The Road to Peoria- Class 1A: Woodlawn Punches State Ticket

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The Woodlawn Cardinals got their offense untracked in the third period, going on a 16-3 run to end the quarter and break a 17-17 tie in a 47-30 win over Okawville in the Class 1A supersectional at SIU Arena in Carbondale Tuesday night.

The win sends Woodlawn to its first-ever state tournament appearance.

Jase Green had half of the points in the deciding run, giving Woodlawn the lead for good with a three-point play after a backdoor cut, 20-17. His 3-pointer two trips later gave the Cardinals a 26-18 lead.

A touch-pass from Dawson Verhines to Bronson Verhines gave Woodlawn a double digit lead, 28-18.

"We kept our defensive intensity up in the second half and got a couple of baskets off fast breaks to get some separation," Woodlawn coach Shane Witzel said.

"And Jase hit some really big shots for us in the third quarter."

Casey Hammond hit a back-breaking 3-pointer at the third period horn, giving the Cardinals a 33-20 lead and, in effect, ending the game.

"That wasn't exactly the shot we were looking for, but Casey has a knack for making big shots like that," said Witzel.

"He did the same thing in the sectional final. The main thing was we were able to maintain our defensive pressure."

The quick scoring by the Cardinals was in direct contrast to the style in the first half. Okawville set the pace in the low-scoring first half that ended in a 13-13 deadlock.

Baskets by Bryan Leadendecker and Devin Clary gave the Rockets a quick 4-0 lead, but the Cardinals came back to close within 8-7 by the end of the period. Dawson Verhines hit a 3-pointer and scored on a move in the lane to give Woodlawn a 5-4 lead.

The Cardinals lost sparkplug Hammond to foul trouble with 6:20 left in the first half, when the junior picked up his second foul. Hammond's teammates kept the game close, however, taking the lead 9-8, on a steal and layin from Luke Simmons.

Leadendecker gave Okawville the lead, 11-9, with a 3-pointer, but baskets from B. Verhines and Josh Wiggs put Woodlawn up 13-11.

"I thought we played pretty well in the first half, we just didn't hit any shots," Witzel said. "Okawville guards well and they are physical. We got some open looks, though, we just didn't hit them. "

Nick Frederking tied the game with a stickback with less than 20 ticks left in the half.

Okawville hit just 12 of 34 shots in the game and was led by Leadendecker's eight points. Woodlawn hit half of its 36 shots and was led by Green with 13 points and D Verhines with 11.

Woodlawn is 29-1 with the win, Okawville ends its season at 19-17. Woodlawn will play Lewistown at noon Friday in Peoria. Lewistown beat Winchester 60-42 Tuesday night.

JACKSONVILLE SUPER

In order to play in Peoria, the Lewistown boys basketball team had to make it out of the Bowl first.

But that's just what the Indians did Tuesday night at the Class 1A Jacksonville Supersectional, defeating Winchester West Central 60-42 at the Jacksonville Bowl to advance to state for the second consecutive season.

Lewistown junior Joseph Jugovic turned in his best game of the season to help lead the Indians back to Peoria.

Despite facing foul trouble that limited his time on the court, the 6-foot-9 center tormented the Cougars all night, scoring a team-high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting.

"Nothing much to say about the game other than 'great'," Jugovic said. "We've been coming together lately. We're working well together, making shots, making plays. It's been a good season so far. Now we get ready to play another one Friday."

With the win, Lewistown (25-7) advances to the Class 1A state semifinals, where it will face Carbondale Supersectional winner Woodlawn at noon Friday at Carver Arena.

While Jugovic's presence in the post caused problems for Winchester's undersized front line on defense, it was the Indians' defensive pressure on the perimeter that caused the Cougars fits offensively.

Having scored an average of 25.7 points per game in postseason play, Winchester standout Bradley Slagle was limited to 18 points on 5-for-16 shooting, with eight of his points coming at the foul line.

"I thought our zone defense was really good tonight," Lewistown coach Brad Hatfill said. "We didn't give them a lot of good looks, even out of the zone."

Slagle's struggles allowed Lewistown to take a 12-10 lead into the second quarter despite 0-for-8 shooting from Quinton Hatfill and Brent Burrows.

Despite missing their first 15 shots from the field, it was Hatfill and Burrows that provided the two biggest baskets of the game in the final minutes of the second half. Leading 15-13 late in the half, Hatfill turned an offensive rebound by Zach Duncan into Lewistown's first 3-pointer of the game to make it 18-13. Moments later, Burrows drained a 3 of his own from the right wing to send the Indians into the break with a 21-13 lead.

The Indians were able to carry that momentum into the second half as Jugovic scored the first seven points after the break to stretch Lewistown's lead to 28-13.

"We by no means dismissed him," Winchester coach Jeff Abell said. "You can sometimes cheat off of somebody that's fast and a shooter, you can close out and make them put it on the floor, but when somebody's 6-9 and 250, they're 6-9 and 250. There's only so many ways you can front it. You can play behind, you can trap, but he was very good tonight."

Burrows finished with 15 points for Lewistown. Simpson added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Indians.

-Josh Wessler, GNS

Okawville 8 5 7 10-30

Woodlawn 7 6 20 14-47

Okawville (18-16): Clary 3 0-0 6, Brammeier 1 0-0 3, Leadendecker 3 1-3 8, Frederking 3 1-2 7, J. Frederking 2 2-2 6. Totals 12 4-7 30.

Woodlawn (29-1): Green 5 1-1 13, B. Verhines 3 2-3 8, D. Verhines 4 2-2 11, Hammond 1 2-4 5, Boldt 1 0-0 2, Simmons 1 0-0 2, Wiggs 3 0-0 6 Totals 18 7-10 47.

3-pointers: Okawville 2 (Brammeier, Leadendecker); Woodlawn 4 (Green 2, D. Verhines, Hammond). Team Fouls: Okawville 11, Woodlawn 13.