Photo by Carly Pearson
Lebo’s Adam Laflin goes up for a shot Tuesday afternoon at White Auditorium. Laflin scored 21 points but could not help Lebo overcome Madison, as Madison defeated Lebo, 68-63.
If nothing else, the Madison Bulldogs sure like to make things interesting.
The Bulldogs have seemingly perfected the art of getting out to a big lead, seeing it whittled away by the opposing team, then winning with solid free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Tuesday night against Lebo in the Lyon County League Tournament at White Auditorium, Madison twice held leads of at least 12 points and then saw the Wolves make a big comeback, but the Bulldogs held off all Lebo advances by hitting their free throws in the latter stages of the game, going on to win, 68-63.
“We always like to come out fast and then give the crowd a show,” Madison senior Eric Porter said with a laugh afterward.
Porter was just one of several Madison players to hit free throws in the fourth quarter when Lebo was making a frantic rally. Though fourth-seeded Madison only made 14 of 22 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, it was enough to hold off No. 5-seeded Lebo, as Madison made five more free throws (23-18) than Lebo, which turned out to be the difference in the game.
“I love being at the line, and I know my teammates love being there,” said Porter, who went 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth quarter and finished 8-for-8 for the game. “We’re confident in our free-throw shooting, and I think we’re a good free-throw shooting team.”
Photo by Carly Pearson
Madison’s Kaleb Schankie goes up for a shot over Lebo’s Cameron Smith Tuesday afternoon at White Auditorium. Schankie scored 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting to help Madison get past Lebo, 68-63.
Madison began the game on a tear, hitting seven of its first nine shots to race out to a 16-2 lead with just less than 3 minutes left in the first quarter.
“We got out of the gate real good,” Madison coach Alan Brown said. “It’s just a matter of execution. When we execute, we’re all right.”
But over the next 9 minutes, 12 seconds, Lebo came storming back behind the lethal one-two punch of Adam Laflin and Cameron Smith.
Smith and Laflin went a combined 9-for-9 from the field and scored 20 of the Wolves’ points during a 24-9 run that saw Lebo take a 26-25 lead with 1:46 left in the half.
“I was awful proud of the way we played after the initial start of the game,” Lebo coach Mike Barrett said. “We probably played about as hard as we’ve played all year.”
Madison scored the final five points of the half to go into the break leading, 30-26.
Out of the intermission, Lebo drew to within one point at 32-31 on a 3-pointer by Blake Jones, but the Wolves never could get over the hump to take the lead. Madison slowly stretched its lead to eight points at 50-42 by the fourth quarter, and then Lebo began a foul-fest that sent the Bulldogs to the line 22 times in the final frame after Madison had only been the the free-throw line 11 times in the first three quarters.
Four Porter free throws pushed Madison’s lead into double digits again at 57-47, but Lebo seemed to catch a huge break when Madison’s Kaleb Schankie fouled out with 3 1/2 minutes to go. Schankie finished with 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
Photo by Carly Pearson
Madison's Michael Luthi goes up for a shot Tuesday afternoon at White Auditorium.
“He’s our meal ticket,” Brown said. “We know he is a big part of our success, and when he’s on, that just opens up everything else. I know he was a little frustrated by fouling out, but we told him to stay straight up, because we need him late in games.”
However, despite 12 combined points down the stretch by Smith and Laflin, Lebo could not get any closer than five points the rest of the way.
Madison won despite huge games from Lebo’s Smith and Laflin. Smith finished with a game-high 26 points, while Laflin ended with 21.
“We must want to play every game like this,” Brown said. “As long as we win, I guess it works.”
Porter (15), Caleb Hamilton (12) and Michael Luthi (10) joined Schankie in double figures for Madison, which advanced to the championship semifinals to play top-seeded Olpe at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.
Lebo will play Waverly in the consolation semifinals at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Madison 68, Lebo 63
Lebo 10 16 16 21 — 63
Madison 16 14 20 18 — 68
Lebo — Gage Milota 0-1 0-0 0, Blake Jones 2-6 3-3 8, Cameron Smith 10-18 6-9 26, Adam Laflin 7-18 6-8 21, Dylan Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Devon Johnston 1-4 2-2 5, Calvin Perry 1-2 1-2 3, Chris Schultz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 18-24 63.
