Jake Linder
Section618.com
BLUFORD — Two words–Instant Classic.
The nerves brought on by the stage/moment and a packed house at Webber High School showed a bit on the faces of the youngsters from Cisne (18-4), but after the first quarter, despite some hesitancy here and there, both teams kept it tight during the feeling each other out process. The Runnin’ Lions were tied with Wayne City (15-6) at 12 a piece with one frame in the books.
Cisne, although young, hasn’t looked it much this year. That has a lot to do with Gavin Fetherling. The lone senior in the starting lineup has a calming presence and his steady hand put up 16 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the title tilt. His demeanor, plus nine points and eight rebounds in the first half, helped the Lions to an eight-point halftime lead (30-22).
Just when you thought this rubber match was going to go in favor of the young bucks, the defending conference champion Indians roared back in the 3rd quarter including a buzzer-beating three that tournament MVP Taj McKinney hit to end the quarter. It was a tough quarter for the Indians to try and gain any ground, they did close the gap from 8 to 5, 48-43, and we headed to the final frame…or so we thought.
Cisne would then go cold from the field, lose the lead and get down by five. All signs pointed toward a repeat for the upperclassmen-laden Indians. Eventually, somewhere around the 2:00 mark, that steady hand of Fetherling would, with the flick of a wrist, nail a deep ball to bring Cisne within 2, and a sigh of relief fell over the orange and blue. Wayne City couldn’t get much to fall after that, and a drive to the hoop by Cisne sophomore sensation Anden Atwood tied the game at 55 with less than a minute to go. The Indians had a couple chances to win, but we’d stay knotted at the speed limit for some free basketball.
The entire second half, and what would eventually be two bonus periods, belonged to the Indians’ Justin Durham. The junior big man poured in 18 of his 27 points along with 12 of his 14 rebounds in the fourth quarter and the two overtimes. However, in the first overtime with 18.2 seconds remaining, Atwood struck again, this time from the line for 2 shots to tie it 59-59 and give him his 20 for the game. And again, Wayne City, had a couple of chances including a greet look by McKinney that JUST missed at the buzzer to send us to double overtime.
We fast forward to 39.7 seconds to go in double OT. Legs are shot, hearts are pounding and voices are hoarse. Lost in some of this is Cooper Bowen’s 13 points that included two drives to the hoop late to keep Cisne within striking distance. Wayne City was clinging to a 64-63 lead. Eventually, a missed front end of a one and one by Fetherling and later 2 free throws for McKinney, who finished with 18, would seal the deal, and the Indians would defend as conference champs. Oh, but not before Cisne’s Atwood missed a three-quarter court heave by about 6-8 inches that would’ve sent us to triple OT. They had to make it interesting.
Webber vs CORL (3rd Place Game)
It’s hard to put this one into words. Physical, chippy, aggressive, and intense is where we’ll start. It was back and forth the whole game, neither team would give an inch. In the end, it came down to free throws and Webber’s poor 3-point percentage. Webber finished 0-10 from behind the arc, while Christ Our Rock Lutheran (8-7) was 12-16 for 75% at the charity stripe, inclduing a stretch in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter where they went a cool 6-6 to tie a big W-shaped bow on this one by the final tally of 52-45.
CORL notes:
Brayden Such had 15 points, all tournament team selection. Dallas Fair had 12, all in the 2nd half. In fact, he only missed two shots overall and went on a stretch of 4-4 from inside the lane during the 3rd quarter. Parker Boehne added 10, six of those were free ones.
Webber notes
3 guys had 10 a piece for the Trojans–Josh Lewis (sophomore), Hunter Danberry (junior) and Alijah Marlow (junior). Danberry also grabbed eight rebounds.
Sandoval vs Waltonville (Consolation championship)
The Sandoval Blackhawks (12-8) played about as clean of a game that you can play and won the Consolation title over Waltonville (3-13) by a final of 67-52.
Although they are beginning to get a lot of their team back to full strength after a long year of sickness and injury, the rustiness of the Spartans showed on the offensive end as they never could quite get into a rhythm. 15 turnovers did not help. It was only nine turnovers for Sandoval and 73% from the free throw line (11/15). The Blackhawks were led by eventual all-tournament selection Kaleb Calhoun, who had 24 points. Not too far behind was fellow Blackhawk senior Drew Hill and junior Trenton Dempsey who each scored 17.
Waltonville got 19 points from sophomore Seth Karnes, 17 from all-tournament selection Quinn Gajewski, and 10 from Makabe Devor.
2022 Midland Trail Conference All-Tournament Team:
(MVP) Taj McKinney, Wayne City
Justin Durham, Wayne City
Gavin Fetherling, Cisne
Anden Atwood, Cisne
Drew Jackson, CORL
Brayden Such, CORL
Seth Hamerski, Webber
Kaleb Calhoun, Sandoval
Quinn Gajewski, Waltonville
Chance Phelps, Woodlawn
Spirit awards for the cheerleaders would see Woodlawn announced as 3rd place winners. Wayne City’s cheer team was 2nd, and Grayville took home first.
Thank you the staff, volunteers, officials, tournament helpers, Athletic Director of Webber High School Bob Hamerski, Head Coach of the Trojans Brad Beaty, as well as all the teams, fans, players, listeners, and everyone involved that made this tournament a success. The hospitality was top notch and we can’t wait to do it again next year.
-WMIX Sports Basketball Showcase