Lebo's Gillespie, zone defense shuts down Madison, 70-51
Ken Easthouse
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Lebo used a 15-6 first–quarter run to upset second-seeded Madison, 70-51, Friday night in the semifinals of the Lyon County League Tournament.
Lebo’s defense held Madison to just a half-dozen first-quarter points, all scored by forward Jordan Stout. Madison did not have a second scorer until the 5:50 mark in the second quarter.
“Basketball is a rhythm game,” Madison coach Mike Pitko said. “We could get no rhythm.”
Lebo used a tight 1-3-1 zone defense against Madison early on, positioning 6-8 center Aaron Gillespie in the center of the zone. This led to several turnovers and missed shots by Madison, as well as three Gillespie blocks in the first quarter alone.
“It’s tough for anyone to get any good shots out there because he’s so long,” Lebo coach Matt Barrett said. “Our size definitely worked to our advantage.”
Gillespie was active on the offensive end as well. He had a dunk during a 16-4 Lebo run in the second quarter which brought screams from the crowd.
“I was up there and thought, ‘Well, I’m close enough,’” Gillespie said. “It’s always fun to dunk.”
The offensive surges were a welcome addition to Lebo’s game, as Barrett said the team planned to push things to a quicker pace to allow for transition offense.
“We tried to push the ball a little bit more, and I felt that got us into a little bit of an offensive rhythm,” Barrett said.
Pitko said his team’s impatience on the offensive end led to its downfall.
“We weren’t patient enough,” Pitko said. “You can’t take it to their strength; you got to take it to their weakness instead of make one or two passes and then try to shoot it up.”
Madison made a small run in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 13.
“I think we relaxed a little bit in the third quarter,” Barrett said.
Pitko said he was pleased his team didn’t give up after being down by nearly 20 points at halftime.
“They fought hard and stuck there in the second half,” Pitko said.
Lebo advanced to play top-seeded Olpe at 7:30 tonight for the Lyon County League Tournament championship.
LEBO boys 70, MADISON 51
Lebo 15 25 11 19 — 70
Madison 6 15 17 13 — 51
Lebo (10-4 LCL) — Jones 8, Linsey 5, Smith 14, Laflin 8, Vannocker 4, Barker 19, Gillespie 12. Total 70.
Madison (12-2 LCL) — Porter 3, Stout 12, Ott 2, Hamilton 2, James 4, Childers 4, Luthi 11, Schankie 13. Total 51.
Halftime — Lebo 40-21. Total fouls — Lebo 10, Mad. 21. Fouled out — Madison: Whitmore.
Olpe boys 80,
Burlingame 35
Olpe dominated the first quarter and never looked back, rolling in the 45-point blowout.
The Eagles, led by eight first-quarter points from Seth Pargman, jumped out to a 29-7 lead.
Burlingame outscored Olpe, 16-14, in the second quarter before running out of firepower. After halftime, the Bearcats mustered just four field goals and 12 total points.
Pargman led the Eagles, scoring 22 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter. Michael Schmidt added double digits with 10.
All 12 of Olpe’s players scored.
Tim Thummel paced Burlingame with nine points, while Chris Patterson contributed eight.
Top-seeded Olpe advanced to tonight’s 7:30 championship game against Lebo.
Burlingame will play in the 4:30 p.m. third-place game against Madison.
OLPE boys 80, BURLINGAME 35
Burlingame 7 16 8 4 — 35
Olpe 29 14 17 20 — 80
Burlingame (7-4) — Tim Thummel 9, Chris Patterson 8, Hank Zerbe 7, Zach Dodson 5, Colton Hoffman 4, Joel Bevitt 2.
Olpe — Seth Pargman 22, Michael Schmidt 10, Cole Krueger 8, Colton Stueve 7, Aaron Hammond 7, Josh Klumpe 6, Dallas Burenheide 6, Jordon Pargman 4, Andrew Haag 3, Tanner Coble 3, August Stueve 3, Drew Pettijohn 1.
Halftime — Olpe 43-23. Total fouls — Burlingame 15, Olpe 14. Fouled out — None.