Madison — Michael Luthi 3-6 4-6 10, Eric Porter 3-6 8-8 15, Caleb Hamilton 4-4 3-5 12, Sid Childers 1-7 4-6 6, Kaleb Schankie 9-16 0-0 18, Henry Ott 1-2 3-4 6, Kale Schankie 0-1 1-4 1, Caleb Rathke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-42 23-33 68.
3-point goals — Lebo 3-12 (Jones 1-2, Laflin 1-6, Johnston 1-2, Perry 0-1, Schultz 0-1), Madison 3-6 (Porter 1-4, Hamilton 1-1, Ott 1-1). Rebounds — Lebo 26 (Laflin 8), Madison 33 (Kaleb Schankie 12). Assists — Lebo 8 (Laflin 3), Madison 10 (Luthi, Hamilton 3). Turnovers — Lebo 13, Madison 16. Total fouls — Lebo 25, Madison 18. Fouled out — Lebo: Jones, Johnston; Madison: Luthi, Kaleb Schankie.
MdCV 61, Chase County 47
The Marais des Cygnes Valley Trojans had an answer for everything the Chase County Bulldogs could muster, as the second-seeded Trojans defeated the 10th-seeded Bulldogs, 61-47.
MdCV outscored Chase County in every quarter, including in the first frame when the Trojans took a 14-6 lead on the stretch of five points from Chisom Spencer. From there, the Trojans kept the Bulldogs at bay thanks to big games from Spencer and Dennis Becker.
Spencer finished with a game-high 21 points — which included a 9-for-12 performance at the free-throw line — while Becker finished with 18 points.
Chase County had four players reach double figures — Brian Palermo and Shawn Talkington each had 11 while Eli Fowler and Jesse Cole scored 10 apiece.
MdCV will play sixth-seeded Lyndon at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the championship semifinals, while Chase County will meet third-seeded Hartford at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the consolation bracket.
MdCV 61, Chase County 47
Chase County 6 14 10 17 — 47
MdCV 14 16 11 20 — 61
Chase County — Eli Fowler 10, Brian Palermo 11, Kyle Grokett 4, Shawn Talkington 11, Jim Lauer 1, Jesse Cole 10.
Marais des Cygnes Valley — Michael Schmidt 8, Chisom Spencer 21, Michael Spillman 2, Brandon Litch 9, Drew Woodruff 3, Dennis Becker 18.
Halftime — MdCV 30-20. Total fouls — CC 21, MdCV 17.
Olpe 50, Waverly 43
The ninth-seeded Waverly Bulldogs gave the top-seeded Olpe Eagles all they could handle in the late game Tuesday night but could not pull off the upset, as the Eagles held on, 50-43.
In the final minute of the fourth quarter, Waverly twice pulled to within four points of Olpe — once at 45-41 and again at 47-43 — but both times, Olpe’s Cole Krueger turned back the Bulldogs with baskets of his own to help the Eagles advance.
Krueger scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half — including a layup at the end of the third quarter to give Olpe a 42-31 lead, which tied its biggest lead of the game — before Waverly rallied to make it close.
Alex Medenciy was the only other Eagle in double figures, scoring 10 points.
Waverly’s Mason Fleming scored a team-high 14 points, while Kevin Schmidt chipped in eight points.
With the victory, Olpe moved on to face No. 4-seeded Madison at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the championship semifinals. Waverly fell to the consolation bracket, where it will face fifth-seeded Lebo at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Olpe 50, Waverly 43
Waverly 6 10 15 12 — 43
Olpe 9 10 23 8 — 50
Waverly — Matt Hevel 7, Kevin Schmidt 8, Mike Sarver 4, Dakota Foster 2, Mason Fleming 14, Kale Hamm 6, Josh Teal 2.
Olpe — Cole Krueger 22, Bradley Argabright 5, Matt Redeker 2, Alex Medenciy 10, Josh Klumpe 6, Ethan Schneider 3, Bryant Duenas 2.
Halftime — Olpe 19-16. Total fouls — Waverly 16, Olpe 10. Fouled out — Waverly: Hevel.
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