Zeigler-Royalton on Friday night and Coach Eric Stallman's club didn't let up, crushing the Tornadoes 59-36 in Black Diamond Conference action.

Using their size advantage, the Cats improved to 9-5 overall and 2-2 in the league.

The Tornadoes couldn't deal with Christopher's inside game as 6-foot-6 senior Kevin Mercks and 6-foot-1 senior RJ Kuh had their way with the smaller Z-R squad.

Kuh topped all scorers with 18-points while Mercks added 14.

Either scoring from the field or getting to the foul line for points, Christopher would not be denied as they sent the Tornadoes to their fifth loss of the season.

The Tornadoes (13-5 overall, 2-2 in the BDC-W) were led by junior guard Jeremy Weddle with 11-points.

“It is a rivalry game, out kids play football with those kids and they really wanted to compete against them. Getting out early really did help. Getting out to a good start is always important and we did tonight,” said Coach Stallman. “We had a nice start and were able to get the ball into the post.”

Getting off to a poor start, Coach Matt Morgan's club never got on track against their adversaries.

The Tornadoes spotted Christopher an 8-0 lead by coming up empty on its first seven possessions.

Compounding the problem, Z-R paraded the Bearcats to the foul line in the opening half.

Christopher scored 12 of its points from the charity stripe in the first half.

They got to the line by crashing the offensive glass, grabbing six first quarter offensive rebounds.

Mercks scored twice in the early going and his hook shot from the right blocks gave Christopher a 7-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first quarter.

Zeigler-Royalton cut into the lead as they got a brief run going with Weddle hitting a 3-pointer and teammate Nick McPhail scoring on a drive in the lane.

But the Tornadoes failed to capitalize on a gift from Christopher as they couldn't convert from the foul line.

In a foul plagued first half, with both teams in the double-bonus midway through the second quarter, Z-R could have dented the Bearcats lead, but they hit just 5-of-12 from the line.

A 6-0 run by the Cats, sparked by Kuh with a pair of scores in the paint, gave Christopher its first double-digit lead.

Six-foot-two junior Eric Young closed the run with a fast break score on an assist from senior Tyler Atchison as the Bearcats led 23-12 with 4:41 left before intermission.

Z-R then put together its best move of the night with a pair of baskets by Brandon Jones and two free throws by Weddle, which got the Tornadoes back to within five points.

However Christopher finished off the half, and Z-R, by closing the quarter in a 9-2 fashion.

Freshman Josh Calloni came off the bench for Coach Stallman and scored five points in the second quarter, including a conventional three-point play with :07 left before halftime.

His made free throw sent the teams to the locker room at 32-20.

“They (Christopher) beat us in every aspect of the game tonight,” said Coach Morgan. “Coaching, offense, defense, we just got our brains beat in tonight. Going in we knew we were undersized, and Kuh and Mercks, we knew would be a load in there. And both of those boys came in ready to play tonight.”

An 11-2 scoring blitz to begin the second half laid the outcome to rest as Christopher came out and delivered the knock-out blow.

Young scored five of the points, muscling in for a three-point play and later on a drive to the baseline that made it 43-22 with 4:05 left.

Christopher closed the frame with Mercks scoring on a pass from Kuh and a fast break from junior guard Jacob Towers for a 49-32 lead at the end of three.

“They came out (in the third quarter) and kicked us in the teeth and finished it off,” added Coach Morgan.

The Bearcats controlled the tempo in the fourth quarter, running the clock down nearly two minutes on one possession before two free throws from Mercks.

In fact Z-R didn't score a point in the final 5:17 of the contest as Christopher scored the game's final eight points for the 23-point win.

The stats of the game told the story in this contest as the Bearcats dominated all facets.

The host were much more efficient offensively, hitting on 20-of-39 attempts from the field.

Mercks hit 6-of-8 from the floor while Kuh was 5-of-10.

Towers followed Kuh and Mercks by adding 11-points while Young finished with seven.

The Bearcats real dominance came on the glass as they out-boarded the Tornadoes 36-16 with Kuh leading the charge with 13.

The outcome could have been worse had Christopher be more productive from the foul line (19-of-27).

Z-R wasn't very good from the field, hitting just 11-of-45 overall and only 2-of-15 from behind the arc.

Bailey Schimpf followed Weddle with seven points while Jeffrey Pedigo and Brandon Stubblefield added three points each.

Saddled with early foul trouble, and eventually fouling out, Nick McPhail also finished with just three points.

“Most of their offense comes off of dribble penetration and they weren't able to do that much tonight,” added Coach Stallman. “We knew going in that we would have an advantage with Kuh and Mercks near the basket. Most of their advantage would be to get up-and-down the court. I thought we did a good job stopping their dribble penetration tonight.”

Add ten turnovers to the equation and the result is a resounding defeat for the Tornadoes, who were coming off a very good Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament in which they won the consolation championship last Monday.

The Bearcats, who finished fourth at the S-VHT, got the second half of the season off to a good start with a key conference win.

Christopher heads back into action next Tuesday with a game at Johnston City while the Tornadoes play at Sesser-Valier on January 11.

Zeigler-Royalton (36) – McPhail 1 0 1-2 3, Pedigo 1 0 1-4 3, Moskoff 0 0 1-2 1, Stubblefield 1 0 1-4 3, Jones 3 0 0-0 6, Schimpf 0 1 4-4 7, Weddle 2 1 4-5 11, Reece 0 0 0-0 0, Brooks 1 0 0-0 2, Dobroski 0 0 0-0 0, Eisenhaur 0 0 0-0 0, Sadler 0 0 0-0 0, Risley 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-9, 3FG-2, FT-12-21, PF-21.
Christopher (59) – Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Towers 3 0 5-9 11, Hodge 0 0 0-0 0, Atchison 1 0 0-0 2, Wheeler 0 0 0-0 0, Gibbens 0 0 0-0 0, Young 3 0 1-3 7, Calloni 1 0 3-3 5, Conner 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Mercks 6 0 2-2 14, Kuh 5 0 8-10 18.
2FG-20, 3FG-0, FT-19-29, PF-21.
Fouled Out – McPhail - Zeigler-Royalton; Calloni - Christopher.
Technical Fouls – Mercks - Christopher.