Cardinals make sweep of conference with Magic win
By DONN ADAMSON\Daily Journal Sports Editor
Feb 23, 2006 - 11:06:43 CST
ST. LOUIS - The Mineral Area Cardinals finished their MCCA Conference season with a perfect 6-0 mark on Wednesday after defeating a pesky Meramec Magic team, 76-70.
The Cardinals played with two of their starters out due to illness, and lost two more to fouls in the final minutes with the Magic breathing heavily down the Cardinals neck in a comeback try.
Mineral Area had developed an 18 point lead midway through the second half, but the Magic kept whittling away at it until they made an 8-0 run that brought the lead down to five with 2:30 left in the game.
Tony Webb broke MAC's scoring drought with a baseline jumper, but the Magic's Kevin Wollbrinck collected a conventional three to make it a two-point game with one minute still left to play.
T.J. Britton answered with a lay-up and was also fouled. The free throw was missed, but MAC got the ball back and this time it was Tremaine Wilkerson who was fouled. Wilkerson was money in the bank as he had already gone 9-10 from the line where he swished two more home. The Cardinals as a team made 21-35 free throws.
Mineral Area started a little cold, falling behind early to Meramec. The Cardinals were scoreless in the first 2:30 and the Magic stepped out to a 15-7 lead before the Cardinals took control of the game.
Tony Webb got things going for MAC with four straight points to start a nine point run that gave the Cardinals their first lead. DeAlan Hicks tied the game up at 19-19 with a conventional three, but only after Mineral Area picked up its first of two technicals in the game.
The game became somewhat of a foul-fest in the last minutes of the first half. With both teams making trip after trip to the free throw line, for a five-minute stretch the only points made by both teams were at the free-throw line, until Chad Henderson went coast-to-coast for a lay-up that gave Mineral Area a 38-27 advantage.
Henderson, who led the Cardinals in scoring in the first half with nine points, started the second half where he had left off in the first half with seven of MAC's first nine points. When Henderson hit his third three-pointer of the game, the Cardinals were running away with the game. Henderson would finish with 22 points.
The Cardinals had stepped out to an 18 point lead with Rickey Claitt, Eric Stuckey, and T.J. Britton helping out by scoring nearly all of their points in the surge. The fouls of the first half began to accumulate in the second half and both teams lost a pair of players to fouls before the game was over.
Kevin Wollbrinck hit two threes to help Meramec's comeback try. Wollbrinck scored 14 points in the second half. Zack Foster led the Magic with 20 points.
Mineral Area, 24-4 over-all, 6-0 in conference, and 7-0 in Region 16, will play at State Fair this Saturday at 7 p.m., and on March 4, the Cardinals will pay at home in the semi-finals of the Region 16 tournament with an opponent to be determined later.
Mineral Area 41 35 - 76
Meramec 33 37 - 70
Mineral Area - Henderson 22, Wilkerson 15, Webb 9, Muse 6, Hicks 6, Claitt 5, Britton 5, Mata 4, Jones 2, Stuckey 2.
Meramec - Foster 20, Wollbrinck 19, Howard 9, Kaatman 9, Brinker 7, Paradoski 4, Egelhoff 2.
3-Pointers: Henderson 3, Webb 2, Howard 2, Wollbrinck 2, Claitt, Kaatman.
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The Cardinals played with two of their starters out due to illness, and lost two more to fouls in the final minutes with the Magic breathing heavily down the Cardinals neck in a comeback try.
Mineral Area had developed an 18 point lead midway through the second half, but the Magic kept whittling away at it until they made an 8-0 run that brought the lead down to five with 2:30 left in the game.
Tony Webb broke MAC's scoring drought with a baseline jumper, but the Magic's Kevin Wollbrinck collected a conventional three to make it a two-point game with one minute still left to play.
T.J. Britton answered with a lay-up and was also fouled. The free throw was missed, but MAC got the ball back and this time it was Tremaine Wilkerson who was fouled. Wilkerson was money in the bank as he had already gone 9-10 from the line where he swished two more home. The Cardinals as a team made 21-35 free throws.
Mineral Area started a little cold, falling behind early to Meramec. The Cardinals were scoreless in the first 2:30 and the Magic stepped out to a 15-7 lead before the Cardinals took control of the game.
Tony Webb got things going for MAC with four straight points to start a nine point run that gave the Cardinals their first lead. DeAlan Hicks tied the game up at 19-19 with a conventional three, but only after Mineral Area picked up its first of two technicals in the game.
The game became somewhat of a foul-fest in the last minutes of the first half. With both teams making trip after trip to the free throw line, for a five-minute stretch the only points made by both teams were at the free-throw line, until Chad Henderson went coast-to-coast for a lay-up that gave Mineral Area a 38-27 advantage.
Henderson, who led the Cardinals in scoring in the first half with nine points, started the second half where he had left off in the first half with seven of MAC's first nine points. When Henderson hit his third three-pointer of the game, the Cardinals were running away with the game. Henderson would finish with 22 points.
The Cardinals had stepped out to an 18 point lead with Rickey Claitt, Eric Stuckey, and T.J. Britton helping out by scoring nearly all of their points in the surge. The fouls of the first half began to accumulate in the second half and both teams lost a pair of players to fouls before the game was over.
Kevin Wollbrinck hit two threes to help Meramec's comeback try. Wollbrinck scored 14 points in the second half. Zack Foster led the Magic with 20 points.
Mineral Area, 24-4 over-all, 6-0 in conference, and 7-0 in Region 16, will play at State Fair this Saturday at 7 p.m., and on March 4, the Cardinals will pay at home in the semi-finals of the Region 16 tournament with an opponent to be determined later.
Mineral Area 41 35 - 76
Meramec 33 37 - 70
Mineral Area - Henderson 22, Wilkerson 15, Webb 9, Muse 6, Hicks 6, Claitt 5, Britton 5, Mata 4, Jones 2, Stuckey 2.
Meramec - Foster 20, Wollbrinck 19, Howard 9, Kaatman 9, Brinker 7, Paradoski 4, Egelhoff 2.
3-Pointers: Henderson 3, Webb 2, Howard 2, Wollbrinck 2, Claitt, Kaatman.