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Wickes Tournament Sr. Boys Finals Game

Started by zacbufkinismyhomie, January 09, 2007, 11:02:51 pm

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zacbufkinismyhomie

This past Saturday the young Dierks Outlaws played Van Cove Hornets.  Van Cove upset Kirby this past Thursday night by holding Lucas Whisenhunt and Timothy Burton of Kirby all night.  These 2 stars of the team were rattled early and never got back into the game.  Lucas finally came around but it was too little too late.  Van Cove has a very athletic ball club and #42 is only a sophomore and hitting HUGE shots for them.

Dierks starts 4 sophomores and 1 senior.  Gaining sophomore athlete Chase Mitchell back from a broken arm for the tournament, momentum carried the Outlaws into the tournament.  Cody Chandler went into the tournament with shin splints and guard Blake Alexander getting injured during the first game of the tournament for them with a bruise on his thigh.  Both of these sophomore players PLAYED THROUGH THE PAIN and helped motivate the team to defeat the higher seeded Ashdown Panthers.  81-75   Drew Walston ended up with 43 points  and about 14-16 from the free throw line.  Cody Chandler pitched in about 18 points himself for the win.  Later on this night, I watched with an Outlaw player Van Cove boys take on a very solid Lockesburg team.  Lockesburg boys have a big boy on their team that is just dominate!  Looked like he was playing hurt too and got into foul trouble mid-way through the game and Van Cove took advantage of it and came out with a win.

The Outlaws moved on to face another higher seeded team, the favorites Wickes Warriors.  Home court advantage couldn't help the Warrios pull out with a win and ended up shooting themselves out of the game.  Walston again had over 20 points and several rebounds and Cody Chandler pitched in with 20 of his own.  The Outlaws upset Wickes by about 10 points. 

Meanwhile, that same Outlaw player I spoke about earlier watched the Van Cove Hornets upset the Kirby Trojans in the game prior to theirs.  This making our 2nd time to watch Van Cove play in the tournament.  Kirby actually guarded #3 of Van Cove who didn't hit a shot all night against Lockesburg.  Remember this...this would be the key to the finals.

Wickes finals, Van Cove Hornets vs. Dierks Outlaws.  After discussing the possible game plan with a player on the Outlaws team, we came up with the conclusion that Van Cove has 1 player that can really shoot the ball and a point guard that makes good decisions.  Two athletes down low that if get good position, can do a lot with the ball.  These 2 guys were both in foul trouble early and taken out of the game.  #3 was allowed to take shots from deep anywhere on the court and late in the game was called for charging as Blake Alexander of the Outlaws stepped in the lane taking the charge coming up with a HUGE play for the Outlaws.  #3 slams his hands down on the court and receives a technical foul and the Outlaws go to the line and get the ball.  There was a technical dished out earlier in the game and I think it was on the same player because he wasn't allowed back in the game after this one.  #42 was manned up all night long and was held to well under 20 points for the game.  None of the other players on Van Cove could really get anything going as their point guard was frustrated with the right Outlaw defense all night.  The Outlaws came out with a big win by about 7 to take the Wickes tournament. 

This just goes to show you that any team can be beaten at anytime.  When guys come together and play together as a team...anything is possible and Dierks proved that Saturday night.  I'm not sure when the Outlaws last played in the Wickes tournament finals, let alone win the tournament.  The best year Dierks ever had in basketball back in 1997-1998 when they had Shane Hill, Vince Strasner, Jeremy Pickett, Nic Mounts (now coaching softball and football at Centerpoint), Chris Bruce, Jason Tipton, and Corey Stone....they were beaten by ACORN in the 2nd round of the Wickes tournament.  That year they went 23-8 and played in the regional semi-finals against the powerhouse Stephens who went on to LOSE to Arkansas Baptist in the state finals.  In high school basketball...ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!

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