OLPE — The Olpe boys basketball team had barely worked on its full-court pressure defense before Tuesday night’s game against Madison.
But without it, the Eagles wouldn’t have made one of the most remarkable comebacks in school history.
Olpe out-scored Madison by 26 points in the fourth quarter to come back from what had been a 24-point deficit at one point, defeating the Bulldogs, 59-55.
“We really haven’t done a whole bunch of that, but when you’re down 20 points, you lay it on the line and say ‘Go get it,’ and pressure everything,” Olpe coach Chris Schmidt said. “We got them (Madison) rattled ... and our kids just stepped up and made big plays.”
Sophomore Bradley Argabright hit three 3-pointers in a 2 1/2-minute span late in the fourth quarter, the last of which proved to be the game-winner for Olpe, as it put the Eagles ahead, 56-55, with less than a minute left.
“That was the craziest game I’ve ever been in,” Argabright said. “That felt good. That felt really good. I’m overwhelmed.”
Entering the fourth period, Madison had dominated the Eagles for most of the game. That included a third quarter in which the Bulldogs out-scored the Eagles, 18-6, turning a 10-point Madison lead at halftime into a 22-point edge by the end of the period, with the last three points for the Bulldogs coming on a fade-away 3-pointer by Kaleb Schankie, Madison’s center, at the buzzer.
But Olpe (2-0, 2-0 Lyon County League) erased all of Madison’s handiwork with one monster stretch in the final frame.
Despite his squad’s seemingly comfortable lead entering the fourth quarter, Madison coach Alan Brown cautioned his squad against a letdown.
“I told our players, ‘You know Olpe’s not going to quit,’” Brown said. “This is a good rivalry, and they’re just not going to quit.”
He had no idea just how right he would be.
With 6 minutes, 27 seconds left in the game, Madison (3-1, 1-1) still enjoyed a 22-point lead at 53-31.
The Bulldogs then became their own worst enemy, committing 13 turnovers from that point on against Olpe’s full-court press, which led to numerous easy baskets for Olpe. Madison’s only points in the final 6 1/2 minutes came on a layup by Schankie.
Argabright hit the first of his three 3-pointers and got fouled by Madison’s Eric Porter that drew the Eagles to within 10 points with 3:18 left after Argabright hit the free throw.
“Once it got under 10, you could tell that we had a chance,” Schmidt said. “The big thing was if we were going to have enough time.”
At the same time, Olpe’s Cole Krueger, the lone returning starter for the Eagles, finally began to get hot after struggling from the field for the first 27 minutes. The junior lit up Madison for 14 points in the final 5 minutes, with most of those points coming off Madison turnovers on Olpe’s side of the court. Krueger contributed his only 3-pointer of the game with 1:16 left when he connected from the left corner off an inbounds play, which made it 55-51.
After Krueger sank two free throws to pull Olpe even closer at 55-53, Argabright made perhaps the shot of the game. After Madison’s 12th turnover of the quarter, Argabright curled off a screen on the inbounds play and received a pass from Jacob Kehres. Argabright took the three-point shot from the top of the key, and after bouncing off the rim and then off the backboard, the ball fell through the net, giving the Eagles the 56-55 lead with 41 seconds left.
“I wanted the ball in my hands to take that shot,” Argabright said. “I got the screen by my teammates, and the play worked to perfection.”
The Eagles closed it out from there, only allowing Madison to get off one more shot — a desperation three at the buzzer by Porter that fell way short.
For the game, Madison committed 28 turnovers to Olpe’s 18 and only took eight shots in the fourth quarter.
“We made a few bad passes and lost our composure a little bit,” Brown said, “and when their crowd got into it, I think the intensity level for them went up and ours went down a little bit.”
Olpe now has won its first two games by a combined five points.
“It’s been close, but we’ve ran our defense well, we’ve stopped our opponents and forced turnovers,” Argabright said. “We also came out and hit some big shots tonight.”
Olpe boys 59, Madison 55
Tuesday at Olpe
Madison 15 17 18 5 — 55
Olpe 11 11 6 31 — 59
Madison (3-1, 1-1 LCL) — Porter 5-20 1-1 17, Hamilton 1-4 0-0 2, S. Childers 4-5 0-0 8, Luthi 1-3 1-2 3, Kaleb Schankie 8-15 2-2 19, Ott 2-4 0-0 4, Rathke 0-0 0-0 0, Kale Schankie 1-2 0-0 2, Buster 0-1 0-0 0, R. Childers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 4-5 55.
