Wednesday, November 25, 2009 10:14 PM CST
Trojans top Wave
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
EFFINGHAM -- One game into this season-opening boys’ basketball tournament, Taylor Nead had figured out Effingham St. Anthony’s Enlow Center.
“The rims here have long rebounds,” Charleston’s senior post player said. “The first game I didn’t know that. This game I adjusted.”
However, basketballs off the rim didn’t carom all the way to the bench, which is where Nead, among others, spent time because of foul trouble.
So, numerous Trojans had to do their part to beat Mattoon 69-55 in Wednesday night’s Coles County boys’ basketball clash of the St. Anthony Thanksgiving Tourney.
Brad Wheeler scored seven of his 19 points in the fourth quarter when the Trojans’ turned a five-point edge into the comfortable win heading into Friday’s 3 p.m. showdown of 2-0 Pool B game against Breese Central to decide who plays in Saturday night’s championship game.
Joey Miller added 15 points, Nead had 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds and Jason Lord added 10 for Charleston, which the past two years lost its second game of this tournament.
“It was definitely a team effort,” Charleston coach Trevor Doughty said. “It wasn’t just one individual. We did what we needed to win.” Mattoon’s Derrick Zavarella scored a game-high 21 points and also led the Green Wave with seven rebounds while Michael Heller added 13 points, including two different sets of three straight free throws in the third quarter pushing his team to a short-lived lead.
Still, the Wave fell to 0-2 going into a 4:30 p.m. Friday game against Flora, which is also 0-2, though it led at halftime before Breese Central posted a 50-39 win.
“Our effort in the second half was better than the first,” Mattoon coach Brooks Inman said. “Derrick played a lot better around the basket than he did Tuesday. But when it comes down to it, we gave up 69 points. That’s way too many baskets.”
Outrebounding Mattoon 13-6 and four of its first eight baskets after offensive boards, Charleston seemed headed to a runaway building a 19-7 first-quarter lead.
Zavarella, held to one point in the first quarter, then went to work near the basket. He not only scored his team’s first seven points of the second quarter but just 24 seconds into that period drew the second foul on Dylan Doughty, who in Charleston’s season-opener on Monday had a game-high 10 rebounds, and then 5:56 still left in the first half got the second foul on Nead, who had five rebounds and four points in the first quarter. “That definitely hurt when Taylor and Dylan were out because we had less experienced guys out there,” Trevor Doughty said. “The kids got better as the game went on. Alex (Shick) did better and Evan (Clark) did a good job in the fourth quarter.”
In the second quarter Charleston still had a 10-point lead before an inside basket by Trey Milligan, a 3-pointer by Shaunesy Carlen off a Zavarella assist and a free throw by Kristopher Heller had the Wave trailing just 30-26 by halftime.
“We got a little lax on defense,” Trevor Doughty said. “It wasn’t due to lack of effort. It was due to lack of execution.”
So after Zavarella got the first basket of the second half, Heller was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and made all three foul shots to put the Wave ahead 31-30.
Charleston had its answers going inside. Dylan Doughty put the Wave back ahead, Nead followed with a basket before getting his third foul and the Trojans had begun an eight-point streak for a seven-point lead.
“It was a real physical game and I struggled to stay in the game,” Nead said.
Nead got his fourth foul with 3:24 left in the third quarter and Dylan Doughty picked up his fourth seven seconds later giving the Trojans six team fouls in the second half before Mattoon got its first with 3:07 left in the period.
Still, the Trojans never lost their lead again.
“The kids did a real good job,” Trevor Doughty said. “They kept their poise and kept working hard. Jason Lord gave us a big lift.”
The Trojans’ 28-point fourth quarter was simply too much for Mattoon.
“Our inability to stop the dribble drive has really hurt us these first two games,” Inman said.
In Wednesday’s first game, Flora took a stunning 17-4 lead before favored Breese Central came back for a 50-39 win to go 2-0 in pool B.
CHARLESTON (2-0)
Player FG FT Reb F TP
Lord 5-7 0-0 3 3 10
Miller 4-14 6-6 2 4 15
Wheeler 5-13 8-12 4 0 19
Wesley 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Addison 1-3 0-0 1 0 2
Shick 0-1 0-0 4 0 0
Doughty 1-1 0-0 4 5 2
Clark 2-5 3-3 5 2 7
Nead 5-7 4-4 13 4 14
Team 3
Totals 23-52 21-25 38 18 69
Mattoon (0-2)
Player FG FT Reb F TP
Carlen 1-2 0-0 2 1 3
Zavarella 7-17 7-13 7 1 21
McDonald 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
M. Heller 3-8 6-6 5 4 13
Wolfe 0-4 0-0 2 5 0
K. Heller 1-3 2-4 1 1 4
Miller 3-8 1-2 2 3 8
Arthur 1-7 0-1 3 1 2
Milligan 1-1 0-0 1 4 2
Daily 1-2 0-0 1 0 2
Team 8
Totals 18-52 16-26 32 22 55
Charleston 19 11 11 28 - 69
Mattoon 7 19 10 19 - 55
3-point shots: Charleston 2-14 (Lord 0-1, Miller 1-5, Wheeler 1-6, Clark 0-2); Mattoon 3-13 (Carlen 1-1, Zavarella 0-1, M. Heller 1-3, Wolfe 0-4, K. Heller 0-1, Miller 1-3). Turnovers: Charleston 12; Mattoon 12.
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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