By Mike Myers, Sports Writer
The Washington Hatchets will take a considerable amount of momentum with them to Southridge on Tuesday when they open defense of their 2008 Class 3A state championship after downing No. 12 Evansville Memorial 58-49 at the Hatchet House on Friday.
Second-ranked Washington (18-2) opened a new series with Memorial (16-5) on a winning note, the Hatchets’ eighth straight of the season. The two teams hooked up in a classic regional championship game last spring, also a Hatchet win, and Memorial replaced Class A White River Valley on the Washington schedule beginning this season.
The Tigers are the type of squad Washington coach Gene Miiller wants his team to face with tourney play close on the horizon. The Hatchets open sectional play against Heritage Hills on Tuesday.
“That’s a good basketball team. They’re a physical, defensive team, they really get into you all over the floor. They really come at you defensively,” said Miiller. “It was a good ball game to play at this time of year because somewhere along the line you’re going to see a team like this, that’s going to come at you like this.”
The Hatchets struggled early but rebounded to lead 15-12 at the first quarter break. Washington’s biggest lead of the second half was also the halftime score as reserve Kurtis Anthony hit a trey just ahead of the second quarter buzzer, giving WHS a 29-20 lead heading into the locker room.
Washington’s defense was a big part of the win as the Hatchets held Memorial to 33 percent (16-48) shooting and just 15 points combined in the second and third quarter. In particular, WHS controlled Tiger guard Trev Wilgus, who was just 3-15 from the field and finished with only 11 points. Only five 3-pointers from Dylan Peters kept Memorial in the contest.
“I thought our defense played well throughout the basketball game. I thought we did a nice job on Wilgus, especially in the second half. Derek Singleton played him and did a nice job in the second half,” said Miiller. “Dylan Peters kept them in the ball game for a time, but overall I thought we had a nice ball game.”
The Hatchets fronted 38-27 heading into the final quarter, then finished off Memorial from the free throw line. Washington hit on 22-29 from the stripe for the game, including 18-22 in the final eight minutes of play.
Sophomore center Cody Zeller led WHS with 16 points and seven boards. Senior center Wade Collins added a strong night off the bench with eight points, six rebounds, and solid defense in the post. Senior guard Cody Osmon was 5-6 from the stripe and scored nine points to go with four assists. Anthony finished with seven points, while junior forward Sam Gines scored six points. Sophomore forward Matt Babrick contributed four points and five boards, with junior guard Ethan Hunsinger also scoring four points.
It was the final regular season home game for Collins, Osmon and forward Jance Johnston, though the Hatchets would return home for regional action should they win next week’s sectional.
“Cody Osmon is a three-year letter winner and started for us almost all of last season. He’s one of the best 3-point shooters in Hatchet history and is one of the top-100 scorers. He’s just had a very good career for us, he’s a great kid and a kid I’ve really enjoyed coaching,” said Miiller. “Jance Johnston’s a great kid, he works hard in practice, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, Jance is going to come to work and work extremely hard. It’s been a pleasure to have Jance around, he’s played some valuable minutes for us.
“Wade Collins is the first guy that I’ve every kept that’s sit out two years,” Miiller said of Collins, who didn’t play basketball as a sophomore or junior. “He’s had a great year for us, he does a lot of good things defensively and rebounding. He’s made some big plays.”
In the JV game, Washington claimed a 44-39 win. Dylan Ervin topped WHS with 16 points, followed by Adam Lane with 10. After starting the season 0-4, coach Kyle Cornelius’ reserve Hatchets won 10 of their final 16 games to finish the campaign at 10-10.
