Whiteoak gains 23-point win in Div. VII district quarterfinals over St. Joseph

MOWRYSTOWN — Playing possibly their most complete game of the season, the Whiteoak Wildcats gained a convincing 23-point win in their Division VII SE District quarterfinal game Thursday evening, defeating the Ironton St. Joseph Central Flyers, 73-40 at Whiteoak High School. 

The win for the No. 8 seeded Wildcats saw them play close with the No. 9 seeded St. Joseph squad in the first quarter where WHS led by six points when the buzzer sounded at 18-12. 

Whiteoak (10-13) will now face the No. 1 seeded Racine Southern Tornadoes (20-2) on Monday, March 2 at Southeastern High School at 6:15 p.m. in the district semifinals.  

“I think they (Whiteoak) got out in transition and had a little more pep in their step. I mean, we knew what was on the line tonight, and we took advantage of the home court, for sure,” WHS head coach Cory Copas said. “We want to get it up and down, and if they don't have opportunities, then you want to run your offense, so I thought we did a good job of that tonight. I'm not going to complain about the 73 points we put up.

“We talked about coming out. Like every coach, the first four minutes is huge. I thought we came out in the past and we kind of struggled in the third quarter, and I thought tonight we did a good job, kept the foot on the pedal and just kind of extended that lead. That's what we had to do.”

Whiteoak, with their relentless transition offense, had four players score in double figures. The Wildcats were led by Jason Gaskins with 19 points, as he made nine two-point baskets and was 1-of-1 from the free-throw line. 

Christopher Wessner was next with 14 points, sinking four 3-pointers and one two-point basket. 

Scoring 11 points each were Lucas Pollard and Brady Brandenburg, with Pollard making three two-pointers, one 3-pointer, and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Brandenburg finished with five two-point baskets, and he was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

Sawyer Blair totaled nine points, with one two-pointer, two 3-pointers and he went 1-of-1 from the free-throw line. Carson Hart finished with five points off two two-point baskets, and he was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

Scoring two points each were Evan Richmond and Bryson Herdman, who both made a two-point basket. 

Copas also spoke about the Wildcats' defense.

“We came out and I think we only gave up six in the second quarter, and we talked about that. It’s got to be a single-digit quarter, and we were able to do that,” he said. “I don't really like having to do that by going zone. I'd rather do that more man to man, but I thought the guys fought hard, and I thought we did a good job rebounding the ball as well.”

The Wildcats never trailed in the district quarterfinal game, beginning with a 3-pointer by Wessner, and later followed with a trey from Blair, followed by a layup by Wessner for an 8-2 lead. 

After a bucket by the Flyers, Hart connected with a jumper for the Wildcats, and with 3:21 left in the first frame, Wessner drilled his second 3-pointer of the game for a 13-6 lead with 3:21 left in the quarter. 

St. Joseph later responded in the first with 3-pointers from Eli Whaley and Zane Dressel for a 16-12 score, but Whiteoak ended the first frame with a basket by Brandenburg for a six-point lead. 

Whiteoak outscored the Flyers 17-6 in the second for a 37-18 halftime lead. 

WHS opened the second frame with a 7-0 run off a Hart 3-pointer, a layup from Gaskins and a three-point play off an off-balanced shot and free throw for a 25-12 lead with 7:02 left in the quarter. 

Whiteoak eventually took a 19-point lead at 33-14 following a 8-0 run that consisted of a 3-pointer by Wessner, a basket by Pollard as he drove through the defense, and Pollard followed that with a 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the second frame. 

WHS added four more points in the second with baskets by Brandenburg and Gaskins. 

It was a 23-14 third frame where Whiteoak led the frame and took a 60-32 advantage. 

The 23-point frame consisted of six points scored by Pollard, a 3-pointer from Blair, four points by Gaskins, a 3-pointer by Wessner, six points off three baskets by Brandenburg and one point scored by Hart. 

WHS also won the fourth frame at 13-8, as Blair scored three points in the fourth, while Gaskins made three baskets for six points, and making one basket each were Richmond and Herdman. 

Team totals for Whiteoak included 23 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers, and they were 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

St. Joseph (9-13) was led by Carson Willis with 10 points off five baskets. Eli Whaley and Dressel each scored with points. Also scoring points for St. Joseph was Andy Listerman (3), Beckham Waginger (5) and Carter Johnson (6). 

Whiteoak got their entire roster in the game on Thursday, which was a goal of Copas entering the contest. 

“I told them, we need to get all those guys in, or you guys that play didn't do your job, and so that was good,” he said. “It's good to see them get in there and cheer for each other. That's kind of what it's about. If you don't think you have a purpose or role, then you're crazy, because those guys on the bench, that's what gets us ready. 

“I mean, they ran through everything that they had, so we knew what exactly they were going to do. That’s credit to my coaches and to those guys, and then tomorrow they’ve got to figure out how to work Southern, and that’s what we’ll do.”

BOX SCORE
SJHS        12 06 14 08 — 40
WHS         18 19 23 13 — 73

WHITEOAK (73) — L.Pollard 3 (1) 2-2 11, S.Blair 1 (2) 1-1 9, J.Gaskins 9 (0) 1-1 19, C.Wessner 1 (4) 0-0 14, B.Brandenburg 5 (0) 1-2 11, E.Richmond 1 (0) 0-0 2, C.Hart 2 (0) 1-2 5, B.Herdman 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 23 (7) 6-8 73. 

IRONTON ST. JOSEPH (40) — E.Whaley 1 (2) 0-0 8, A.Listerman 0 (1) 0-0 3, B.Waginger 2 (0) 1-1 5, Z.Dressel 2 (1) 1-2 8, C.Willis 5 (0) 0-5 10, C.Johnson 3 (0) 0-1 6. TOTALS: 13 (4) 2-9 40.