Olpe will feel pretty good about itself heading into the holiday break. Not only are the Eagles undefeated, but they’ve already shown repeatedly that they can take a challenge. Tuesday night’s win over Lyndon may have ended up being a 19-point victory, but Olpe had to put forth a workmanlike effort to get it done.
Austin Bass scored 17 points and had seven rebounds, Matt Redeker added 16 points and seven boards and Bradley Argabright scored 11 of his 13 in the fourth quarter, helping the Eagles finally pull away for a 57-38 win at Olpe.
The Eagles, ranked third in the latest KBCA Class 2A rankings, stand at 4-0 on the year as they begin five days away from practice and 13 away from game action. Their two wins last week were far from cakewalks — they needed an Argabright buzzer-beater to beat Madison and trailed Southern Coffey County at halftime — and on Tuesday night, Lyndon led during part of each of the first two quarters and trailed by just six early in the fourth.
But each time, with varying degrees of difficulty, coach Chris Schmidt’s team has found a way to win.
“We’re learning,” Schmidt said. “We’re doing better and better things on both ends of the floor. But as we talked about there at the end of the game, it’s, let’s enjoy these five days — I think all the kids need a little break here. But we’ll come back on break and continue to get better.
“We can’t be satisfied with where we’re at right now. We’ve gotta continue to work and get better.”
Lyndon got the game’s first boost of momentum, jumping out to a 7-2 lead after a Trey Brown 3-pointer and forcing Schmidt to call timeout. The Eagles responded quickly, embarking on a 10-1 run that featured a basket underneath and a stickback by Bass, plus a jumper and two layups from Redeker. Both Redeker buckets down low came off a drive-and-dish from Argabright, which became a recurring and successful part of Olpe’s offensive attack.
“That’s what he’s good at, is penetrating,” Redeker said. “I just found an open spot, and he got it to me, and it was an easy two points.”
Olpe led by two at the end of the first quarter and 26-20 at the half. A 7-0 run by Lyndon in the third, culminating with a baseline drive and reverse layin by Derek Banzhaf, pulled the Tigers to within 31-29, but the Eagles went on a 7-0 run of their own to take a 38-29 lead by the end of the quarter.
Argabright scored off an inbounds pass to make it 40-32 early in the fourth, then rebounded a missed shot and pulled up in the lane, knocking down a 15-footer to push the lead to 10. He grabbed a steal and drove for another basket, then penetrated and once again found Redeker with a bounce pass to the low block for a layup, making it 46-32. Lyndon didn’t threaten again.
Argabright also had 10 rebounds for the Eagles. Ethan Hall had the defensive assignment on Banzhaf, Lyndon’s go-to player, and harassed him into a 2-for-17, five-point performance.
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