Olympic Powers Win Warkins
Championships
Championships
Orion boys run away from Riverdale, while Monmouth-Roseville's McGuire goes wild over
Erie ...
Erie ...
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
By Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
ERIE (Dec. 30) – The new format of the Cliff Warkins Memorial Classic saw two teams
from the soon-to-be disbanding Olympic Conference win championships. A girls
tournament was added this year, which was won by Monmouth-Roseville. The Orion
boys team continued their dominance at the tournament, winning their third straight
championship.
Boys Championship: Orion 53 - Riverdale 37
The adage “defense wins championships” could not have been more true for the Orion
Chargers in the Warkins championship game against Riverdale.
Orion allowed just two baskets during a two-quarter span, breaking a 9-9 tie after one
quarter to cruise to a 53-37 win over the Rams. The loss snapped the Rams' eight-
game winning streak.
The Charger's zone defense had Riverdale's number most of the game. The Rams'
speed was countered by the Chargers' size, but that size was pretty good too. The
passing lanes were filled with body and Riverdale (12-2) could only manage to shoot
29% (10-for-35) from the field.
“Our program is based on our defense,” said Orion's James Matson, who scored 13 for
the Chargers. “We work on that every day, and we really pride ourselves in what we do
defensively. To hold a team like that to a low amount of points, that's a big
accomplishment for us.”
After a 9-9 tie to end the first quarter, Orion (12-4) stepped it up on defense and
stymied the Ram offensive attack. The Chargers held Riverdale to just four points in the
second quarter with the only bucket coming off a steal and break-away from Chase
Young.
The momentum continued into the second half when once again the Chargers held
Riverdale to just one bucket, another Young shot. Orion led 38-20 after three quarters
against a rather small Ram squad.
“It's hard when their zone covers so much ground when you have 6'5”'s in three places,
and they shut down passing lanes,” said Riverdale coach Jason Hendrix. “When we're
making passes from 5'10” to 5'10”, it's pretty tough to get open looks.”
While the Charger defense was doing it's job, Matson provided the offense to spread
the lead. He hit a three-point shot with 6:12 left in the first half to go up 12-11. After a
bucket from leading scorer Tanner Williams with 3:43 left to go up 14-12, Matson hit
another one from long range with 1:23 left to go up 17-12. The lead would get no
smaller than five points for the rest of the game.
As Matson and Williams were doing most of the scoring, they helped in stopping
Riverdale's lead scorers, Tyler Smeltzly and Wes DeClercq, during the run.
“We tried to penetrate, so we had to move our feet and stop them from penetrating on
defense,” said Matson. “Dish them back out to the three-point line and go from there
and scramble out.”
Riverdale went 3-for-17 on three point shots. They trailed 38-20 after three quarters,
but managed to score 17 in the fourth quarter. Williams, however, put the exclamation
point on the win with a dunk with 6:44 left in the game. He was unstoppable in his
double-double performance, scoring 24 and pulling down 16 rebounds with nine of
them coming on the offensive side.
“Tanner's a good player, and he wants to play above the rim and wants to play fast,”
said Hendrix. “I didn't have one guy that wanted to man up and get a body on him. They
were all content to let him fly all over the floor.”
Smeltzly led Riverdale with 20 points. DeClercq and Young each had seven points and
seven rebounds.
“At the beginning of the game, it was that typical matchup of size versus quickness,”
added Hendrix. “But someone forgot to tell everyone here that Orion's size is still pretty
quick.
“To be handed to you pretty good like this, it may set us up for our Conference run.”
Girls Championship: Monmouth-Roseville 54 – Erie 49
The Monmouth-Roseville lady Titans were playing in the Classic with heavy hearts.
Dawn Weber, the mother of Titan senior Lynsey Weber, passed away on Monday. The
girls forfeited their game that day with Chicago Woodlawn, but came back yesterday
and today to play basketball – helping to cope with the loss.
Wednesday was a time to be happy though, as the Titans won the first Cliff Warkins
Memorial Girls Classic championship . They defeated Erie 54-49 in the title game.
The Titans (12-3) rallied around senior Claire McGuire, who had a career-high 31
points. She went 8-for-10 from the field and three-for-eight from three point range. She
was extremely tough for Erie to contain all throughout the game, also pulling down
seven rebounds and nabbing four steals.
“We were determined to come up here and win it for (Lynsey), since she wasn't able to
be with us,” said McGuire. “It was hard, but I think for everyone it was good to get it off
their mind a little bit.”
