By Nick Brockman, Messenger Sports Reporter nbrockman@the-messenger.com
HOPKINSVILLE — Webster County coach Bev Hart entered Wednesday evening's first-round 2nd Region matchup against Christian County with a detailed game plan: slow, slower and slowest.
The Trojans (12-15) combated Christian County's quickness by holding the ball in a near Princeton-style offense and took the clearly favored Colonels to overtime before falling 58-50 at Hopkinsville High School.
Neither team held more than a nine-point advantage during regulation, and Christian led 41-37 with 1:35 left in the fourth. Webster took a one-point lead on a LaBrice Williams layup with 23 seconds left and held the ball with 14 seconds in a tie ballgame. The Colonels defense, however, prevented the Trojans from getting up a shot attempt.
"We wanted to control tempo and we were able to do that," Hart said. "I think we had a chance to win at the end, we just didn't make the shot.
"I thought we played well and like I said, probably not too many people would have given us a chance to win tonight. We had the ball with the last shot, just needed to make a shot."
The inability to create a shot sent both teams to overtime.
Christian's Daquan Murden scored six of his seven points on the night in the first 1:27 of overtime. Trojan senior Logan Stull tied the game at 48 all when he converted on a backdoor cut with 2:15 left to play.
The Trojans (12-15) combated Christian County's quickness by holding the ball in a near Princeton-style offense and took the clearly favored Colonels to overtime before falling 58-50 at Hopkinsville High School.
Neither team held more than a nine-point advantage during regulation, and Christian led 41-37 with 1:35 left in the fourth. Webster took a one-point lead on a LaBrice Williams layup with 23 seconds left and held the ball with 14 seconds in a tie ballgame. The Colonels defense, however, prevented the Trojans from getting up a shot attempt.
"We wanted to control tempo and we were able to do that," Hart said. "I think we had a chance to win at the end, we just didn't make the shot.
"I thought we played well and like I said, probably not too many people would have given us a chance to win tonight. We had the ball with the last shot, just needed to make a shot."
The inability to create a shot sent both teams to overtime.
Christian's Daquan Murden scored six of his seven points on the night in the first 1:27 of overtime. Trojan senior Logan Stull tied the game at 48 all when he converted on a backdoor cut with 2:15 left to play.
Shaquile Wilson converted on two free-throw attempts seven seconds later and the Colonels held the lead the rest of the way.
Just inside two minutes, Williams had two shot opportunities 16 seconds apart, but just as all game long, Christian found a way to shutdown Webster's leading scorer on the season.
"Pretty much, everywhere I went they had an answer for it, but there was a couple times I could shake them off," he said.
Unfortunately, for Williams and Webster, neither shot fell and Christian led by six with 1:04 to go. The Colonels sank four more three throws in the last minute and held on to advance despite Webster's well-planned attack.
"Coach created a great game plan," Webster senior Drew Dement said. "We were trying to (waste) 30 or 45 seconds off each possession. We were trying to slow the game down. He said once we got it down to the half-court game, we could level up with them."
The Colonel defenders gave Webster's players fits all night long as the Trojans struggled to find an effective method to push the ball up the court.
"Christian County defense has always been known to be tough, so to keep us off-balance they just kept pressuring the ball and trapping the corners, trapping everything on the floor, just keep coming after it and not giving up," Williams said.
Hart said he knew Christian's reputation and adjusted for it accordingly in game preparation.
"They're relentless in their pressure and you're going to make some turnovers," he said. "We just didn't want to let them score off them. We even told our kids if we get a five-second count or a 10-second count, that's fine. Just don't throw it up for grabs and let them go because they just turn turnovers into easy baskets."
The Trojans netted just two field goals in the second quarter after knocking down seven in the first eight minutes of the game. Webster entered halftime down 24-18.
Christian led 33-28 to start the fourth, but Williams gave his team a five-point swing when he hit a basket and drew not only a personal foul, but a technical foul and went 3-of-4 from the line to tie the game.
Despite Williams' effort, Wednesday's game marked his with the Trojans.
"It hit me as soon as the buzzer went off," Williams said of that realization. "That's the last buzzer that I'm going to hear in my high school career with Webster County basketball."
Dement ended his career with a game-high 16 points. Seniors Jonathan Darnes, David Stubblefield and Logan Stull also played their final high school contests.
Webster (12-15) 14 4 10 14 8 - 50
Christian (19-6) 16 8 9 9 16 - 58
Webster: Drew Dement 16, LaBrice Williams 11, Logan Stull 8, James Winstead 6, David Stubblefield 3, Jonathan Darnes 2, Taylor Turner 2
Christian: Corey Wilford 15, Shaquille Wilson 13, Anthony Hickey 12, Daquan Murden 7, Bubba Tandy 6, Malcolm McDuffen 3, Veontae Lewis 2
Just inside two minutes, Williams had two shot opportunities 16 seconds apart, but just as all game long, Christian found a way to shutdown Webster's leading scorer on the season.
"Pretty much, everywhere I went they had an answer for it, but there was a couple times I could shake them off," he said.
Unfortunately, for Williams and Webster, neither shot fell and Christian led by six with 1:04 to go. The Colonels sank four more three throws in the last minute and held on to advance despite Webster's well-planned attack.
"Coach created a great game plan," Webster senior Drew Dement said. "We were trying to (waste) 30 or 45 seconds off each possession. We were trying to slow the game down. He said once we got it down to the half-court game, we could level up with them."
The Colonel defenders gave Webster's players fits all night long as the Trojans struggled to find an effective method to push the ball up the court.
"Christian County defense has always been known to be tough, so to keep us off-balance they just kept pressuring the ball and trapping the corners, trapping everything on the floor, just keep coming after it and not giving up," Williams said.
Hart said he knew Christian's reputation and adjusted for it accordingly in game preparation.
"They're relentless in their pressure and you're going to make some turnovers," he said. "We just didn't want to let them score off them. We even told our kids if we get a five-second count or a 10-second count, that's fine. Just don't throw it up for grabs and let them go because they just turn turnovers into easy baskets."
The Trojans netted just two field goals in the second quarter after knocking down seven in the first eight minutes of the game. Webster entered halftime down 24-18.
Christian led 33-28 to start the fourth, but Williams gave his team a five-point swing when he hit a basket and drew not only a personal foul, but a technical foul and went 3-of-4 from the line to tie the game.
Despite Williams' effort, Wednesday's game marked his with the Trojans.
"It hit me as soon as the buzzer went off," Williams said of that realization. "That's the last buzzer that I'm going to hear in my high school career with Webster County basketball."
Dement ended his career with a game-high 16 points. Seniors Jonathan Darnes, David Stubblefield and Logan Stull also played their final high school contests.
Webster (12-15) 14 4 10 14 8 - 50
Christian (19-6) 16 8 9 9 16 - 58
Webster: Drew Dement 16, LaBrice Williams 11, Logan Stull 8, James Winstead 6, David Stubblefield 3, Jonathan Darnes 2, Taylor Turner 2
Christian: Corey Wilford 15, Shaquille Wilson 13, Anthony Hickey 12, Daquan Murden 7, Bubba Tandy 6, Malcolm McDuffen 3, Veontae Lewis 2
No comments:
Post a Comment