By CHARLIE HUST
The WCHS Trojans split a pair of games early last week, topping Crittenden County on Tuesday and then falling to a strong Mayfield squad on Thursday. The Trojans rebounded with a come-from-behind win over Hopkins County Central on Saturday and a big win over Livingston Central Monday night.
The Trojans (12-5) travel to Breckinridge County on Saturday and then host Trigg County next Monday in Trojan gym.
Webster County 58
Crittenden County 53
The Trojans used a 17-11 run in the third quarter to breaking a 25-25 tie and hold off a scrappy Rocket squad last Tuesday night in Marion, recording their fifth straight win.
Both squads came out hot in the first eight minutes, putting 17 points on the scoreboard. The pace slowed considerable in the second stanza with both teams shooting under 30 percent.
That’s when the Trojans caught fire again with the big third quarter. Max McMain sparked the eruption with six of his game-high 27 points. The junior guard hit 8-of-13 shots from the field, including one 3-pointer, plus 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Webster held a huge advantage at the charity stripe, attempting 32 shots but connecting on just 20 (62 percent). The Rockets were just 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
The third quarter was the difference in the game as Crittenden out-scored WCHS 17-16 in the final eight minutes.
Jon Stubblefield was the only other Trojan in double figures, coming off the bench to pop 11 markers, including one 3-pointer. Mason Roland added nine points, four rebounds and three assists while Zac Shoulders finished with seven points and five rebounds. Madison Melton added two points while Ben Brumfiel finished with one.
Webster played without the services of starting center J. D. Newton who was injured in the Union County on Jan. 10. That proved to be the difference in the game as Crittenden held a commanding 28-19 rebounding edge.
Webster County 45
Mayfield 51
Webster suffered through its worst shooting night of the season last Thursday in Dixon, hitting just 17-of-48 (35 percent) attempts from the field, including just 3-for-11 (27 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. The Trojans managed just 8-of-14 from the free throw line to compound the problem.
After two weeks of strong play from his Trojans, WCHS head coach Jon Newton admitted that Saturday’s game was tough to witness from the bench.
“We didn’t play well at all, it was pretty frustrating from a coaching standpoint,” Newton noted. “You have to give credit to Mayfield, they did a good job of setting the tempo of the game. They sat back in a zone (defense) and really slowed down our transition offense.”
The Cardinals took an early 6-0 lead after the opening tip and held a 17-13 advantage at the first break.
Behind two baskets apiece from Mason Roland and Jon Stubblefield, the Trojans rallied in the second period with a 13-9 run to tie the game at 26-26 at intermission.
Webster then scored the first four points of the third quarter on baskets from Zac Shoulders and Roland and closed out the period with a 37-34 lead.
But a strong Cardinal defense and some ice-cold shooting from the Trojans in the final eight minutes proved to be too much from WCHS to overcome.
“It’s tough to win a game when you miss 25 shots from inside of 15 feet,” Newton stated about the Trojans’ cold shooting night.
Mayfield, just 6-9 on the season, used an 8-2 run to begin the final quarter and went on to out-score Webster 17-8 in the period for the victory.
Roland led the Trojans with 17 points, hitting 3-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc. He posted the only 3-pointer of the game for WCHS. Zac Shoulders added 11 points and five rebounds while Jacob Fritz finished with five points and four boards. Jon Stubblefield added six points while WC’s high-scoring guard Max McMain was held to a season-low two points. Madison Melton kicked-in four points plus four rebounds and four steals.
Webster County 54
Hopkins Central 48
Webster County had easily handled the Storm in late December in the WCHS Holiday Classic. That wasn’t the case last Saturday night in Mortons Gap as the Hopkins Central squad could smell an upset brewing.
With 6:25 left in the game, Central’s Tyrek White grabbed a rebound and scored to give the Storm a 42-37 lead.
But a WCHS rally, sparked by three reserves ... Madison Melton, Cole Hazelwood and Ben Brumfiel ... got the offense going and provided the winning surge.
After an old-fashioned 3-point play from Zac Shoulders, Brumfiel tied the game at 42-all with a layup off the assist from Shoulders.
Webster forced a turnover on the Storm’s next possession and sophomore Jon Stubblefield converted the miscue into the go-ahead layup. A key offensive rebound from Melton led to his assist to Brumfiel on Webster’s next possession and the senior was fouled on his shot attempt. He calmly sank both free throws to push the lead to 46-42. Hazelwood finished the 8-0 run with a pair of free throws to give Webster a 48-42 lead and 2:13 left in the game.
Central’s Bryton Parris closed the gap to 48-44 with 1:14 to go but the Trojans were not going to surrender the lead, hitting 3-of-6 free throws in the final 49.3 seconds to seal the victory.
“I’m very proud of those guys who haven’t had much of an opportunity (to play) this year. They stepped up and showed they are productive members of this team,” Coach Newton stated.
Central (2-14) grabbed an early 13-10 lead as the Trojans’ shooting woes began in the early minutes of the contest.
WC’s offensive production picked up in the second quarter behind the hot shooting of Zac Shoulders. He scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the period to lead Webster to an 18-11 scoring edge and a 28-24 lead at intermission.
But the Trojans managed just nine points in the third quarter and found themselves behind 38-37 heading into the final quarter.
That’s when Newton turned to his bench and they were equal to the task, holding the Storm to just six points in the final six minutes while canning 10-of-15 free throws.
“We haven’t had much intensity or focus this week and we certainly needed a lift. Those guys ... Cole, Ben and Maddie ... executed and got to the free throw line,” Newton added.
For the second straight game, the Trojans struggled with their shooting, hitting just 15-of-43 (34 percent) attempts from the field and a dismal 2-of-8 (25 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. Webster managed 22-of-33 (66 percent) from the free throw line, compared to just 7-of-14 from the Storm.
Stubblefield, Max McMain and Mason Roland added seven points each while J. D. Newton finished with six points. Hazelwood and Brumfiel scored four points apiece. Newton and Melton led the Trojans with five rebounds each while Shoulders and Roland had three apiece.
Webster County 51
Livingston Central 38
Junior guard Zac Shoulders continued his stellar play, scoring a game-high 18 points to lead the Trojans past the Cardinals Monday night in Smithland.
It was Webster’s seventh victory in eight games. Livingston fell to 4-13 on the season.
Behind seven points from Shoulders and ‘in-your-face’ defense, WCHS out-scored Livingston 17-4 in the second quarter to jump out to a 34-18 lead.
Jon Stubblefield was also in double figures with 10 points while J. D. Newton added eight points. Madison Melton seven. Mason Roland finished with six points and Max McMain added two points