CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — In a hard-nosed, fast-paced battle, the (3) Silex Owls took down top-seeded Winfield to win the third place title, 56-51, at the 29th Annual Clopton Tournament on Saturday.
The game may rival for most whistles ever blown in the Dale Miller Gymnasium as the teams combined for almost 60 fouls and 70 free throws.
The Owls cranked the defensive pressure right out of the gates to set the tone for the third place game.
“That’s kind of the way we need to play,” remarked Coach Tony Francis. “We’ve been doing it since I took over in the summer. We want to extend our defense. We’re pretty deep, we have a lot of guys that can come in and do different things. We need to use our depth and try to wear the opponent down.”
Francis noted the Owls are still working on fundamentals in the half-court defense, but it will take time.
“To try to compete this year, until we can make those steps, we want to extend our defense, push the pace, wear people down – get them out of their comfort zone and make them do things they don’t normally do.”
Francis also pointed to the youth of his team. Of the 19 kids on the roster, 15 are freshmen and sophomores. He added that before the game, one of the older players remarked they had never played three games at the tournament.
With a chuckle, Francis admitted the game wasn’t the most fouls he’s ever seen but it definitely added to the learning experience.
“We fouled a lot…we turned the ball over a lot, especially in the second half. That’s a part of teaching these guys how to play at this pace. It’s such a mind thing. I told them a couple of week ago, ‘mental is to physical as four is to one’ and right now our mind hasn’t been able to adapt with the way we want to play,” Francis explained. “What we’ve got to do to close that gap – we just got to keep doing it and we’ll figure it out.”
He noted the tension level of the third place game was a great learning experience for the team. In the third quarter, the Owls had three starters with four fouls on the bench.
“I was thinking, ‘oh, this doesn’t look good.’ But what’s nice about that in a weird sort of way when you’re in your first year trying to develop this culture – it’s giving these other guys a chance to play under pressure. So, once again, through a negative we find a positive.”
Silex built a double-digit lead with a solid opening quarter that held Winfield to one field goal. Both teams were in the bonus by mid-way. The Warriors failed to capitalize, going 3-14 from the charity stripe in the first and was just 6-21 on free throws in the first half.
Luke Lindsay led the Silex offense with 7 points in the first (including 3-3 at the free throw line) and finished the half with 9. The Owls were 6-8 at the line in the first quarter and 10-16 at halftime.
A big three-point play by Will Schulte cut the deficit to 8 points at halftime, with Silex leading, 29-21.
The teams each scored 11 in the third quarter as Winfield focused more on the perimeter. Schulte and Steven Dees knocked down threes for the Warriors while the Owls got it done at the free throw line, going 7-9 in the frame.
Silex led 40-32 going into the fourth as both teams had starters in serious foul trouble. A pair of layups from Brady Cappel narrowed the Owls advantage to just 4 points. Silex lost their first player to fouls at 5:36 as Evan Mehler was forced to the bench.
With just under four minutes Winfield surged again. They forced a couple of turnovers and capitalized on their end. Camden Burk brought the score within 2 on a steal then pushed the Warriors into their first lead of the game, 43-42, with a big three at 3:40 of the fourth.
The teams traded a one-point lead over the next two minutes and both teams lost a player to fouls as Winfield’s Beau Schulte sat at 2:20 and Silex’s Kaden Kuntz was gone at 1:14.
Lindsay put the Owls up by a point once again at 1:45. Silex clung to the lead the rest of the way, getting a big three from Hank Mooney to lead, 51-47.
Winfield closed in a final time after losing their second starter at 36.2. A Nick Gerbert jumper put the Warriors ahead 52-51 with 30 ticks on the clock.
Lindsay knocked down a pair of free throws for the Owls with 21.2 seconds remaining. Mooney stepped up defensively on Winfiel’s last stand, denying a clear path for Caleb Kiel down the stretch. Mooney rebounded Kiel’s off-balance shot and drew a foul. Sinking both free throws with 4.4 on the clock, Mooney polished off the Silex victory, 56-51.
Silex finished the game going 28-40 from the line and Winfield was 9-30.
THIRD PLACE
Silex: 14-15-11-16 – 56
Winfield: 6-15-11-19 – 51
Luke Lindsay led the Owls with 17 points and was 9-10 from the free throw line. He was also named to the Clopton All-Tournament Team. Silex got 10 players in the scorebook: Mooney, 7 (4-4 FT); Kuntz, 6; Chase Vehige, 6; Landon Wotring, 6; Henry Lindsay, 5; Mehler, 3; Anderson Van Horn, 2; Chase Mullen, 2; Lincoln Twellman, 2.
Will Schulte led Winfield with 15 points (3 three-pointers); Burk, 11; Cappel, 6; Luke White, 5; Beau Schulte, 4; Gebert, 4; Dees, 3; Kiel, 2; Colin Westhoff, 1.