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Raiders fall to Rangers in state semis
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Crescent-News.com
Al-lelujah: Overtime comeback win for Wayne Trace
March 9, 2008
By BRUCE HEFFLINGER BOWLING GREEN -- What a way to go out! In Al Welch's final season at Wayne Trace, the veteran head coach is headed to the state tournament. Six key seniors will also leave the Paulding County school in style after leading the Raiders past Van Buren 50-43 in overtime at the Division IV regional finals at Anderson Arena on Friday evening. "This is for the kids, I've had the feeling before of going to Columbus and how great it is," Welch, in his 33rd year at the helm, said of making it back to state. "I told the kids I want you to have this feeling tonight and now they have it." It appeared that feeling was going to happen for Van Buren, which lost a year ago in the regional finals to another Green Meadows Conference foe, Holgate. Senior standout Matt Phillips, who led all scorers with 22 points, hit a short jumper from the right baseline and followed that up with a layup on a feed from fellow post player Ray Wolfe to take a 40-36 lead with 2:40 to play in overtime. After a Wayne Trace miss, the Black Knights had possession with a four-point lead and the overtime clock ticking toward two minutes. Wolfe, a 6-5 senior, received a pass on the block and was ready to go up for what looked like a sure two points and a six-point lead when the ball was stripped and Dane Treece went coast-to-coast for a bucket to pull the Raiders within two points at the 2:01 mark. "Credit Wayne Trace, they're quick and maybe forced us to rush shots," Van Buren coach E.J. Frost noted. "When we're up four and get to the delay most of the time we're successful and manage to pull it out." But not this time. With WT in full-court pressure, Aaron Hockenberry picked off a pass near mid-court and moments later the Raiders took the lead for the first time since the third quarter when Riley Linder connected on the biggest shot of the game. The 6-3 senior hit nothing but net on a 3-pointer from the left baseline to put Wayne Trace in front 41-40 with 1:41 remaining. "We were trying to spread out on offense and some got confused," Linder explained about getting an open look in the corner. "My man lost where I was at." Did he know it was going in? "Yeah, it felt great," said Linder, whose team had missed all 11 3-balls in the game up to that point. While the Raiders were regaining the momentum, it was a big blow for Van Buren, which was attempting to make it to the state tournament for the first time since 1986. "That huge 3 was frustrating there," Phillips admitted. "From there on out they're at the foul line." The Black Knights did have an opportunity to take the lead but Chase Marshall missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:27 to play and Alex LaBounty hauled in the rebound. Hockenberry made a pair of free throws for a 43-40 advantage, but VB trimmed the deficit to 43-41 when Phillips hit the first of a two-shot chance at the line with 59 seconds left. Nate Jewell, who had just entered the game when the 6-7 LaBounty fouled out, rebounded the second and was immediately fouled. The 6-2 senior made the first of a one-and-one giving WT a three-point lead. Phillips failed to connect for Van Buren and Hockenberry hit a foul shot for a four-point lead with 39 seconds to go. From there, the Raiders closed out the contest at the free-throw line. "We're pressure foul shooters, we want to be up there," said Welch, whose team hit 9-of-12 at the line in overtime. "We may miss one or two but we're not going to miss many." While WT finished out the game at the foul line, strong defense was the key throughout. The Raiders took an early 9-2 lead but Van Buren, behind the one-two inside punch of Phillips and Wolfe, battled back to go in front 16-15 with 4:32 left in the half. Both LaBounty and Jewell were on the bench with three fouls by then. But the Black Knights were blanked the rest of the quarter and baskets by Ryan Davis and Tevin Hale along with a pair by Hockenberry gave WT a 21-16 lead at the break. "It's nice to be able to play both zone and man and we played both well," Welch said of his team's defense. "If you do that you can stop runs. "We wanted to pressure in the man-to-man because they're so big and in the zone we wanted to force them to shoot outside and they didn't shoot very well. Tonight both worked for us." Van Buren started the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 23-21 lead and when Logan Grant converted a three-point play with 18 seconds left in the third quarter, the Black Knights led 30-27. But with a chance to expand that advantage just before the close of the quarter, Hale got a big steal for the Raiders and fed the ball to Hockenberry for a layup just before the buzzer. "Tevin Hale was big," Welch noted. "We played eight tonight and in that game every minute, every second was big to get us to Columbus." Van Buren never trailed in the fourth quarter, but baskets by Hockenberry, Hale and Linder kept Wayne Trace close at 36-35 with 4:45 to play in the stanza. One foul shot by Treece tied the game at the 2:46 mark and then the WT defense stepped up - specifically LaBounty. Wolfe had three shots to give Van Buren the lead but LaBounty, who finished with six blocked shots, batted two away and rebounded the last giving the Raiders a chance to win in regulation. "I thought I could draw charges but they weren't calling them so I decided to turn to blocking shots," LaBounty said. It was a needed lift according to Welch. "He drove a couple down their throat," the WT