Wolverines get helping hand from former star Frazier

LAKELAND — Heading into his team’s state Class 9A semifinal against Orlando-Evans, Wellington coach Matt Colin asked for a helping hand to prepare for the Trojans’ prolific offense.

Luckily for Colin, he’s only a quick phone call away from former Wellington star Trent Frazier, now a sophomore guard at the University of Illinois.

“We worked really hard this week preparing for that pitch-post offense that (Evans) runs,” Colin said. “The funny thing is, guess who runs that? Illinois.

“Trent Frazier, got him on the phone. Got their coaches on the phone. Learned as much as I could about it. I thought from getting so much information, we would come up with a good game plan and do our best to stop it.”

Whatever advice Frazier and the Illinois coaches gave Colin was more than helpful. Wellington, making its second consecutive trip to the state semifinals, used a strong defensive effort to get past Evans 50-32 on Friday at the RP Funding Center.

The Wolverines (25-6) will face Kissimmee-Osceola (24-7) in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Trojans (23-8), coming off an 80-76 win over Seminole in the regional final, scored six points in the first quarter against Wellington and trailed 21-11 at halftime. Evans shot 5 of 15 (33 percent) in the opening half and committed 14 turnovers.

Colin couldn't recall ever holding an opponent to 11 first-half points, let alone at this level of the state playoffs.

“I’m trying to think — even some of the bad (teams),” he said. “Credit to the kids, just being so sound, knowing them inside and out and really playing with a lot of heart and hustle.”

Wellington, which didn’t light up the scoreboard either, needed its defense to step up. Evans finished 12 of 46 from the field, including an abysmal 1 of 16 from three-point range.

“I’m not really surprised,” said Wolverines senior Linton Brown, who finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. “We play tremendous defense always.”

Colin reiterated the importance of his call to Frazier for helping him develop a defensive scheme against the Trojans.

“When I saw (Evans’) offense on film, I started looking at them and it was similar to Illinois,” Colin said. “I got Trent on the phone, some Illinois coaches, and said, ‘How are ways people really stop you guys?’ They gave me some ideas and that’s what we went with.”

When told the Wolverines called a Big Ten program to prepare for his offense, Trojans coach Lonza Morgan chuckled.

“We watch a lot of Illinois games, and we see teams do the same things (on defense) and how they counter it,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re not able to knock down shots. (Wellington) scouted — they scouted real well.”

One game from leaving Lakeland with the ultimate prize — a state championship trophy — Wolverines players know how crucial another defensive masterpiece will be Saturday night.

“Coach has been preaching that every single day,” said junior Jagger Ruiz, who had nine points and six rebounds. “Defense.”