Second-quarter swarm lifts Waltonville

Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament

By JOHN ROARK

john,roark@register-news.com

SESSER — Perhaps it wasn’t a case of sugar plums dancing in the winless Johnston City Indians’ heads Saturday afternoon, but whatever upset designs were in place, Waltonville quickly stomped on them.

Trailing 19-15 early in the second quarter, the second-seded Spartans turned up the energy, scoring 16 straight points en route to a 31-4 run which turned the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament first-round matchup into a 66-46 romp.

And it was a lack of early juice which had Waltonville coach Mike Denault concerned.

“We always we have a hard time getting started over here in these early-round games,” Denaulty said after his team improve to 8-1. “I really didn’t talk anything about Johnston City to them before this game — it was all about (getting started).”

And, for most of the first period, it was Gavin Bassett keeping the Spartans in the mix, his half-dozen points enabling Waltonville to stay within 17-15 at the first stop.

“There for a stretch, it was like he was out there by himself, making things happen,” Denault said. “I was about to take him out, and he got about three straight steals and buckets, and I thought, ‘Heck no, not while he’s on that kind of a run.’”

Little did the WHS coach realize how big a run the entire team was about to embark on.

Riley Hearn’s basket gave the Indians (0-10) a 19-15 lead to open the second period, but after JC’s Brandon Crider missed a pair of free throws, the Spartans went to the races.

Brock Wheatley hit a three-point shot and completed a three-point play during the 16-0 run, and sixth man Luke Stanhouse also scored a half-dozen points.

“We weren’t in a flow, it was (a lack of) energy — you’ve got to have the energy,” Denault said. “Once we got that going, things were going well. We were getting our hands on some of their passes, and getting some offensive rebounds.”

All told, the Spartans outscored Johnston City 18-4 in the second quarter to take a 33-21 halftime lead, then made it a 31-4 surge when Bassett’s free throw pushed Waltonville ahead 46-23 with 3:40 left in the third frame.

Denault explained his team’s turn of fortunes.

“We’re pretty good,” Denault said, “but you can’t go out there and not do those little things and expect to be successful. I thought we did that after four minutes.

“I don’t think we were putting pressure on the ball. We’re fronting in the post, and if you don’t put pressure on the ball, they are going to set backscreens and get layups.”

Johnston City wound up with 27 turnovers, but Denault said his team also did a better job hitting the backboards after being clobbered in last week’s win against Hamilton County.

“We also did a better job getting offensive rebounds,” Denault said. “I’ve been preaching to them a lot about that. For us to take it to the next level, we’ve got to do a better job on both ends of the glass. We did a better job, got some second looks and were able to contain them a little better than we did (against) Hamilton County.”

Three Spartans were in double figures, and two just missed. Wheatley led the way with 16 points, Skyler Witges adding 13 and Dylan Johnson 10. Bassett added nine, Stanhouse eight.

Cridel led JC with 15 points.

Waltonville meets upstart Cobden today in a 1:30 p.m. quarterfinal matchup. The Appleknockers stunned Zeigler-Royalton just prior to the Waltonville-Johnston City contest.

“I haven’t seen them, but weI played them in first round last year and they gave us a fit,” Denault said. “We’re gonna have to be ready to play, or it can be another early-round exit for us.”



Waltonville 66, Johnston City 46

JCity 17 4 8 17—46

Waltonville 15 18 18 15—66

JOHNSTON CITY (0-10)

Richard 4 0-1 8, Soloman 3 0-0 6, Dean 3 1-2 7, Cridel 6 3-6 15, Davison 3 0-2 6, Hearn 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 4-11 46

WALTONVILLE (8-1)

Kabat 0 0-0 0, Bassett 4 1-5 9, Wheatley 6 3-3 16, SWitges 4 4-4 13, Johnson 4 2-2 10, Lewis 3 0-0 6, TWitges 0 0-0 0, Stanhouse 3 2-4 8, Compton 0 0-0 0, Teopvich 0 0-0 0, Kohner 0 0-0 0, McCoy 0 0-0 0, Rapp 0 0-0 0, Askew 1 1-2 4. Totals 25 13-18 66

3-point goals — Waltonville 3 (Wheatley, SWitges, Askew). Team fouls — Johnston City 18, Woodlawn 12



OTHER FIRST-DAY RESULTS

Goreville 55, Christopher 42: After several challenges from the Bearcats, the sixth-seeded Blackcats slowly edged away late.

Lee Sopczak scored eight of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and was 11 of 13 at the foul line. Center Martin Powell added 14 points.

Cobden 56, Zeigler-Royalton 48: In the day’s first upset, the Appleknockers’ Robby Lehr scored a Day One-best 30 points and Cobden outscored the Tornadoes 19-10 in the second quarter to take a 28-24 halftime lead. Lehr scored 17 points before the intermission.

New Athens 53, Chester 43: In a rare matchup of schools with Yellowjackets as mascots, Tyler

Womak scored 16 points and Cody Gaubatz 15 as the tournament’s fifth seed advanced.

New Athens led at every stop, including the end of the third period, when it held a 48-29 command.

Sparta 59, Vienna 30: Many a fan’s dark horse to win the tournament, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs zipped to a 16-4 lead after a quarter and won handily.

David Sams scored 14 points and London Oliver added 11 for Sparta, which held a 29-12 halftime advantage and expanded the margin to 40-20 after three frames.

Marissa 58, Century 54: In the day’s closest contest, Marissa became the second unseeded team to pull an upset.

Down 18-9 after a quarter and 33-23 at the half, the Meteors pulled to within 42-40 heading into the final quarter.

Cody Mahan’s eight points down the stretch enabled Marissa to rally.

Mahan scored 13 points, Joey Martin and Casey Pitchford adding 11 each for the winners.

Sesser-Valier 57, Elverado 22: The top-seeded Red Devils hardly flexed a muscle, rolling to a 17-5 lead at the first stop,

S-V (10-0) rolled up a 51-14 command after three quarters, when coach Chip Basso pulled the plug and played his bench.

Curtis Edwards, a non-starter, led the Devils with 15 points, including a perfect 9 of 9 effort at the foul line. Justin Matyi scored nine points, T.J. Eubanks eight.

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