Olpe boys earn spot in Sub-State finals
Eagles uses variety of styles to down Chetopa, 78-44
Ken Easthouse
Saturday, March 3, 2007
The Olpe boys dominated the boards Friday night to earn a spot in the Class 1A Sub-State championship game with a 78-44 victory over Chetopa at White Auditorium.
The Eagles out-rebounded Chetopa, 41-20, and were especially effective grabbing offensive rebounds, snagging 19.
“We did a real good job on the boards,” Olpe coach Chris Schmidt said, “especially on the offensive end.”
Olpe also distributed the ball much better than its opponent. The Eagles’ assist-to-turnover ratio was a respectible 1.43, while Chetopa’s was only .29.
“We did distribute the ball well, and that’s big coming off last week,” Schmidt said. “They showed a lot tonight, playing as a team.”
Chetopa’s main offensive play was an isolation drive utilizing Steven Ahrens, a 6-foot-1 forward. Olpe’s Seth Pargman drew the defensive assignment against him for most of the night.
“Coach just wanted me to stay down on him and keep him in front of me,” Pargman said, “and try not to get into foul trouble.”
The Eagles’ 20 assists were a product of adjusting the offense to what other teams have given them.
“Everyone’s been playing in a zone and packing it in against us,” Olpe guard Colton Stueve said. “We’ve been working on backdoor cuts more.”
The first half was marked by traditional Olpe basketball — a fast-paced transition game with many substitutions by the Eagles to try to wear down Chetopa.
“We had the depth to play our game and wear them down,” Pargman said.
The second half showed a new facet to Olpe: a slower, half-court offense. However, the end result was the same. Olpe outscored Chetopa, 21-9, in the third quarter, the last quarter in which the Eagles’ starters played significant minutes.
“(Chetopa) came out in a man to slow us down,” Schmidt said. “I thought we executed our offense real well.”
Pargman led the Eagles with 17 points.
Olpe will face off against Argonia for the championship, who topped Marais des Cygnes Valley in a 37-33 thriller. The game has been bumped up because of scheduling conflicts to 6:30 p.m. at White Auditorium.
“I know they’re going to play four quarters,” Schmidt said. “They have some physical kids, but we’re deeper.”
OLPE boys 78, CHETOPA 44
Olpe 17 24 21 16 — 78
Chetopa 8 15 9 12 — 44
Olpe (23-1) — Krueger 10, C. Stueve 8, S. Pargman 17, Coble 10, J. Pargman 9, Hammond 3, Schmidt 6, Haag 6, Klumpe 3, Burenheide 4, A. Stueve 2.
Chetopa (13-8) — Krause 3, Wilson 11, Grant 7, Ahrens 16, Black 3, Stapleton 2, McKibbon 2.
Halftime — Olpe 41-23. Total fouls — Olpe 11, Chetopa 11. Fouled out — None.
Flinthills girls 59,
Sedan 44
The Flinthills girls opened the game with a 17-4 run and never looked back in a 59-44 victory over Sedan Friday night at Cottonwood Falls.
Lady Mustangs coach Mark Womacks credited the opening quarter for setting the pace for the rest of the game.
“We had a great start, and we had good focus.” Womacks said. “The key was our good start in the first quarter.”
Flinthills’ Caley Onek drew the toughest defensive assignment of the night in Sedan’s Jessen Tucker, who has signed to play for Emporia State. Tucker finished the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds, well below her season averages.
“We held (Tucker) scoreless in the first quarter,” Womacks said. “Onek did a great job defending her all night long.”
Four players scored in double digits for the Lady Mustangs, led by Lacey Breech with 16.
“We had great balance in our scoring,” Womacks said.
Flinthills will play Yates Center in the Sub-State championship game tonight at Cottonwood Falls.
“We’re excited and confident,” Womacks said. “We’ve got a shot to get it done.”
FLINTHILLS girls 59, SEDAN 44
Flinthills 17 17 15 10 — 59
Sedan 4 12 18 10 — 44
Flinthills (19-3) — Breech 16, Baker 12, Onek 11, Cuskelly 10, Stands 6, Willhite 4.
Sedan (16-5) — Tucker 17, Hills 8, Loftin 7, Roberts 3, LeGrand 3, Hull 3, Hunsucker 2, Roberts 1.
Halftime — Flinthills 34-16. Total fouls — Flinthills 21, Sedan 19. Fouled out — Willhite.
Argonia boys 37,
MdCV 33
Argonia advanced to the Sub-State finals Friday night by leaving the Marais des Cygnes Valley Trojans behind, 37-33.
Coming out of the first half, the Trojans took control of the game, leading by 10 points after Argonia failed to score in the second quarter.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Argonia turned the game around, outscoring Marais des Cynges Valley, 17-7, in the period to finish with the four-point victory.
It took the efforts of Blake Brewster and Lane Greene to pull Argonia out of its deficit. Brewster ended the game with 11 points while Greene added 10.
For the Trojans, it was starting junior Dennis Becker who ended as the game’s high-scorer, finishing with a total of 12 points.
ARGONIA boys 37, MdCV 33
Argonia 11 0 9 17 — 37
MdCV 14 7 6 6 — 33
Argonia (20-4) — Craig Simon 9, Marc Allen 5, Blake Brewster 11, Lane Greene 10, Leander Green 2.
Marais des Cygnes Valley (10-12) — Chisom Spencer 4, Brandon Litch 5, Drew Woodruff 6, Dennis Becker 12, David Becker 6.
Halftime — Marais des Cynes Valley 21-11. Total fouls — Marais des Cygnes Valley 16, Argonia 12.
Erica Bennett contributed to this report.