coach said of LaBounty, who was playing with four fouls at the time. "We got aggressive late in the game when we needed to, when they decided to get it inside." A Hockenberry 3-point attempt was off the mark on the final shot of regulation, setting the stage for the comeback in overtime. In defeat, Frost had plenty of praise for the Raiders. "They have three quick guards in Linder, Hockenberry and Treece and LaBounty is 6-7 and athletic," Frost said. "One kid who does not get a lot of credit is number 20 ... Davis. They have five quick athletes out there. "I heard our kids talking we need better ball movement, but when we did get the ball low they came over to trap us with good team speed." Welch also pointed to defense as a deciding factor in his team improving to 21-4 while dropping Van Buren to 20-5. "We caused trouble with our quickness out front," Welch said. "That's what won it." The Raiders move on to play in the state semifinals in Columbus in the 8:30 p.m. game on Thursday against the winner of today's New Knoxville (24-0) and Cincinnati Seven Hills (23-1) game that was rescheduled from Friday night. "I always felt I wanted to go out with these kids, they're not just players they're like my sons," Welch concluded about heading to state in his final year at the helm. "They're taking me to Columbus and I'm along for the ride." BOX SCORE WAYNE TRACE (50) - Hockenberry 19; Davis 2; Linder 11; Treece 9; Jewell 1; LaBounty 4; Hale 4; Baksa 0. Totals 19-48 11-16 50. VAN BUREN (43) - Greer 0; Marshall 2; Gilliland 0; Phillips 22; Wolfe 12; Grant 3; Baney 2; Stacy 2; Ryder 0; Sudlow 0. Totals 17-45 9-16 43 Three-point goals: Wayne Trace - Linder. Rebounds: Wayne Trace 28 (Hockenberry 5, Treece 5), Van Buren 37 (Phillips 10) Turnovers: Wayne Trace 10, Van Buren 17. Wayne Trace 11 10 8 7 14 - 50 |
Crescent-News.com
Welch's Raiders heading to state
March 9, 2008
By TIM McDONOUGH
During their run to the Division IV state tournament, the Wayne Trace Raiders have proven that adage to be true time and time again this season. On Friday night at Anderson Arena on the campus of Bowling Green State University, the Raiders proved that they did indeed have the heart to come from behind ... twice, to defeat Van Buren 50-43 in overtime to capture a Division IV regional championship. Wayne Trace mentor Al Welch, who is in his final season at the helm of the program after 33 years, matter of factly stated following the OT win that coming from behind has kind of become routine for his club. "I looked at the scorebook just the other day and I saw that at halftime of games we were ahead 11 times, down 11 times and tied twice going into this one," said Welch. "That tells you that this team has been in both scenarios all year. But we seem to play even better when we get down, we get more aggressive I think. "This group of kids, when the going gets tough, we get better defensively and that gets us going. It give us opportunities in the open court and we're very good in the open court." Twice in the fourth quarter the Raiders found themselves trailing by three points with the Knights looking to spread the floor. Down 36-33, Riley Linder scored on a drive to the basket at the 4:44 mark and, with 2:46 to go following a Van Buren turnover, Dane Treece tied the game at 36-36 on a free throw where it stayed until overtime. Van Buren scored the first four points of the extra period and had the ball up 40-36 with just over two minutes to play only to see the Raiders force two turnovers and take the lead on a driving basket by Treece and a 3-pointer by Linder (it was the only three of the game for either team) to go in front 41-40. Wayne Trace never trailed again. "We don't panic, we just find a way to win, that's what we do," said Treece. "We know we have a bunch of playmakers on this team who can step up at any time. That three by Linder is a perfect example and then we went and hit our free throws. I guess we're used to this kind of thing, but it is an amazing feeling." "We just don't panic," agreed 6-8 senior Alex LaBounty. "I guess we're used to teams getting a little run on us at times, but we usually bounce back and find a way. I don't know why we're used to it, but we're used to it." Teammate and fellow senior Aaron Hockenberry, who scored a team-high 19 points for the Raiders, was pretty emotional when talking about the resolve of the team. "If you guys watched us at all, you would know that half the time we're losing anyway," he joked. "When we're down, it's like, we've got to make some baskets and come back. We're down late and we know we can get back in it ... we're going to state, we're going to the state tournament ... I can't believe it, I can't believe it." With the school's fourth state tournament berth now a reality, Welch admitted following the game that it's great for a lot of different reasons. "I told the kids before the game that I've had this feeling before of going to Columbus and how great it is, and that I want you to have this feeling tonight," said Welch. "For me, it never gets old, it's a tremendous feeling. I think the Lord has blessed me so much, he's given me the opportunity to go to Columbus now four times as a basketball coach and given me the opportunity to coach kids like this for 33 years. "What more could a man want, really?" asked Welch. "Coaching isn't a job, it's so much fun ... I would have done it for free. I've got an opportunity to take this team to Columbus, I'm such a big Buckeye fan, and now our kids are going to get to play on that floor ... wow." Wow indeed. |
BOWLING
GREEN -- There's an old sports adage that says you don't always have
to be ahead if you have the heart to come from behind.
