Whitko Advances To Semifinals
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH - Whitko boys basketball coach Steve Pickett's defensive game plan for Tuesday's first-round Plymouth 3A Sectional game against Culver Military Academy wasn't complicated. In fact, it was downright simple.
The game plan - stop 6-foot-6 senior Jackson Atoyebi, and you stop CMA.
For three quarters that was the case, and Whitko picked up a 65-57 win, moving on to play Three Rivers Conference rival Rochester in Friday's 6 p.m. semfinal game. The win improves Whitko to 10-11, while CMA ends its season at 8-14.
Plymouth and Tippecanoe Valley, which both received the bye in the tournament, will square off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
This was the story for CMA Tuesday - when Atoyebi struggled, CMA struggled. When Atoyebi started to heat up, the Eagles made a charge at Whitko.
Atoyebi, set to play for Division I Elon College in North Carolina next year, missed his first seven shots and didn't break into the scoring column until the 4:40 mark of the second stanza. His first basket cut Whitko's lead from 10 to eight.
"The idea was not to let him catch the ball," Pickett said. "He caught it more than we wanted him to, but we had extra players there all the time."
Atoyebi came into last night's contest averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He posted those very numbers, but was held to five points in the first half on 2-of-9 shooting. Whitko led 19-9 after one quarter and 31-19 at the half.
While Atoyebi struggled from the floor, Whitko's shooters were downright dangerous.
Wildcat sophomore Alex Frantz scored 10 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting. He finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, also pulling down six rebounds.
Whitko's Adam Wendel scored 10 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and finished the game with 18 points, going 7 of 9 from the floor. Brad Walpole and Josh Hoffman scored eight each for the winners.
As a team, the Wildcats finished the game 27 of 44 (61.4 percent) from the field and 9 of 13 from the charity stripe.
"With our post players being the threats they were, that opened things up for Adam Wendel on the perimeter," Pickett said.
With Atoyebi scoring seven points through the middle two quarters, the Eagles cut Whitko's lead, a lead that was 17 at one point, to eight, 45-37, after three quarters of play.
With 1:35 remaining in the game, CMA trailed by six, 57-51.
"The idea at that point was to not panic," Pickett said. "I think the boys were frustrated a little bit in the third quarter. They settled down in the fourth, and then we got some good looks."
Whitko expanded that six-point lead to 10 with consecutive baskets from Frantz and Wendel, and despite getting much applause from the crowd, Atoyebi's dunk with six seconds remaining was too little, too late.
To go with Atoyebi's 20, Frank Shephard scored 14, Lindsey Cummings nine and Daniel Tabib eight for the Eagles.
WHITKO 65, CMA 57
CMA (8-14) 9 10 18 20 - 57
Whitko (10-11) 19 12 14 20 - 65
CMA FG FT R S Pts.
Cummings (G) 4-5 1-3 1 1 9
Schurmerth (G) 1-2 2-2 2 3 4
Shephard (F) 4-10 0-0 1 0 14
Atoyebi (C) 7-15 6-8 10 3 20
Tabib (F) 3-6 2-2 2 1 8
Dickey 1-1 0-0 2 0 2
Adekoya 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-39 11-15 18 8 57
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
Wendel (G) 7-9 3-4 4 1 18
Walpole (G) 3-7 1-2 4 2 8
Frantz (F) 11-15 3-4 6 2 25
Goble (F) 2-4 0-0 3 1 4
Hoffman (C) 3-8 2-3 3 1 8
Woods 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Robbins 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Lopshire 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 27-44 9-13 21 7 65
Three-point goals - CMA 4-8 (Shephard 4-6, Cummings 0-1, Atoyebi 0-1), Whitko 2-5 (Wendel 1-2, Walpole 1-3). Turnovers - CMA 14, Whitko 22. Fouls - CMA 15, Whitko 15. Fouled out - Hoffman.
ROCHESTER 60, MISHAWAKA MARIAN 56
Rochester (9-12) 6 19 17 18 - 60
Marian (12-10) 15 20 7 14 - 56
Rochester -ÊNick Patterson 3-14 4-5 10, William Swank 4-8 2-2 13, Kyle Surface 0-4 5-6 5, Landon Barts 8-12 1-2 18, Bill Newton 4-12 5-6 14, Mitch Anderson 0-0 0-1 0, Josh Lett 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Frounfelter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -Ê19-51 17-21 60.
Marian -ÊGeoff Dillon 3-6 0-0 6, Andrew Blum 2-4 0-0 4, Andy Bathrick 4-18 4-6 14, Carson Oren 6-9 1-2 14, Chris Chalko 6-9 2-2 14, Collin Hanson 1-1 0-0 2, Kern Creevey 0-2 0-0 0, Micah Lattaner 0-2 0-0 0, Marc Lodayga 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Creachbaum 1-2 0-0 2, Andrew Topolcai 0-0 0-0 0.
Three-point goals - Rochester 5-15 (Swank 3-3, Barts 1-1, Newton 1-6, Anderson 0-1, Patterson 0-4), Marian 3-16 (Bathrick 2-11, Oren 1-2, Dillon 0-1, Creevey 0-1, Lattaner 0-1). Rebounds -ÊRochester 27 (Barts 7), Marian 35 (Chalko 7). Total fouls - Rochester 11, Marian 22. Ê [[In-content Ad]]
PLYMOUTH - Whitko boys basketball coach Steve Pickett's defensive game plan for Tuesday's first-round Plymouth 3A Sectional game against Culver Military Academy wasn't complicated. In fact, it was downright simple.
