Semifinal showdown today: Waltonville vs. Woodlawn

Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament

By JOHN ROARK

John.roark@register-news.com

SESSER — Jefferson County is assured of another title-game berth at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament.

Defending champion Woodlawn played like one Monday morning, blasting Goreville 61-29 in the first quarterfinal game, while second-seeded Waltonville outscored Cobden 77-66 to set up a semifinal at 1:30 p.m. today between the two neighboring schools.

The game will serve as a rematch of the Dec. 8 in Woodlawn, where Waltonville emerged a 69-57 victor.

WOODLAWN 61, GOREVILLE 29

If the Cardinals were looking for an early-season signature win, it earned one in Monday’s quarterfinals.

Trailing just twice, Shane Witzel’s Cardinals turned up the intensity on defense and hammered the sixth-seeded Blackcats.

WHS (6-3) has negotiated some speed bumps after losing just once last year in the regular season before losing the Class 1A title game in March. But

Monday’s pasting of the Blackcats (7-3) served notice the Cardinals are once again a team to be reckoned with, especially since the reunion of point guard Dawson Verhines into the lineup.

Verhines, who missed the first seven games recovering from a knee injury, scored eight first-quarter points, and 12 of his 14 points came in the first half as the Cardinals edged away to a 24-15 halftime advantage.

“Verhines was probably going through the motions the first couple games,” Goreville coach Todd Tripp said. “He didn’t today.”

Instead, Verhines and running mate Casey Hammond (24 points) were all over the floor creating defensive havoc.

And it was Woodlawn’s third-quarter explosion that turned the game into a complete runaway for the Cards, who doubled their first-half output heading into the final frame. Hammond scored a dozen points during that spell, and Woodlawn converted on nearly all of Goreville’s third-quarter miscues.

“We took them out of their offense,” Witzel said, and we made it difficult for them to make good shots and they were limited to that one opportunity, so that’s where it all started.

“Offensively, we were able to handle their zone and they mixed it up little and even played man-to-man and a triangle-and-two, which is something we’ll see more of.

“We didn’t rush our shots, made the correct passes, made the correct cuts and that’s an encouraging sign because Goreville is a very good basketball team. To play them the way we did defensively was an outstanding effort by this group,” Witzel added.

Woodlawn sealed the deal with a 17-4 run to close out the third period.

Hammond scored nine straight points during the run. He converted his own steal, hit a 3-pointer after Kirk Dunbar snagged a Goreville miscue, knocked down a 16-footer out front and then sailed in on another steal and

runout before two Verhines free throws gave the Cardinals a 48-25 command at the third stop.

“A lot of Casey’s success was dictated by what we did defensively,” Witzel said. “We were able to get the stop, get the rebound and push the ball down the floor.

“He’s also worked hard on trying to get a mid-range game and he made some of those shots today, where he got the guy up in the air, made a good fake, pulled up and knocked down a mid-range shot.

“He wasn’t drifting in and out or off-balanced, left or right, When he’s doing what he did today, he can make some shot” the coach said.

Hammond led all scorers with 24 points, Verhines adding 14, Dunbar 10 and Josh Wiggs eight.

Martin Powell led Goreville with 10 points.



WALTONVILLE 77, COBDEN 66

The Spartans lived by the 3-point shot and then relaxed by it after storming to a 25-14 lead after one period.

Waltonville knocked down five treys in the opening segment, Joseph Lewis and Skyler Witges both scoring a pair.

When Brock Wheatley drained the fifth 3-pointer of the period, Waltonville owned a 25-10 lead, and a blowout seemed inevitable.

However, the Appleknockers became more aggressive in their offense, and Mike Denault’s Spartans turned sluggish by committing eight second-quarter floor errors.

Still owning a double-digit lead at 37-27 on another Lewis 3-pointer, the Spartans’ sloppy ways soon followed. An 8-2 ‘Knockers’ run, aided by some impatience by Waltonville, trimmed the deficit to 39-35 at the half.

Denault said his team didn’t adapt to Cobden’s 3-2 zone defense.

