Wayne, Turnovers Too Much For Wildcats
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
SOUTH WHITLEY - In a battle of oft-beatens, it was Fort Wayne Wayne which won the turnover battle to advance in tournament play with a 72-50 win over host Whitko Wednesday night.
While turnovers eventually did Whitko in, the team was able to manage early.
The Wildcats overcame 12 first-half turnovers to trail by just three points, 26-23 at halftime.
Whitko also withstood an early barrage by the Generals' Dennis Craig.
Craig, a 6-foot-5 senior, hit two consecutive three pointers in the first quarter to extend Wayne's lead to 11-6.
The athletic guard scored 10 straight points for the Generals as they began to pull away.
The Wildcats combated Craig's play with a balanced effort and driving to the hoop.
Whitko went to the charity stripe 14 times in the first half while connecting on nine.
Nate Alspaugh scored six of his 11 points in the first half to keep the Wildcats within shouting distance.
The 6-4 forward hit a jumper with just over two minutes left in the first half to draw Whitko to within three at 25-22.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half.
Whitko was also aided by some Wayne foul trouble.
The Generals were whistled for 25 team fouls in the game and three against Craig in the first half alone.
With 6:57 left in the first half, Craig was forced to sit until the third quarter with his third personal.
With Craig out of the game, the Generals struggled a bit on the offensive end.
Point guard Antwan Williams took over the scoring burden and racked up seven points in the second quarter as Wayne clung to a lead.
Wayne's Tyree Glass was virtually ineffective in the first half on the offensive end. Glass, a 6-7 center, did fittingly control the boards in the first 16 minutes.
Glass reined in eight caroms in the first half and finished the night with 10.
As the Peru Tigers watched intently from the stands, the early third quarter put doubt in which team they would play.
Peru defeated Fort Wayne Elmhurst 64-57 in Wednesday night's opening game at Whitko High School.
Alspaugh nailed a three pointer right in front of Whitko head coach Larry Lael.
The trifecta tied the game at 28-28.
That's when the wheels came off for Whitko.
Glass scored three quick points for the Generals that were followed up by a De'Andre Binion steal. Binion looked ahead and found Craig for a layup.
Craig scored seven straight points on three consecutive turnovers by the Wildcats.
Whitko ended the night with a staggering 32 turnovers.
"It just comes down to turnovers. That's all you can say. We have just not been able to eliminate turnovers this year," said Lael.
Before the Wildcats could blink, Wayne reeled off a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 38-28.
Junior Jeff Coats finally stopped the bleeding for Whitko with a jumper. Seemingly unfazed, the Generals outscored the Wildcats 11-5 to end the third quarter.
Brad Smith hit two free throws as Whitko looked to draw closer in the contest with 7:56 left in the final period.
Jordan came back down and hit a jumper to quickly answer back for Wayne.
Then Whitko could only watch as Michael Lee came off the General bench to dominate the boards and draw Wildcats fouls.
Lee pulled down four big fourth quarter rebounds that, along with seven Whitko turnovers, eliminated any second-chance opportunities for the Wildcats.
For the night, Craig led all scorers with 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting. Glass came on in the second half and finished the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
"We knew what he was going to do," said Lael of Craig. "We knew we couldn't let him get rolling. We knew the kid could shoot. And I like they're point guard (Williams) too."
Williams scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
The Wildcats were led by Smith who had 13 points. Coats added 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
Senior Dan Rupley scored just two points but finished with 12 rebounds.
Whitko graduates three seniors in Rupley, Alspaugh and Corey Spangle.
The Wildcats finish the season with a record of 4-17.
FW WAYNE 72, WHITKO 50
FW Wayne 17 9 23 13 - 72
Whitio 10 13 12 15 - 50
FW Wayne FG FT R S Pts.
*Jordan 1-5 0-0 1 2 2
*Binion 0-2 4-5 3 1 4
*Williams 7-12 2-3 3 2 16
*Craig 10-19 2-4 5 3 25
*Glass 4-11 2-7 10 3 10
Richards 1-7 0-0 5 5 2
Parker 2-5 3-4 2 0 7
S'waite 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Lee 1-2 0-3 4 3 2
Dada 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Garza 0-0 2-2 1 0 2
Totals 27-66 15-28 35 19 72
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
*Alspaugh 5-12 0-0 1 2 11
*Smith 2-8 9-11 6 2 13
*Spangle 3-4 3-3 4 0 9
*Coats 5-14 1-2 10 1 11
*Rupley 0-2 2-6 12 0 2
Rowland 1-2 2-4 2 0 4
Kurtz 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Swender 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Aldea 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Boggs 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Carroll 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wilkinson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 16-46 17-26 37 5 50
Three-point goals - Wayne 2-14 (Craig 2-7, Jordan 0-3, Williams 0-2, Richards 0-2); Whitko 1-13 (Alspaugh 1-5, Smith 0-2, Coats 0-3, Kurtz 0-2, Swender 0-1). Turnovers - Wayne 18, Whitko 32. Total Fouls - Wayne 24, Whitko 22. Fouled out - Alspaugh (Whitko), Richards (Waayne), Spangle (Whitko). [[In-content Ad]]
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SOUTH WHITLEY - In a battle of oft-beatens, it was Fort Wayne Wayne which won the turnover battle to advance in tournament play with a 72-50 win over host Whitko Wednesday night.