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Raiders down Kalida, win district
title
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Raider boys advance to district finals
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Raider Defeat Continental Wayne Trace Raiders defeated Continental 76-56 in an non-league game at Wayne Trace. With the win, the Raiders are now 8-2, while Continental falls to 2-12 on the year. Also in double figures for Wayne Trace were Alex LaBounty, with 20 points, and Riley Linder, with 10 points. Leading Continental were Brock Homier’s 13 points, while Chase Ordway added 12 points. The Raiders led by only 6 points, 33-27, at the half, but outscored Continental 23-7 in the third quarter to put the contest out of reach. |
| Raider boys post win over Antwerp Wayne Trace had three players in double figures as the Raiders defeated league-leading Antwerp 51-45 on Thursday. Aaron Hockenberry led Wayne Trace with 15 points, while Riley Linder scored 13 points and Alex LaBounty added 12 points. Adam Taylor led the Archers with 12 points, with Tim Ryan adding 11 for Antwerp. It was a game of runs in the first half at Antwerp took a 10-point first-quarter lead, 16-6, only to see it largely evaporate as Wayne Trace went on its own 11-4 run in the second stanza to trail by just three points, 20-17, at the half. The Raiders continued its offensive ways, outscoring Antwerp 13-8 to take a two-point lead, 30-28, into the final stanza of play. Wayne Trace then breezed by the Archers in the final period, 21-17, for the victory. The Raiders outshot Antwerp from the field, hitting 19 of 36 for 53 percent, while the Archers made 17 of 38 for 45 percent. Wayne Trace made half its three-point attempts (2 of 4) for 50 percent, while the Archers were 4 of 10 (40 percent). The Raiders also made 11 of 19 from the free-throw line for 79 percent, while Antwerp was 7 of 10 for 70 percent. The Archers bested Wayne Trace in rebounding (23-17), but had six more turnovers (15-9). The Raider JVs also won, 47-28, |
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Raiders win in OT
Individual scoring
Wayne Trace (74) –
Hockenberry 26, Davis 1, LaBounty 16, Linder 13, Treece 15, Jewell 2,
Baksa 1. Totals: 21 23-34 74. |
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Raiders over the Aces Gage Critten bucketed 22 points for Wayne Trace with Cole Rosswurm adding 11 and Ryne Jerome chipping in nine. Nick LaBounty had two points and Tim Willborn picked up one for Wayne Trace.