“(Cobden) went 3-2 zone and we weren’t patient,” Denault said. “We didn’t want to move the basketball.

“We don’t see a ton of zone. Though we practice it every day, it’s just not the same. I thought it took us too long to get stuff done against it .

“We finally did get things done, and we started to get what we wanted. But it took too long. Our guys are seniors, and they have to be able to make those adjustments,” Denault added.

And it took Cobden, led by 27-point author Rob Lehr, completely erasing the lead — and grabbing a short 50-48 advantage late in the third quarter — for the Spartans to finally awaken.

Waltonville went on a 13-0 run to seize control of the verdict, which came after Lehr picked up his fourth personal foul.

Lewis hit his fifth and final 3-pointer of the game — and also the last for the Spartans — to quickly give the lead back to Waltonville for good. Witges got the roll on a drive off the right side, and he then later scored off the right baseline to make it 55-50 Waltonville at the third stop.

“The big thing was Cobden was in a 1-3-1 zone,” Denault said, “and we finally got our guys to make the cuts to where they needed to be to attack that thing, and when we started to do that we started to get easy buckets.”

Lewis opened the fourth period by curling to the goal for a layup and sixth man Luke Stanhouse scored two straight baskets to end the rally, which gave Waltonville a 61-50 lead with 5:08 remaining.

The teams played on even terms the rest of the way, though a Gavin Bassett free throw at 1:16 gave the Spartans their original 15-point lead back.

Four of five starters scored in double figures for Waltonville. Lewis finished with 23 points, Witges adding 17, Wheatley 13 and Bassett 11. Dylan Johnson just missed twin digits with nine.

Lehr, who at times threw in some off-balanced shots, led all scorers with 27 points. Steve Draper added 18 points, Alex Sweitzer 12.

Denault expressed concern for the Spartans’ lack of defensive stops against Cobden.

“We did a better job late in the game (defensively), but it is still not good enough,” Denault said. “This team is built around defense and we haven’t shown a lot of that, to my liking, this year.

“Luckily we have guys who can score, and we’re outscoring people. But (today) we’re going to play a very good (Woodlawn) team that’s a lot better than they were the first time we played them.

“If we don’t defend better than we did (against Cobden), we’re really going to be disappointed at the end of the day,” Denault added.

Both teams were short-handed in the first meeting. Woodlawn was going at matters minus Verhines, and Bassett didn’t play for Waltonville.



Woodlawn 61, Goreville 29

Woodlawn 14 10 24 13—61

Goreville 9 6 10 4—29

WOODLAWN (6-3)

Verhines 5 4-4 14, Hammond 9 5-6 24, Wiggs 3 2-4 8, Dunbar 3 4-6 10,

McNeil 1 0-0 2, Johnson 1 1-1 3. Totals 22 16-21 61

GOREVILLE (7-3)

Lyell 1 0-0 2, Shadowens 0 3-5 3, Webb 0 1-2 1, Potocki 2 0-0 4, Kinder 2 0-0 4, Sopczak 2 1-4 5, Powell 5 0-0 10. Totals 12 5-11 29

3-point goals – Woodlawn (Hammond), Goreville none. Team fouls – Woodlawn 14, Goreville 18. Technical foul – Woodlawn bench (illegal substitution).



Waltonville 77, Cobden 66

Waltonville 25 14 16 22—77

Cobden 10 25 15 16—66

WALTONVILLE (9-1)

Bassett 4 3-5 11, Wheatley 6 0-0 13, SWitges 5 5-7 17, Johnson 4 1-2 9, Lewis 8 2-4 23, Stanhouse 2 0-0 4. Totals 29 11-18 77

COBDEN (7-4)

Lehr 8 9-14 27, Gearhart 2 0-0 4, Draper 8 2-7 18, Aspen 1 0-0 2, Sweitzer 4 2-2 12. Chapman 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 13-23 66

3-point goals — Waltonville 8 (Lewis 5, SWitges 2, Wheatley), Cobden 5 (Lehr 2, Sweitzer 2, Chapman). Team fouls — Waltonville 18, Cobden 19. Fouled out — Lehr, Stanhouse.

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