COLUMBIA CITY - In a game with the Columbia City Eagles Wednesday, the evening before families sat down to eat turkey, it was foul trouble that did in Whitko's varsity boys basketball team.

On the strength of a 27-of-34 performance at the free throw line, Columbia City soared to a season-opening 66-41 win.

While the Eagles were whistled for eight fouls, the Wildcats committed 23 personal fouls.

"Fortunately, we got to the line and knocked down those shots," Columbia City coach Chris Benedict said. "That (27 points at line) was huge."

Controlling the boards in the first quarter with 6-foot-4 senior center Josh Hoffman, Whitko held a 13-12 lead going into the second stanza.

Hoffman scored eight points and pulled down eight rebounds in the opening frame.

"I would say things were good for about eight minutes, and then we started playing bad," Whitko coach Steve Pickett said. "Our transition defense was horrible. They made a big run in the second quarter. We didn't get back, it looked like a layup drill."

Down 15-14, Columbia City junior Bob Dye made good on a field goal attempt that sparked a 15-2 run that gave the Eagles a 29-17 lead with three minutes remaining in the first half.

Hoffman scored two points at the 5:22 mark of the second stanza, cutting Columbia City's lead to 34-30, but Whitko trailed by double digits for most of the second half.

Hoffman led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Sophomore frontliner Alex Frantz scored eight points, while guards Brad Walpole and Adam Wendel added five points each for the Wildcats, who will host Homestead Saturday.

Columbia City was led in the scoring column by Trevor Shively. The 5-9 junior guard tallied 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting and was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe. Dye finished the game with 14 points and three rebounds, while Pettigrew added 11 points and three rebounds of his own.

Tim Schmitt tallied seven points for Columbia City, while Ian Heuer had six and Jarod Myers and Ryan Boylan had five each.

"You always like to see balanced scoring in any game," Benedict said. "We got good looks. If we understand shot selection, we have the opportunity to knock down some shots. Tonight I thought the kids made good decisions, and we got the ball in good situations."

The Eagles outscored Whitko 14-9 in the third quarter before the flood gates opened in the final frame where the Wildcats were outscored 21-9.

"I thought our game plan, what we wanted to do with our possessions, didn't get done," Pickett said. "This was a learning experience. We have to realize practice is different than game situations. We have to have practice situations as intense as a game."

Whitko (0-1) will host Homestead Saturday, while Columbia City (1-0) will travel to Warsaw Saturday.

COLUMBIA CITY 66, WHITKO 41

Whitko (0-1) 13 10 9 9 - 41

C. City (1-0) 12 19 14 21 - 66

Whitko FG FT R S Pts.

Hoffman (C) 9-17 1-1 12 2 19

Frantz (F) 4-8 0-0 1 0 8

Walpole (G) 2-4 0-0 2 0 5

Wendel (G) 2-7 0-0 1 1 5

Goble (F) 0-2 0-0 3 0 0

Garber 2-4 0-0 1 0 4

Lopshire 0-4 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 19-46 1-1 20 3 41

C. City FG FT R S Pts.

Dye (F) 5-8 4-4 4 3 14

Shively (G) 4-9 6-6 2 1 16

Schmitt (G) 2-2 2-3 3 3 7

Heuer (F) 2-6 2-2 4 2 6

Pettigrew (C) 2-5 7-8 3 0 11

Boylan 1-2 3-7 3 1 5

Myers 2-2 1-2 0 0 5

Buchanan 0-0 2-2 0 0 2

Totals 18-34 27-34 19 10 66

Three-point goals - Whitko 2 (Walpole 1, Wendel 1), C. City 3 (Shively 2, Schmitt 1). Turnovers - Whitko 17, C. City 11. Fouls - Whitko 23, C.City 8. Fouled out - none.

JV score - Columbia City 46, Whitko 37

Whitko (0-1) scoring - Ben Garber 11, Derrick Day 8, Drew Spangle 8, Alan Robbins 7, Jeremy Coble 3 [[In-content Ad]]