WRV overcomes nerves and trounces T-Birds 55-36

Cody Lemmons (20) puts up a shot against North Central defender Chase Wiseley. Lemmons scored five points for WRV.

By Shad Cox

SWITZ CITY – Slowly, methodically, White River Valley built up its lead Tuesday night to rout North Central 55-36 in the first game of the White River Valley Sectional.

The Wolverines (5-18) took control of the game with a 10-0 run in the first quarter, and North Central (0-24) would never get closer than six as the Thunderbirds lost for the third time this season to the Wolverines. WRV coach Jimmy Beasley said his young team could have played better, but had a case of jitters.

“We didn’t play particularly well, but we’ll take a win,” Beasley said. “Our boys had a lot of nerves. Getting one helped us out.”

Dakota Sparks dribbles down the court. Sparks scored six points for the Wolverines.

By Shad Cox

Clayton Hoover spent a fair amount of time on the bench but still led WRV with 15 points. Brayton Cornelius scored 13. Beasley said Hoover has recovered from a foot injury, but he wanted to give him and the other Wolverines as much rest as possible.

“All of our guys, if we can get them some rest, we’re going to do it,” Beasley said.

Chase Wiseley led North Central with 13 points and Dawson Basinger scored 10.

Clayton Hoover goes up for a layup against North Central. He led all players with 15 points.

By Shad Cox

A trey by Calvin Crosby gave the Thunderbirds an early 5-4 lead, their only advantage of the game. The Wolverines promptly reeled off a 10-0 run. Tanner Denham sank two foul shots and scored on an assist by Cornelius, Hoover stole the ball and fed Dakota Sparks for a bucket, Sparks added two foul shots and Dalton York capped the run with a layup.

The teams spent the rest of the initial period and the second pretty much swapping scores. The Thunderbirds got to within seven on four occasions, but Cornelius converted a traditional three-point play to boost the WRV lead to 23-13 lead with 6:04 left in the second quarter. Dawson Basinger buried a trey to cut the margin to 23-17, but the Wolverines closed the quarter with a 6-2 run and led 29-19 at the break. Hoover sparked the run by sinking a charity toss and feeding Cornelius for a trey.

North Central drew first blood in the third quarter with a layup by Ty Thompson, but WRV answered with an 11-2 run to lead 40-23. Sparks sank two free throws, Cornelius fed Cody Lemmons for a bucket and followed with a trey on WRV’s next possession, Lemmons made a putback, and grabbed a rebound and fed Denham for a bucket.

Hoover scored six points, two baskets and two charity tosses, to open the fourth and the Wolverines led 46-25. They hit the cruise control as Beasley got the chance to play everybody on the team.

“Once Simon Tierney (North Central’s tallest player at 6-foot-4) got into foul trouble, we wanted to take him out of the game,” Beasley said. “We put an emphasis on Hoover going in strong.”

The win gave WRV’s younger players some valuable experience, Beasley said. He said they will need that at 6:00 p.m. Friday when WRV plays Eminence (8-14) in the first semifinal. Beasley said Eminence has two players, Bo Mehringer and Shawn Michaelis, who are really good.

“They both do a good job of getting to the basket,” Beasley said. “It’s going to be a tough matchup for us.”

WRV 18 11 11 15 -- 55

N. Central 9 10 6 11 -- 36

WHITE RIVER VALLEY (55)

Cornelius 3 5-7 13 3F, Sparks 1 4-6 6 1F, York 2 0-1 4 2F, Hockman 2 0-0 4 3F, Lemmons 2 1-2 5, Murdock 0 0-0 0, McHenry 0 0-0 0, Hoover 6 3-5 15 3F, Denham 3 2-4 8 2F, Gibson 0 0-0 0 1F, Patterson 0 0-0 0, Driscol 0 0-0 0, TEAM 19 15-25 55 15F. Three-Point Shooting: 2 (Cornelius 2). Turnovers 8.

NORTH CENTRAL (36)

Turner 0 1-2 1 3F, Basinger 3 2-2 10 3F, Thompson 1 0-0 2 2F, Crosby 1 0-2 3 3F, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Wiseley 6 1-1 13 2F, Wood 0 0-0 0, Pritchard 0 0-0 0, Tierney 2 1-2 5 5F, Lundy 0 0-0 0 1F, Hennecke 0 2-2 2, TEAM 13 7-11 36 19F. Three-Point Shooting: 3 (Basinger 2, Crosby 1). Turnovers 15.