Olpe (2-0, 2-0 LCL) — Krueger 9-21 9-19 27, Argabright 4-10 2-3 14, Medinciy 1-6 0-0 3, Klumpe 5-11 5-8 15, Schneider 0-2 0-0 0, Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Duenas 0-0 0-0 0, Redeker 0-1 0-0 0, Swan 0-0 0-0 0, Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0, Kehres 0-0 0-0 0, Hammond 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 16-30 59.
3-point goals — Madison 3-11 (Porter 2-7, Hamilton 0-2, Kaleb Schankie 1-1, Ott 0-1), Olpe 6-12 (Krueger 1-1, Argabright 4-6, Medinciy 1-4, Schneider 0-1). Rebounds — Madison 42 (Kaleb Schankie 13), Olpe 27 (Klumpe 7). Assists — Madison 5 (Luthi, Kaleb Schankie 2), Olpe 8 (Argabright 3). Turnovers — Madison 28, Olpe 18. Total fouls — Madison 23, Olpe 13. Fouled out — Childers 5.
Olpe girls 66, Madison 41
The Olpe girls raced out to a 21-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and cruised from there, downing Madison, 66-41.
Olpe built a 14-0 lead to start the game, led by five early points by freshman Kathryn Flott. Flott went on to score seven points in the first quarter and 17 for the first half, as the Lady Eagles nearly doubled up the Lady Bulldogs by halftime at 43-22.
“When you get down 21-4 to Olpe, you’re probably not going to win,” Madison coach Glen Stout said.
Flott, who finished with 18 points, was nearly flawless in the first half, going 8-of-12 from the field, including hitting her first seven shots. She also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds
“The first half, I was pretty confident in my shot,” Flott said. “I was on most of the first half.”
While Flott cooled off in the second half, Olpe senior Erica Brinkman filled in nicely in the scorer’s role, scoring seven points in the third quarter. Brinkman finished with 14 points.
“Erica’s one of those kids that’s paid the price, that’s hung in there and kept working and kept working,” Olpe coach Jesse Nelson said. “She’s not going to be very flashy, but she’s going to make good things happen.”
Katie Moyer’s fourth 3-pointer of the game — she ended with five — put the Lady Eagles ahead 58-28, which started the running clock rule with 7:17 left to play in the third quarter. Because of a change in rules, in Kansas, when one team gains a 30-point advantage, the clock runs continuously the rest of the game even if the lead drops below 30 points.
For the game, Olpe shot 52 percent (27-of-52) to Madison’s 32 percent (16-50).
“I thought our execution, especially early, was very good,” Nelson said. “We were sharp early. We ran things well and took good shots.”
Madison’s Shelby Buster, after a quiet first half, came back to finish as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
Olpe girls 66, Madison 41
Tuesday at Olpe
Madison 4 18 10 9 — 41
Olpe 21 22 18 5 — 66
Madison (3-1, 1-1 LCL) — Schankie 0-4 0-0 0, Stout 4-13 12, Kile 1-7 0-0 2, Ballard 1-4 0-0 2, Buster 8-14 5-6 21, Bond 0-3 0-0 0, Bybee 1-4 0-0 2, Titus 0-0 0-0 0, Whitehurst 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-50 6-10 41.
Olpe (2-0, 2-0 LCL) — Haag 4-8 0-0 8, Moyer 5-14 0-0 15, Flott 8-16 1-4 18, Brinkman 6-9 2-5 14, Woods 3-4 2-2 8, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Bartley 0-0 0-0 0, Cole 1-1 0-0 3, Wendling 0-0 0-0 0, Bell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 5-11 66.
3-point goals — Madison 3-12 (Schankie 0-4, Stout 3-6, Kile 0-2), Olpe 7-15 (Moyer 5-12, Flott 1-2, Cole 1-1). Rebounds — Madison 29 (Stout, Ballard 6), Olpe 34 (Flott 9). Assists — Madison 6 (6 tied with 1), Olpe 12 (Moyer 7). Turnovers — Madison 13, Olpe 10. Total fouls — Madison 10, Olpe 13.