By CHARLIE HUST
Webster County boys’ basketball squad topped of the holiday break by winning its own tourney, the Methodist Hospital Holiday Classic at Trojan gym. The Trojans won 3-of-4 games, including the head-to-head matchup against Murray on Sunday afternoon to claim the championship trophy.
WCHS is back in action this Saturday hosting Hopkins County Central and then on the road next Tuesday at Owensboro High.
Webster County 75
Webster senior J. D. Newton scored a career-high 22 points and hauled in six rebounds to lead the Trojans past Murray during the holiday classic championship game Sunday afternoon in Dixon.
The 6-foot-3 center was on target the entire night, hitting 10-of-13 field goals and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. Junior point guard Mason Roland also had a strong performance, finishing with 18 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Max McMain added 12 points, six assists and four steals while Zac Shoulders scored 11 points along with three rebounds and three assists.
After Murray jumped out to an 18-15 lead after the first quarter, the Trojans turned up the defensive pressure which led to easy transition baskets. A 6-0 to start the second quarter on baskets from Newton, Roland and Shoulders opened the offensive flood gates to a 20-6 run for WCHS in the quarter.
The onslought continued in the third period and Webster used a 18-9 scoring advantage to gain a commanding 57-33 lead.
Jake Fritz added three points in the victory while Cole Hazelwood finished with one field goal.
Webster out-rebounded the Tigers 29-20 and hit on 57 percent of their field goals (28-for-49) along with 8-of-9 accuracy from the free throw line. The Trojans also had 21 assists in the victory.
Webster County 75
Livingston Central 45
The Trojans completely dominated the out-manned Cardinals Friday night in the opening round of the Methodist Hospital Holiday Classic hosted by Webster County.
After falling behind 6-2 in the opening minutes of the game, WC head Jon Newton called time out and ‘lit-a-fire’ under his troops. The strategy worked as the Trojans scored 22 unanswered points over the 9:15 minutes to take total command of the game.
Livingston, which dressed just seven players, had no answer for the WCHS run as six players scored buckets in the explosion. Webster held a 15-6 lead at the first break and built a 33-18 advantage at halftime. The lead grew to 52-33 after three quarters of play.
Behind seven consecutive points from talented Austin Woodward to begin the fourth quarter. Livingston cut the margin to just 14 points. But that would be as close as the Cardinals could get as WCHS answered with a 15-0 run to close out the victory.
J. D. Newton led the Trojans in scoring with 16 points, followed by 12 from Zac Shoulders and 11 from Jon Stubblefield. Jake Fritz added eight points, Max McMain eight, Mason Roland seven and two points each from Madison Melton, Zac Pugh, Cole Hazelwood, Colten Durrance, Shawn House and Trevis Bell.
Webster County 65
Meade County 59
WCHS junior Max McMain scored 21 points to lead the Trojans to a hard-fought win in the second game of the holiday classic Saturday morning at Trojan gym.
Webster gained a slim 15-12 lead at the first quarter break and led the rest of the way, but couldn’t pull away from the stubborn Third Region squad. WC built a 30-26 lead at intermission and held on for a 47-42 advantage after three quarters of play.
Mason Roland was the only other Trojan in double figures, finishing with 11 points plus a team-high five assists and five steals. Jake Fritz and Zac Shoulders finished with eight points each while J. D. Newton added six points and four rebounds. Madison Melton had five points, four boards and four assists.
Jon Stubblefield scored four points followed by two points from Colten Durrance.
Webster hurt itself at the free throw line, hitting just 18-of-29 attempts (62%), while shooting 48 percent from the field.
Meade County owned a 28-23 rebounding edge.
Webster County 57
Todd County Central 63
Webster let another victory slip away in the closing minutes in their third game of the Methodist Hospital Holiday Classic Saturday night in Trojan gym.
It was WC’s third game in two days and a bit fatigue may have taken its toll on the Trojans as they committed 14 turnovers and were just 1-for-10 from behind the third point arc.
“We games we’ve won, we’ve taken care of the basketball. Tonight we didn’t do that,” noted WCHS head coach Jon Newton.
The Trojans raced out to a 14-5 lead early in the first period but saw the Rebels fight their way back into the game to close out the period trailing 22-15.
A 5-0 Todd Central run to open the second stanza, courtesy of consecutive turnovers from the Trojans, gave the Rebels a bit of confidence and they built on the momentum to tie the game 30-30 at halftime. Webster had seven turnovers in the frame to help fuel the Rebels’ run.
Todd took its first lead of the game at 38-34 on back-to-back 3-pointers with 5:32 to go in the third quarter.
Max McMain answered with a ‘trey’ for the Trojans but Rebel guard Treva Drayton scored six straight points to push the Rebels on top 44-37.
Webster responded well, closing out the quarter with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 46-45 heading into the final eight minutes.
The see-saw battled continued in the early minutes of the fourth quarter and when Madison Melton connected on consecutive buckets midway through the quarter, Webster had grabbed a 53-50 lead. Melton scored all six of his points in the final quarter.
But the gritty Rebels answered that run with a 9-0 spurt to own a six-point lead with 2:39 remaining in the game.
A bucket each from J. D. Newton and Mason Roland cut the lead to three points with under a minute to play. But the Rebels were equal to the task, hitting four straight free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Newton led the Trojans with his first double-double of the season, 18 points and 10 rebounds. Roland was also in double figures with 14 points while McMain added nine points and six from fellow junior Zac Shoulders. Melton and Jake Fritz also added six points apiece.
Todd held a huge advantage at the free throw line, hitting 12-of-16 attempts while the Trojans shot only six free throws and made four. Webster did own a strong 34-24 rebounding edge.
All-Tournament Team
Webster junior guard Max McMain was named to the Methodist Hospital Holiday Classic All-Tournament team at the conclusion of Sunday’s championship game.
Max McMain - WCHS
Tandyn Sheppard - Murray
Josh Durbin - Meade County
Jon Michael Brown - Todd Central
Austin Woodward - Livingston
Honorable Mention
Mason Roland - WCHS
Preston English - Murray
Travis Jenkins - Meade
Tyler Harris - Todd
Colton Ramage - Livingston