Olpe girls survive early scare from Waverly
Ken Easthouse
Saturday, January 27, 2007
The Olpe Lady Eagles survived an early scare in knocking off Waverly, 58-41, Friday night in the semifinals of the Lyon County League Tournament.
Waverly led for most of the second quarter, and only by way of a 7-0 run did the Lady Eagles enter halftime with a one-point lead.
“We were just a participant,” Olpe coach Jesse Nelson said. “We didn’t meet their energy.”
Olpe had a tough time scoring points the way it usually does. Junior Megan Woods, normally a consistent low-post threat, was held scoreless throughout the game.
“She had a couple little things frustrate her early,” Nelson said, “and she let that turn into two or three.”
Instead, senior Kayla Krueger led the attack on all fronts, ending the game with 36 of Olpe’s 58 points, 12 of which came from the free-throw line.
“Seniors like Kayla should just take over and get it done,” Nelson said.
Krueger said she wasn’t worried about the added pressure of being the only consistent scorer.
“What makes us so special is that if one of us has a bad night someone else will step up,” Krueger said. “I know if I have an off night we have girls who can step up.”
Waverly coach Dennis Tyson said he was happy with his defensive effort against Woods.
“We did a good job on Megan Woods, but Kayla Krueger is hard to stop,” Tyson said.
Tyson said excessive turnovers shifted the game back in Olpe’s favor in the second half, when the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Bulldogs 30-14.
“I thought we played hard, but we wore out in the end,” Tyson said. “We couldn’t handle the pressure for the whole game.”
Olpe’s defensive intensity in the second half was led by junior Brittany Meza, who guarded the ball coming up the court and had several key steals.
However, as Meza’s defense goes, so goes Olpe’s, as Meza’s lackluster first half helped contribute to Olpe’s first-half woes, Nelson said.
“Brittany certainly plays a part in that because she can make a lot of things happen,” Nelson said. “She also had a lot to do with why we weren’t getting it done in the first half.”
The game was unusually close for Olpe, which is used to blowing out opponents by halftime. Nelson said this game was good practice for tougher competition later.
“Those kids haven’t been in that situation a lot,” Nelson said. “If you can come out of it with a win that’s a good thing.”
Olpe advanced to face Flinthills in the championship game of the Lyon County League Tournament at 6 tonight.
WAVERLY girls 41, OLPE 58
Waverly 11 16 4 10 — 41
Olpe 13 15 13 17 — 58
Waverly (9-4 LCL) — Good 17, Schmidt 5, Steward 12, Wilson 6, Hoag 2, Johnson 2. Total 41.
Olpe (13-0 LCL) — Krueger 36, Mayley 8, Haag 6, Meza 4, Moyer 2, Brinkman 2. Total 58.
Halftime — Olpe 28-27. Total fouls — Wav. 14, Olpe 12. Fouled out — Waverly: Steward.
Flinthills girls 67,
Lyndon 59
The Flinthills girls used a second-half rally to take the eight-point victory over Lyndon Friday and advance to the championship game at 6 tonight.
Lyndon took the early lead, as both Chelsea Schmitz and Krista Banzhaf hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help the Lady Tigers to a 15-10 advantage.
Flinthills cut the deficit to 28-26 by halftime, then made its move in the third quarter. Led by Caley Onek’s nine points in the frame, the Lady Mustangs went on a 22-14 run to take a 48-42 lead.
FHS hit 6 of 8 fourth-quarter free throws to help seal the victory.
Erin Dragoo paced Flinthills, scoring 20 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Deedra Baker (12), Lacey Breech (11) and Onek (11) all added double figures.
Banzhaf’s 16 points led Lyndon. Schmitz added 14 and Stephanie Goetz 13 in the loss.
Lyndon will face Waverly at 3 p.m. in the third-place game today.
FLINTHILLS girls 67, LYNDON 59
Flinthills 10 16 22 19 — 67
Lyndon 15 13 14 17 — 59
Flinthills (12-2) — Erin Dragoo 20, Deedra Baker 12, Lacey Breech 11, Caley Onek 11, Alexa Cuskelly 5, Taylor Stands 4, Kristin Willhite 2, Whitney Farrar 2.
Lyndon (9-2) — Krista Banzhaf 16, Chelsea Schmitz 14, Stephanie Goetz 13, Cara Bolz 8, Kayla Schmidt 8.
Halftime — Lyndon 28-26. Total fouls — Flinthills 17, Lyndon 16. Fouled out — None.