The game plan - stop 6-foot-6 senior Jackson Atoyebi, and you stop CMA.
For three quarters that was the case, and Whitko picked up a 65-57 win, moving on to play Three Rivers Conference rival Rochester in Friday's 6 p.m. semfinal game. The win improves Whitko to 10-11, while CMA ends its season at 8-14.
Plymouth and Tippecanoe Valley, which both received the bye in the tournament, will square off at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
This was the story for CMA Tuesday - when Atoyebi struggled, CMA struggled. When Atoyebi started to heat up, the Eagles made a charge at Whitko.
Atoyebi, set to play for Division I Elon College in North Carolina next year, missed his first seven shots and didn't break into the scoring column until the 4:40 mark of the second stanza. His first basket cut Whitko's lead from 10 to eight.
"The idea was not to let him catch the ball," Pickett said. "He caught it more than we wanted him to, but we had extra players there all the time."
Atoyebi came into last night's contest averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He posted those very numbers, but was held to five points in the first half on 2-of-9 shooting. Whitko led 19-9 after one quarter and 31-19 at the half.
While Atoyebi struggled from the floor, Whitko's shooters were downright dangerous.
Wildcat sophomore Alex Frantz scored 10 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting. He finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, also pulling down six rebounds.
Whitko's Adam Wendel scored 10 points in the first half on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and finished the game with 18 points, going 7 of 9 from the floor. Brad Walpole and Josh Hoffman scored eight each for the winners.
As a team, the Wildcats finished the game 27 of 44 (61.4 percent) from the field and 9 of 13 from the charity stripe.
"With our post players being the threats they were, that opened things up for Adam Wendel on the perimeter," Pickett said.
With Atoyebi scoring seven points through the middle two quarters, the Eagles cut Whitko's lead, a lead that was 17 at one point, to eight, 45-37, after three quarters of play.
With 1:35 remaining in the game, CMA trailed by six, 57-51.
"The idea at that point was to not panic," Pickett said. "I think the boys were frustrated a little bit in the third quarter. They settled down in the fourth, and then we got some good looks."
Whitko expanded that six-point lead to 10 with consecutive baskets from Frantz and Wendel, and despite getting much applause from the crowd, Atoyebi's dunk with six seconds remaining was too little, too late.
To go with Atoyebi's 20, Frank Shephard scored 14, Lindsey Cummings nine and Daniel Tabib eight for the Eagles.
WHITKO 65, CMA 57
CMA (8-14) 9 10 18 20 - 57
Whitko (10-11) 19 12 14 20 - 65
CMA FG FT R S Pts.
Cummings (G) 4-5 1-3 1 1 9
Schurmerth (G) 1-2 2-2 2 3 4
Shephard (F) 4-10 0-0 1 0 14
Atoyebi (C) 7-15 6-8 10 3 20
Tabib (F) 3-6 2-2 2 1 8
Dickey 1-1 0-0 2 0 2
Adekoya 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 20-39 11-15 18 8 57
Whitko FG FT R S Pts.
Wendel (G) 7-9 3-4 4 1 18
Walpole (G) 3-7 1-2 4 2 8
Frantz (F) 11-15 3-4 6 2 25
Goble (F) 2-4 0-0 3 1 4
Hoffman (C) 3-8 2-3 3 1 8
Woods 1-1 0-0 0 0 2
Robbins 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Lopshire 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 27-44 9-13 21 7 65
Three-point goals - CMA 4-8 (Shephard 4-6, Cummings 0-1, Atoyebi 0-1), Whitko 2-5 (Wendel 1-2, Walpole 1-3). Turnovers - CMA 14, Whitko 22. Fouls - CMA 15, Whitko 15. Fouled out - Hoffman.
ROCHESTER 60, MISHAWAKA MARIAN 56
Rochester (9-12) 6 19 17 18 - 60
Marian (12-10) 15 20 7 14 - 56
Rochester -ÊNick Patterson 3-14 4-5 10, William Swank 4-8 2-2 13, Kyle Surface 0-4 5-6 5, Landon Barts 8-12 1-2 18, Bill Newton 4-12 5-6 14, Mitch Anderson 0-0 0-1 0, Josh Lett 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Frounfelter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -Ê19-51 17-21 60.
Marian -ÊGeoff Dillon 3-6 0-0 6, Andrew Blum 2-4 0-0 4, Andy Bathrick 4-18 4-6 14, Carson Oren 6-9 1-2 14, Chris Chalko 6-9 2-2 14, Collin Hanson 1-1 0-0 2, Kern Creevey 0-2 0-0 0, Micah Lattaner 0-2 0-0 0, Marc Lodayga 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Creachbaum 1-2 0-0 2, Andrew Topolcai 0-0 0-0 0.
Three-point goals - Rochester 5-15 (Swank 3-3, Barts 1-1, Newton 1-6, Anderson 0-1, Patterson 0-4), Marian 3-16 (Bathrick 2-11, Oren 1-2, Dillon 0-1, Creevey 0-1, Lattaner 0-1). Rebounds -ÊRochester 27 (Barts 7), Marian 35 (Chalko 7). Total fouls - Rochester 11, Marian 22. Ê [[In-content Ad]]