Published: December 03, 2008 09:37 am            

Indians hold on for win

By PAUL T. WILCOXEN

paul.wilcoxen@register-news.com

WAYNE CITY — It may be a new conference, but it was apparent on Tuesday that at least two teams are all for keeping up the same old rivalry of the disbanded Mid-South Conference.

In a game between two schools separated by a 10-mile stretch of Illinois 15, Webber Township and Wayne City traded punches like a heavyweight prize fight and when it was all said and done, the Indians pulled away for a 56-45 victory over the Trojans in boys high school basketball action at Wayne City.

The two teams are now a part of the Midland Trail Conference, but only their January 30 contest at Webber will be recorded as a conference game.

“Overall we played much better, defensively, which led to easier baskets,” said Wayne City coach Russ Gerlach. “The second half was a much, much better effort, overall.

“We’ve been having trouble scoring in our regular motion offense and we’ve been doing better out of the sets, but we can’t run the sets every time down.”

For the most part it was a game of runs and Wayne City used a pair of scoring outbursts in the second half to hold off Webber Township.

To set up the situation, the Trojans erased a 24-15 second quarter deficit after Wayne City outscored the road team, 13-2, up until the 4:14 mark in the first half.

“[This is] pretty typical of our last three games,” said Webber coach Sam Root. “We’re working hard, but we have to put two halves of a basketball game together. Basically, coach Gerlach or I didn’t make too many adjustments at half time. I just felt that Wayne City came out and made more plays [and] you have to give them credit. They made big shots in the second half.”

Ethan Gowler knocked down a three, which was the beginning of Webber’s 10-0 run to close out the second quarter and give the Trojans a 25-24 lead at half time.

“We reiterated on the basic fundamentals on how to attack full court pressure at half-time,” said Root. “Basically we had to be stronger with the basketball, get some spacing and clear out. After that I thought we handled it pretty well.

“Ball control was an issue last year and it seems to continue this year.”

So after Webber took the lead and the momentum with them into the locker room, Gerlach said after the game that it was important for his team to re-establish themselves early in the third quarter.

So to open the second half, Wayne City ran a designed play, which resulted in the Indians taking back the lead on a three from Zach Meritt, which — in turn — led to a 7-0 run to open the third quarter in less than two minutes.

“We ran a set play at the start of the third quarter to get a certain kind of shot and he made it,” said Gerlach.

“[Meritt] and Tyler Porter are our two best shooters, so we’ve got to get those two guys open as much as possible.

“Joe Evans hit a couple big threes in the second half.”

Webber fought its way back throughout the second half, but they were never able to take back the lead.

Bryan Johnson knocked down a baseline jumper from about 12 feet, followed by Keith Catron picking up a defensive rebound and taking it from one end of the floor to the other for a lay up and cut the Indians’ lead to 34-33 with 2:35 to play in the third quarter.

“Bryan Johnson has a lot of ability,” said Root. “He’s a junior and this is really his first year and we’re relying a lot on him, offensively. I told him that I thought he was aggressive [in] the first half, but he needs to sustain that for four quarters and I thought he disappeared in the fourth and that’s when he needs to be his most aggressive.

“Keith Catron really did a big job getting to the rim. He does want the basketball. He gave us some nice drives to keep up in the game.”

But that would be the closest Webber Township would find themselves, especially after Wayne City opened up a 50-38 lead in the middle of the fourth with a 7-0 run.

Joe Evans picked up two steals, while Tyler Porter hit a lay up and was fouled on the play.

“We try to get the ball inside,” said Gerlach. “We just don’t have any pure post players, so it makes it tough for us. We’ve been trying to get it in there more, and at least when we do they collapse and we kick and we can keep things going from there.”

Meritt scored 18 points to lead the Indians (2-2) and all scorers on the floor.

Johnson paced Webber (0-4) with 21.

Wayne City will travel to Grayville on Friday, while Webber will travel to Patoka on Thursday.

        

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