By CHARLIE HUST
The WCHS Trojans saw their season come to a shocking end last season, losing to Union County in the opening round of the 6th District Tournament after defeating UCHS two times in regular season action.
That wasn’t going to be the case this year as the same teams met in the opening round last Tuesday night at Henderson County High School. And despite a dramatic rally in the second and third quarters by the Braves, the Trojans pulled away with a decisive 55-34 victory. It was the third time this season Webster had taken care of their arch-rivals.
The Trojans made a clear statement to open the game that another upset would not be in the works for the Braves. Baskets from Mason Roland, Zac Shoulders and Cayden Edmonson gave WCHS a quick 6-0 lead.
When Roland fired a nifty bounce to Edmonson on the low block, Webster owned a 9-2 lead with 3:51 in the first quarter.
A pair of 3-pointers from James Robison and Kyler Floyd trimmed the Trojan advantage to 13-10. But senior guard Zac Shoulders closed out the quarter with two free throws and a driving hoop for a 17-12 WC lead at the end of the period.
Two more free throws from Shoulders and a short jumper from Jon Stubblefield stretched the lead to 21-14 at the 6:45 mark of the second frame. After another basket from Floyd at the other end, Shawn House drilled a 10-footer to put WCHS up 23-16 with 4:51 to go.
But the Webster offense stalled the rest of the quarter and Union caught fire. Taking advantage of five straight missed shots by the Trojans, Union’s Robison and Floyd combined for six straight points to close out the quarter with a slim 25-22 Webster County lead.
“All we talked about at halftime was defense, or lack of. We simply made too many defensive mistakes in the first half,” stated Webster head coach Jon Newton. No more standing around. Plus, I thought we were very tight in the first half. But we relaxed in the final two quarters and just play our game.”
And speaking of tight, a large crowd of Webster faithful were holding their breath when Robison canned a pair of free throws early in the third quarter to cut the Trojans’ lead to 28-26.
But the defensive intensity kicked into gear and the Trojans went on a 10-0 run to take control of the game. Back-to-back buckets from Cayden Edmonson and jumpers from Mason Roland and Zac Shoulders fueled the run.
Edmonson led Webster with 17 points and seven rebounds, hitting 8-of-9 shots from the field. Shoulders added 15 points and Roland 12 points.
“Cayden and Zac stepped-up huge for us offensively which was really important since both of them have been struggling as of late,” Newton added.
The Trojans out-scored Union (14-14) 13-5 in the third quarter and held a 17-7 scoring bulge in the final eight minutes.
Stubblefield finished with seven points while House and Grant Carter added two points apiece.
Only three Braves scored in the contest as Floyd finished with 17 and Robison added 15.
Webster County 47
Henderson County 59
“We gave ourselves a chance to win tonight,” emphasized Coach Newton after a hard-fought battle in the championship game of the 6th District Tournament against Henderson County, the state’s third-rated team.
Trailing 15-8 at the first break, the Trojans stormed back behind the outstanding play of Mason Roland to close the gap to 25-22 at intermission.
“For a while, he (Roland) was a one-man show. They really had problems stopping him in the transition game,” Newton added.
But Henderson’s All-State candidate David Simmons took over the game from there, scoring 20 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to hold off the upset-minded Trojans.
Roland finished with a game-high 23 points while Cayden Edmonson added 10 points and 14 rebounds. Zac Shoulders also finished with 10 points.
Webster (24-6) closed the gap to just three points with 4:33 left in the game on a driving layup from Roland and a rebound and putback from Edmonson.
But the Colonels nailed 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch and rode the hot shooting of Simmons to prevail with the victory.
Webster will play in the Second Region Tournament scheduled this week at Union County High School. WCHS will take on Seventh District champion Madisonville-North Hopkins Thursday night.
• A trio of WCHS players were named to the All-District squad, based on regular-season play. Senior guards Mason Roland and Zac Shoulders along with junior Jon Stubblefield. Skylar Kanipe was named All-District cheerleader for Webster.
Included on the 6th District All-Academic (3.5 GPA or higher) were Stubblefield, Roland Shoulders and Trevis Bell.