ATHENS, Ohio – It all turned sour on the Green Bobcats.

Wednesday, February 27, 2002

ATHENS, Ohio – It all turned sour on the Green Bobcats.

The Whiteoak Wildcats forced 22 turnovers including 17 steals that they turned into easy points and beat the Green Bobcats 72-52 Tuesday in the Division IV district semifinals.

"The big key is we turned (the ball) over and our turnovers led to layups or led directly to scores," Green coach Kevin Lewis said. "And every time we saw them play they shot (the ball) incredibly."

The Wildcats shot well again, making 30 of 53 shots for 56.6 percent. Justin Michael led the way with 19 points and six rebounds, Josh Stacy had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Doug Hauke and Jeremy Stacy had 12 each.

Jacob Yarnell led Green with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ben Dyer had 14 points and three assists while Timmy Yarnell added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Green took a 10-7 lead to open the game on a follow up shot by Jacob Yarnell, but Whiteoak came back to go ahead 13-10 before a three-point play by Jacob Yarnell tied the game at the 2:53 mark.

Jeremy Stacy hit a 3-pointer to put Whiteoak up for good at 16-13 and it was 23-19 at the end of the quarter.

A layup by Michael with 3:06 left in the half put the Wildcats ahead 34-24. Dyer hit a 3-pointer and Timmy Yarnell completed a three-point play to get Green within 34-30 at the break.

Whiteoak came out of the locker room and went on an 11-2 run to begin the second half to take a 45-32 lead with 4:00 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats were up 53-34 on a 3-pointer by Hauke.

But Dyer hit a 3-pointer, a baseline jumper, and came up with a steal and layup at the buzzer to get Green within 56-42.

Zach Pollard followed up a missed shot and Timmy Yarnell hit back-to-back shots from close range to open the fourth quarter and the Bobcats were down just 56-48 with 6:07 to play.

Whiteoak then recovered and scored 10 unanswered points to led 66-48 with 2:28 to play and virtually decide the outcome.

"I just wished we could have got a better start the third quarter. We got it within four points, and then we seemed a step slow or a step behind. We had to battle uphill the whole game," said Lewis.

Green finished the season 16-7 and won their fifth Southern Ohio Conference title in six years and a seventh straight sectional title.

"I’m proud of our guys. They played their guts out and never quit," said Lewis. "We always feel like we had a couple of scoring runs in us. We had two or three runs at them, but they’re a good team. They were able to withstand it and get the lead back in double digits."

In the second game, Reedsville Eastern beat Portsmouth Clay 59-45. Eastern faces Whiteoak Friday, March 8, at 6:15 p.m.

Green 19 11 12 10 – 52

Whiteoak 23 11 22 16 – 72

GREEN (16-7): Joe Salyers 0-4 (0-3) 0-0 0, Timmy Yarnell 5-6 (0-0) 1-1 11, Ben Dyer 5-15 (4-11) 0-0 14, Aaron Patton 2-7 (1-5) 0-0 5, Jacob Yarnell 7-8 (0-0) 2-3 16, Zach Pollard 2-4 (0-2) 0-0 4, Chris Kimbler 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Adam Sparks 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Kenny Elrod 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, C. J. Blevins 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Greg Ibarra 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 22-45 (5-21) 3-4 52. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-14=24 (J. Yarnell 8, T. Yarnell 8, Pollard 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 0. Assists: 9 (Dyer 3). Steals: 7 (Salyers 3). Turnovers: 22. FG% – 48.9. FT% – 75. 3pt% – 23.8.

WHITEOAK (20-3): Doug Hauke 4-13 (2-6) 2-2 12, Justin Michael 7-12 (1-2) 4-6 19, Josh Stacy 7-8 (0-0) 1-2 15, Allen Crabtree 4-6 (0-0) 0-0 8, Jeremy Stacy 5-10 (2-3) 0-0 12, T. J. Kennedy 2-2 (0-0) 0-0 4, Jerod Michael 1-2 (0-1) 0-0 2, Derek Wamsley 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Greg Harvey 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Travis Mootz 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tyler Palmer 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Bobby Head 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 30-53 (5-12) 7-12 72. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 11-12=23 (Jo. Stacy 7, Ju. Michael 6, Crabtree 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 12 (Ju. Michael 4, Hauke 4). Steals: 17 (Ju. Michael 7, Jo. Stacy 4). Turnovers: 8. FG% – 56.6. FT% – 58.3. 3pt% – 41.7.

OFFICIALS: Bobby Crockrel, Tom Hardy, Scott Moore.