Travis Hartman led |
| Lancers
fall to Wayne Trace in OT With Homecoming Queen Ashton Bowen and her court looking on, the Lincolnview Lancers gave the undefeated Wayne Trace Raiders all they could handle before bowing 78-70 in overtime. It was a game of scoring runs, with both teams scoring in bunches as the lead changed numerous times during the contest. The Raiders got up in the first quarter, 19-12, and then Lincolnview took over. The Lancers used a 31-16 second quarter to grab an 8-point lead over Wayne Trace, 43-35, at the half. But then the Raiders came roaring back in the third stanza, outpointing Lincolnview 19-7 for a 54-50 lead at the three-quarter mark. It was the Lancers, then, who rallied to take a 64-62 lead with just over 3 minutes left in the game and led 66-64 with just over two minutes to go in regulation. The Lancers just missed winning the game in regulation when a last-second shot was off the mark to leave the game tied 66-all in regulation. Wayne Trace hit some key free throws in the extra period to escape with the victory. The Raiders had three players in double figures, led by Riley Linder’s game-high 22 points. Aaron Hockenberry scored 16 points, while Ryan Davis added 12 counters for Wayne Trace. Lincolnview had four players in double figures, led by Kaleb Baucom’s double-double (17 points, 16 rebounds). Corey Wolters had 141 points, while Kyle Thatcher scored 12 points and Ryan Frey also had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Lincolnview was 31 of 61 from the field (50.8 percent), while the Raiders made 30 of 53 from the field for 56.6 percent. The Lancers were 7 of 10 at the line (70 percent) while Wayne Trace made 14 of 27 free-throw attempts for 51.9 percent). Lincolnview had the edge in rebounds, 34-27, but had 17 turnovers to just 3 for Wayne Trace. With the win, the Raiders stay perfect at 4-0, while Lincolnview falls to 1-3 overall. Wayne Trace also won the junior varsity game, 33-19, led by Tevin Hale’s 12 points. |
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Raider boys dominate Woodlan team
Individual scoring
Wayne Trace
(77) –
Hale 13, Hockenberry 24, J. Davis 3, R. Davis 7, LaBounty 10, Linder 6,
Treece 9, Stoller 2, Baksa 3. Totals: 31 5-10 77. |
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Raiders win Tip-Off Classic Game 1
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mpionship
game of the second annual Van Wert County Hospital Tip-Off Classic
tournament. Van Wert was blanked in the first quarter and scored just
five points in the second quarter to trail by 23 points, 28-5, at the
half. Although the Cougars regained their shooting eye in the second
half to outscore Wayne Trace 31-21, it wasn’t enough to make a
difference in the outcome. After canning 29 points on Friday, Van Wert’s
leading scorer, Chris Morrow, managed just 11 points on Saturday – all
in the second half – and was the Cougars’ only player in double figures
for the night. Morrow was 3 of 14 from the field, but 4 for 4 at the
charity stripe and hit one of Van Wert’s four treys on the night. While
Wayne Trace’s defense was shutting down Morrow, Aaron Hockenberry, who
led the Raiders in scoring last year, started clicking offensively,
pouring in 24 points – 16 in the first half – to lead Wayne Trace.
Hockenberry, who was the big difference in the game, had two treys and
also made 2 of 3 free-throw attempts. Van Wert was 6 of 8 from the
charity stripe (75 percent), while the Raiders hit 7 of 11 from the
stripe (63.6 percent). The real story was in field-goal percentage. The
Cougars were 13 of 51 for 25.5 percent, while Wayne Trace made 19 of 37
attempts for 51.5 percent. Turnovers were close, 26-22, in favor of the
Raiders. With the win, Wayne Trace is now 2-0, while the Cougars fall to
1-1 on the year. In the consolation game played earlier Saturday,
Crestview used a mostly a three-man scoring attack to defeat the foul-
and turnover-prone Lincolnview Lancers 51-43. The Knights had three
players in double figures, led by Michael Thompson’s 14 points, while
Tony Springer added 13 points, and Briggs Orsbon chipped in 10. Kaleb
Baucom led the Lancers with 11 points, while seven other Lincolnview
players scored in the game, versus just two for Crestview. The Lancers
actually led by a basket at the end of the first quarter, but it didn’t
take the Knights long to take the lead for good in the second period,
outscoring Lincolnview 11-7 in the quarter to take a 20-18 halftime
lead. That lead was extended in the second half, as Crestview outscored
the Lancers 31-25 for the seven-point margin of victory. Turnovers were
a killer for Lincolnview, which threw the ball away 25 times to just
eight miscues for the Knights. The Lancers outrebounded Crestview 29-22
and also led in assists, 6-0. The Knights had a big night at the line,
thanks to Lincolnview fouls, hitting 14 of 17 for 82.4 percent, while
the Lancers got just three attempts, and hit two of those, for 66.7
percent. Neither team shot well from behind the arc, with Crestview 1 of
9 (11.1 percent) and the Lancers 1 of 13 (7.7 percent). The Knights
evened their record at 1-1 on the year, while Lincolnview is now 0-2 for
the young season.
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Raider depth too much for Crestview
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