#4 Wayne County cruises at Southwestern 67-38

By SHANNON HUTCHINSON

Sports Writer

The Wayne County Cardinals traveled to Southwestern last Tuesday night to battle the homestanding Warriors in the opening game of a boys-girls doubleheader.

The Cards, ranked 4th in the latest Associated Press poll, entered the match-up with a 19-2 mark and riding a six-game winning streak.

The Warriors entered the 11th meeting between the 12th Region foes with an 8-11 record.

Wayne County owned a perfect 10-0 tally in the all-time series, including a 73-52 home decision last February in the team’s last meeting.

Wayne County used the inside game of Tyrone Green and the outside game of Jerrod Gibbons to roll to an impressive 67-38 win.

Green scored a game high 25 points, aided by 12 of 16 shooting from the field, with 7 rebounds and 3 assists, while Gibbons finished with 23 points.

Gibbons converted on 9 of 15 field goal attempts, plus totaled a game high 6 assists with 5 boards, as the Cards improved to 20-2.

"I thought both of those guys played pretty well, but I was really impressed with the unselfish attitude of the whole team. I felt like we did a nice job of passing the ball and when the starters came out we only had 4 turnovers at that point, so that was big. Anytime you play a team wanting to hold the ball, the key is to score the majority of the time you have the ball and limit them. I thought we were able to do that," said Cards head coach Rodney Woods.

The Cards shot 56 percent from the field and finished with just 7 turnovers, with 3 of those coming in the final 90 seconds. Junior guard Steven Sexton netted 5 points with 5 rebounds and assists. John Perkins and Seth Frost scored 4 points each, as eight different Cards scored in the win.

"I think anytime you play a team trying to slow the pace, it often puts the other team in a speed-up and hurry mode, but we handled that very well. I told our guys after the game 97-68 or 67-38, it really doesn’t matter, a win is a win," said Woods.

Southwestern, which dropped to 8-12, was led by the team best 12 points of freshman guard Jonathon Edwards. Edwards finished 5 of 9 from the field, while the duo of Dustin Fothergill and Chris Roberts netted 8 points each. Roberts added a game high 8 rebounds, as six different Warriors scored in the contest.

Tyrone Green and Jerrod Gibbons combined for 18 of Wayne County’s first 20 points, as the squad opened with a 20-10 first period lead. The Cards opened 9 of 14 from the field, which included 2 of 2 accuracy from 3-point range.

Casey Dalton led Southwestern, scoring all 4 of his points in the quarter, as the hosts shot 33 percent from the field.

Four different Cards scored in the second stanza, as the visitors used a 12-10 edge to claim a 32-20 halftime lead. Tyrone Green led all scorers with 16 points in the half, while Jonathan Edwards paced the Warriors with 10 points.

Green tallied 6 more points in the third period, as Wayne County turned-up the defensive pressure, to take an 11-4 period advantage.

Southwestern was just 2 of 10 from the field, as the lead swelled to 43-24, after three quarters.

A game high seven different Cards scored in the final frame, led by the 9 points of Jerrod Gibbons, as Wayne County outscored the hosts 24-14 and cruised to the 67-38 win. The winners connected on 10 of 13 field goal attempts in the fourth period, while the Warriors shot just 28 percent in the second half and 5 of 15 in the quarter.

The trio of Tyler King, Kyle Guffey and Drew Guffey all netted 2 points each, to round-out the Cards in the scoring tally.

A review of the stats shows Wayne County made 29 of 52 attempts overall for 56 percent and converted on 4 of 10 3-pointers for 40 percent.

The Cards tallied on 5 of 9 free throws for 56 percent and claimed a 31-25 rebound tilt. The squad totaled 18 assists with 7 steals and 7 turnovers.

Southwestern shot 15 of 45 overall for 33 percent and made 3 of 14 treys for 21 percent.

The hosts connected on 5 of 10 free throws for 50 percent and netted 7 assists against 14 turnovers.

"We had another great crowd, especially on the road. To go to another team’s gym and have more fans, and not by just a few, says a lot. I really believe the kids feed off our crowd and to get the type of support we have is special," said Woods.

The win improved the Cards to 11-0 all-time in the series with the Warriors.

Up next for the Cards was a Friday night home date with Madison Central.

The Indians have been ranked in the top 25 for most of the season, but are coming off two straight losses.

"We just have to go back to work in practice and prepare for a good basketball team," said Woods.

Details on that game in a related story.

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