Slow start by Warriors proves costly in defeat to Camp Point
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WINCHESTER - Ryan Graner didn’t want to say it out loud, but he had a sinking feeling that his team would not come out sharp.
The Calhoun Warriors head coach was right.
The Warriors shot 18-of-53 (33 percent) from the field as they were defeated by the Camp Point Central Panthers 56-49 in the fifth-place semifinals at the Winchester Invitational Tournament on Wednesday night.
Calhoun falls to 9-5 on the season and has lost three out of their last four games.
Due to the heavy snow storms this past weekend, virtually every school in the Riverbender area and most in Central Illinois canceled classes, thus meaning no basketball was played. As a result, the Warriors were limited to one practice in seven days, which Graner points out as the main reason as to why his team was “cold” from the field.
“I hate to say it, I saw it coming,” Graner said. “We had one practice in the last seven days, and we finally had school yesterday. Talking to the other coaches, every other school had the ability to get into the gym at least. For a football town that traditionally doesn’t have a lot of scorers, we’re starting to come around, and Mother Nature threw a wrench into that plan.”
Drew Baalman scored a game-high 22 points with 20 coming in the second half and 15 in the fourth quarter. Sophomore forward Corey Nelson added 14 and fellow tenth grader; Ben Eberlin chipped in 11.
Although Calhoun’s shooting would improve in the second half, they started poorly.
The Warriors shot 5-of-26 from the field in the first half and during the second quarter were 1-of-10. Late in the first quarter and through most of the second, the Panthers went on an 11-0 run to help build a 21-12 halftime lead.
“You don’t want to talk about it before a game with your players, but I had kinda seen it in practice, and it didn’t surprise me we went that cold,” Graner said. “Even with Drew, he hadn’t shot a ball in four or five days before that, and it shows. It’s like golf. If you don’t swing your clubs every day, you’re not going to be very good at it.”
The Panthers were led by Lane Ippensen’s 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half as he established a strong presence down low. Bryce Long tallied nine points, and Cole Williams added seven.
Later on in the night, Central lost to Routt Catholic in the fifth-place game 36-33. Their record is now 12-8.
The Panthers opened the game shooting a 4-of-5 from beyond the arc as they got out to a 16-10 lead. They also found themselves in a scoring slump like Calhoun in the second quarter but were able to chip away with the lead.
In the second half, Central attempted just two triples and made a concerted effort to attack the basket, which proved to be a successful endeavor. After not attempting a free throw in the first half, the Panthers earned their way to the charity stripe 24 times in the final 16 minutes scoring 13 points.
“There’s no excuse for it especially when we were coming out in a zone,” Graner said. “Everything we did tonight was a step slow, and everything [Central] did was aggressive, which is a perfect way to counter that. Coach Barnett does a heck of a job with them, and there’s no substitute for strength in this game.”
Calhoun trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half and never got to within three possessions until Baalman sank a three-pointer at the final buzzer.
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