While turnovers eventually did Whitko in, the team was able to manage early.
The Wildcats overcame 12 first-half turnovers to trail by just three points, 26-23 at halftime.
Whitko also withstood an early barrage by the Generals' Dennis Craig.
Craig, a 6-foot-5 senior, hit two consecutive three pointers in the first quarter to extend Wayne's lead to 11-6.
The athletic guard scored 10 straight points for the Generals as they began to pull away.
The Wildcats combated Craig's play with a balanced effort and driving to the hoop.
Whitko went to the charity stripe 14 times in the first half while connecting on nine.
Nate Alspaugh scored six of his 11 points in the first half to keep the Wildcats within shouting distance.
The 6-4 forward hit a jumper with just over two minutes left in the first half to draw Whitko to within three at 25-22.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half.
Whitko was also aided by some Wayne foul trouble.
The Generals were whistled for 25 team fouls in the game and three against Craig in the first half alone.
With 6:57 left in the first half, Craig was forced to sit until the third quarter with his third personal.
With Craig out of the game, the Generals struggled a bit on the offensive end.
Point guard Antwan Williams took over the scoring burden and racked up seven points in the second quarter as Wayne clung to a lead.
Wayne's Tyree Glass was virtually ineffective in the first half on the offensive end. Glass, a 6-7 center, did fittingly control the boards in the first 16 minutes.
Glass reined in eight caroms in the first half and finished the night with 10.
As the Peru Tigers watched intently from the stands, the early third quarter put doubt in which team they would play.
Peru defeated Fort Wayne Elmhurst 64-57 in Wednesday night's opening game at Whitko High School.
Alspaugh nailed a three pointer right in front of Whitko head coach Larry Lael.
The trifecta tied the game at 28-28.
That's when the wheels came off for Whitko.
Glass scored three quick points for the Generals that were followed up by a De'Andre Binion steal. Binion looked ahead and found Craig for a layup.
Craig scored seven straight points on three consecutive turnovers by the Wildcats.
Whitko ended the night with a staggering 32 turnovers.
"It just comes down to turnovers. That's all you can say. We have just not been able to eliminate turnovers this year," said Lael.
Before the Wildcats could blink, Wayne reeled off a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 38-28.
Junior Jeff Coats finally stopped the bleeding for Whitko with a jumper. Seemingly unfazed, the Generals outscored the Wildcats 11-5 to end the third quarter.
Brad Smith hit two free throws as Whitko looked to draw closer in the contest with 7:56 left in the final period.
Jordan came back down and hit a jumper to quickly answer back for Wayne.
Then Whitko could only watch as Michael Lee came off the General bench to dominate the boards and draw Wildcats fouls.
Lee pulled down four big fourth quarter rebounds that, along with seven Whitko turnovers, eliminated any second-chance opportunities for the Wildcats.
For the night, Craig led all scorers with 25 points on 10 of 19 shooting. Glass came on in the second half and finished the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
"We knew what he was going to do," said Lael of Craig. "We knew we couldn't let him get rolling. We knew the kid could shoot. And I like they're point guard (Williams) too."
Williams scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
The Wildcats were led by Smith who had 13 points. Coats added 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
Senior Dan Rupley scored just two points but finished with 12 rebounds.
Whitko graduates three seniors in Rupley, Alspaugh and Corey Spangle.
The Wildcats finish the season with a record of 4-17.
FW WAYNE 72, WHITKO 50
FW Wayne 17 9 23 13 - 72
Whitio 10 13 12 15 - 50
FW Wayne FG FT R S Pts.
*Jordan 1-5 0-0 1 2 2
*Binion 0-2 4-5 3 1 4
*Williams 7-12 2-3 3 2 16
*Craig 10-19 2-4 5 3 25
*Glass 4-11 2-7 10 3 10
Richards 1-7 0-0 5 5 2
Parker 2-5 3-4 2 0 7
S'waite 1-1 0-0 1 0 2
Lee 1-2 0-3 4 3 2
Dada 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Garza 0-0 2-2 1 0 2
Totals 27-66 15-28 35 19 72
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
*Alspaugh 5-12 0-0 1 2 11
*Smith 2-8 9-11 6 2 13
*Spangle 3-4 3-3 4 0 9
*Coats 5-14 1-2 10 1 11
*Rupley 0-2 2-6 12 0 2
Rowland 1-2 2-4 2 0 4
Kurtz 0-2 0-0 1 0 0
Swender 0-2 0-0 0 0 0
Aldea 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Boggs 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Carroll 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Wilkinson 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 16-46 17-26 37 5 50
Three-point goals - Wayne 2-14 (Craig 2-7, Jordan 0-3, Williams 0-2, Richards 0-2); Whitko 1-13 (Alspaugh 1-5, Smith 0-2, Coats 0-3, Kurtz 0-2, Swender 0-1). Turnovers - Wayne 18, Whitko 32. Total Fouls - Wayne 24, Whitko 22. Fouled out - Alspaugh (Whitko), Richards (Waayne), Spangle (Whitko). [[In-content Ad]]