It may have taken some time for McGuire herself to get over it. Fortunately, her
teammates were they to give her that boost.
“She's actually struggled the past two games for us, so this is something that she's
been looking forward to,” said Titan coach Jim Cole. “She's been down on herself, and
came out today and had the hot hand. The girls knew it, and got her the ball when they
could.”
The Titans defense gave Erie (5-8) fits all throughout the first half, despite the Lady
Cardinals 23-14 halftime deficit. McGuire had two offensive rebounds and two three-
pointers in scoring 19 points in the first half.
“When we gave her wide-open looks and decided not to cover up, she made us pay for
it,” said Erie coach Brian Howell.
Trailing 48-38 five-and-a-half minutes into the final quarter, Erie finally got a rhythm
going for the rest of the game. Free-throws and two key three-point shots from Alex
Howard and Tess Burns cut the Titan lead to five with 8.9 seconds left.
“I feel glad we only lost by five for the simple fact that we didn't run a single offensive
play right in the first half,” said Howell. “We were mentally out of it a little bit, but in the
second half the girls kicked it into high gear. We really showed what we were capable of
doing. I'd like to know how we could have done if we played a full 32 minutes against
them.”
Burns led Erie with 15 points and nine rebounds. Mariah Pratt had 10 points and seven
rebounds and Kara Snowden had nine rebounds and six points. Rebecca Gillen was
the only other Titan player with double-figures, scoring 11.
“They had some big girls, and we aren't very big,” said McGuire. “So going against
them helped us with our height problems that we can face.”
Wednesday's game marked the end of a difficult couple of days. The team will take a
break for New Year's before attending Weber's funeral over the weekend. A game with
Abingdon awaits the Titans on Monday.
“When you're dealing with 16-, 17-, 18-year-old girls, and as close as the girls were to
Lynsey and her mother, it was very hard for them to fight through,” said Cole. “These
girls have been all out bawling, laughing, and have gone through an emotional roller
coaster the past few days. For them to come here and play like they did tonight is a
tribute to the girls.
“Even though we bust our butts to prepare for these games, it's still a game,” added
Cole. “Its the game of basketball, it doesn't mean as much as someone's life. We found
that realization out this week. We were able to get get a couple of wins, and win the
tournament. That's what we set out to do.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns about
Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
ERIE (Dec. 30) – The new format of the Cliff Warkins Memorial Classic saw two teams
from the soon-to-be disbanding Olympic Conference win championships. A girls
tournament was added this year, which was won by Monmouth-Roseville. The Orion
boys team continued their dominance at the tournament, winning their third straight
championship.
Boys Championship: Orion 53 - Riverdale 37
The adage “defense wins championships” could not have been more true for the Orion
Chargers in the Warkins championship game against Riverdale.
Orion allowed just two baskets during a two-quarter span, breaking a 9-9 tie after one
quarter to cruise to a 53-37 win over the Rams. The loss snapped the Rams' eight-
game winning streak.
The Charger's zone defense had Riverdale's number most of the game. The Rams'
speed was countered by the Chargers' size, but that size was pretty good too. The
passing lanes were filled with body and Riverdale (12-2) could only manage to shoot
29% (10-for-35) from the field.
“Our program is based on our defense,” said Orion's James Matson, who scored 13 for
the Chargers. “We work on that every day, and we really pride ourselves in what we do
defensively. To hold a team like that to a low amount of points, that's a big
accomplishment for us.”
After a 9-9 tie to end the first quarter, Orion (12-4) stepped it up on defense and
stymied the Ram offensive attack. The Chargers held Riverdale to just four points in the
second quarter with the only bucket coming off a steal and break-away from Chase
Young.
The momentum continued into the second half when once again the Chargers held
Riverdale to just one bucket, another Young shot. Orion led 38-20 after three quarters
against a rather small Ram squad.
“It's hard when their zone covers so much ground when you have 6'5”'s in three places,
and they shut down passing lanes,” said Riverdale coach Jason Hendrix. “When we're
making passes from 5'10” to 5'10”, it's pretty tough to get open looks.”
While the Charger defense was doing it's job, Matson provided the offense to spread
the lead. He hit a three-point shot with 6:12 left in the first half to go up 12-11. After a
bucket from leading scorer Tanner Williams with 3:43 left to go up 14-12, Matson hit
another one from long range with 1:23 left to go up 17-12. The lead would get no
smaller than five points for the rest of the game.
