Huge Dwight run closes out Woodland's season

SOMONAUK — There are always going to be times during the long high school basketball season that a team has one of those stretches where the ball just won't go through the hoop, but when it happens in postseason play it can be devastating.

That was the case for No. 13-seeded Woodland during Tuesday's Somonauk Class 1A Regional quarterfinal against No. 3 Dwight (15-14), as the Warriors failed to change the scoreboard for 6 minutes and 25 seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters.

Meanwhile the Trojans — which led by just three prior to the Woodland drought — reeled off 20 consecutive points including 10 off second-chance opportunities, and eventually advanced to Wednesday's semifinal against No. 5 Newark with a 63-48 victory over the Warriors (6-24) here at Somonauk High School.

Woodland scored the game's opening two points on a pair of free throws a minute and a half in by senior Mason Ewing, but Dwight closed out the frame on a 9-0 run, with Brandon Ceylor netting four of his game-best 22 points and Isaac Telford adding five.

In the second, Warriors sophomore Phoenix Cooper poured in 12 of his team-best 19 points, with Ewing adding five while senior Trevor Derossett and junior Sean Bundy knocked down 3s to close to within 25-23 at halftime.

"I thought we played extremely hard in the first half tonight, and I think we just hit a wall there midway through the third quarter," said Woodland coach Connor Kaminke. "In that stretch where we didn't score, they were getting tons of points off offensive rebounds, and I think it became more difficult for our guys to stay mentally locked in.

"I think we had a little more success in the first half because we had better offensive possessions and boxed out a little better. We kept them from using their press in the first half, but in that third quarter the combination of putback scores and the press off of those just wore us down."

A floater in the lane by Derossett — two of his 18 points —and a free throw-line jumper by Cooper closed the gap to 32-29 with 4 minutes, 30 seconds on the third-quarter clock, but the Warriors wouldn't score again until a carbon copy shot by Cooper with 6:05 remaining in the fourth.

In that span, Ceylor had seven points, Bryson Connor had six points and freshman Wyatt Thompson four of his 12 points, while Woodland missed nine straight shots and turned the ball over six times.

"We really struggled early tonight putting the ball in the hoop from in close, and normally we make those shots," said Dwight coach Jeremy Cooper. "Maybe it was nerves. We have a lot of guys who don't have much postseason experience.

"We obviously had a height advantage, but Woodland is a very scrappy team. We knew that whatever happened tonight, whatever the score was, Woodland was never going to go away, and they didn't.

"We wanted to get the ball into the hands of our big guys early on and set the tone, but that didn't really happen like we had hoped. However, we did a great job of hitting the offensive boards, and that was a big key during that big run we put together late in the third and early (in the) fourth quarter."

Woodland was able to cut Dwight's 23-point lead down to 13 with 2:30 to go as Derossett and Cooper combined for 18 points in the fourth, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Trojans' extended spurt.

"I couldn't be more proud of how the guys kept competing, not only tonight, but all season," Kaminke said. "It's has been a long season, and at times we have really struggled to find success. But they all improved over the course of the year despite what the record might say.

"That improvement is also more than just basketball. These guys grew up a lot and matured as young men."

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At Somonauk

Dwight 63, Woodland 48

(Key: FG-FGA FT-FTA TP)

WOODLAND (48) — Derossett 5-12 7-9 18, Bundy 1-10 0-0 3, Simpson 0-2 0-0 0, Ewing 2-2 4-8 8, Miller 0-4 0-0 0, Pitte 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper 8-15 2-3 19, Stasko 0-0 0-0 0, Pavlick 0-0 0-0 0, Dodge 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 13-20 48.

DWIGHT (63) — Ceylor 9-19 2-2 22, Masching 0-2 0-0 0, Connor 4-12 1-3 9, W. Thompson 3-7 6-7 12, L. Thompson 2-9 1-4 5, Telford 3-6 0-0 8, Tilley 1-2 0-1 3, Rieke 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 0-0 0-2 0, Duden 0-0 0-0 0, Kapper 0-0 0-0 0, Panock 0-0 0-0 0, Jancek 0-1 0-0 0, Hoegger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 10-19 63.

Woodland (6-24) 2 21 6 19 — 48

Dwight (15-14) 9 16 20 18 — 63

3-point goals — Woodland 3-19 (Derossett 1-3, Bundy 1-8, Simpson 0-1, Christian 0-4, Cooper 1-3); Dwight 5-15 (Ceylor 2-5, Masching 0-1, W. Thompson 0-2, L. Thompson 0-2, Telford 2-3, Tilley 1-1, Jancek 0-1). Rebounds — Woodland 34 (Simpson 8, Derossett 7); Dwight 41 (L. Thompson 10, Connor 6, W. Thompson 6). Assists — Woodland 6 (Derossett 2); Dwight 10 (L. Thompson 3). Steals — Woodland 6 (Derossett 3); Dwight 6 (Ceylor 4). Blocked shots — Woodland 3 (Cooper 2); Dwight 0. Turnovers — Woodland 14; Dwight 7. Total fouls (none fouled out) — Woodland 15; Dwight 16.