As Matson and Williams were doing most of the scoring, they helped in stopping
Riverdale's lead scorers, Tyler Smeltzly and Wes DeClercq, during the run.
“We tried to penetrate, so we had to move our feet and stop them from penetrating on
defense,” said Matson. “Dish them back out to the three-point line and go from there
and scramble out.”
Riverdale went 3-for-17 on three point shots. They trailed 38-20 after three quarters,
but managed to score 17 in the fourth quarter. Williams, however, put the exclamation
point on the win with a dunk with 6:44 left in the game. He was unstoppable in his
double-double performance, scoring 24 and pulling down 16 rebounds with nine of
them coming on the offensive side.
“Tanner's a good player, and he wants to play above the rim and wants to play fast,”
said Hendrix. “I didn't have one guy that wanted to man up and get a body on him. They
were all content to let him fly all over the floor.”
Smeltzly led Riverdale with 20 points. DeClercq and Young each had seven points and
seven rebounds.
“At the beginning of the game, it was that typical matchup of size versus quickness,”
added Hendrix. “But someone forgot to tell everyone here that Orion's size is still pretty
quick.
“To be handed to you pretty good like this, it may set us up for our Conference run.”
Girls Championship: Monmouth-Roseville 54 – Erie 49
The Monmouth-Roseville lady Titans were playing in the Classic with heavy hearts.
Dawn Weber, the mother of Titan senior Lynsey Weber, passed away on Monday. The
girls forfeited their game that day with Chicago Woodlawn, but came back yesterday
and today to play basketball – helping to cope with the loss.
Wednesday was a time to be happy though, as the Titans won the first Cliff Warkins
Memorial Girls Classic championship . They defeated Erie 54-49 in the title game.
The Titans (12-3) rallied around senior Claire McGuire, who had a career-high 31
points. She went 8-for-10 from the field and three-for-eight from three point range. She
was extremely tough for Erie to contain all throughout the game, also pulling down
seven rebounds and nabbing four steals.
“We were determined to come up here and win it for (Lynsey), since she wasn't able to
be with us,” said McGuire. “It was hard, but I think for everyone it was good to get it off
their mind a little bit.”
It may have taken some time for McGuire herself to get over it. Fortunately, her
teammates were they to give her that boost.
“She's actually struggled the past two games for us, so this is something that she's
been looking forward to,” said Titan coach Jim Cole. “She's been down on herself, and
came out today and had the hot hand. The girls knew it, and got her the ball when they
could.”
The Titans defense gave Erie (5-8) fits all throughout the first half, despite the Lady
Cardinals 23-14 halftime deficit. McGuire had two offensive rebounds and two three-
pointers in scoring 19 points in the first half.
“When we gave her wide-open looks and decided not to cover up, she made us pay for
it,” said Erie coach Brian Howell.
Trailing 48-38 five-and-a-half minutes into the final quarter, Erie finally got a rhythm
going for the rest of the game. Free-throws and two key three-point shots from Alex
Howard and Tess Burns cut the Titan lead to five with 8.9 seconds left.
“I feel glad we only lost by five for the simple fact that we didn't run a single offensive
play right in the first half,” said Howell. “We were mentally out of it a little bit, but in the
second half the girls kicked it into high gear. We really showed what we were capable of
doing. I'd like to know how we could have done if we played a full 32 minutes against
them.”
Burns led Erie with 15 points and nine rebounds. Mariah Pratt had 10 points and seven
rebounds and Kara Snowden had nine rebounds and six points. Rebecca Gillen was
the only other Titan player with double-figures, scoring 11.
“They had some big girls, and we aren't very big,” said McGuire. “So going against
them helped us with our height problems that we can face.”
Wednesday's game marked the end of a difficult couple of days. The team will take a
break for New Year's before attending Weber's funeral over the weekend. A game with
Abingdon awaits the Titans on Monday.
“When you're dealing with 16-, 17-, 18-year-old girls, and as close as the girls were to
Lynsey and her mother, it was very hard for them to fight through,” said Cole. “These
girls have been all out bawling, laughing, and have gone through an emotional roller
coaster the past few days. For them to come here and play like they did tonight is a
tribute to the girls.
“Even though we bust our butts to prepare for these games, it's still a game,” added
Cole. “Its the game of basketball, it doesn't mean as much as someone's life. We found
that realization out this week. We were able to get get a couple of wins, and win the
tournament. That's what we set out to do.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns about
Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
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