Olpe Boys sweep LCL Titles
Michael Ashford - Special to the Gazette
Monday, February 2, 2009
For every challenge the Lebo Wolves could muster in Saturday’s title game of the boys Lyon County League Tournament at White Auditorium, the Olpe Eagles had an answer.
And it was junior Bradley Argabright that provided the dagger in Olpe’s 60-49 victory.
With less than 4 minutes remaining in the game, a basket from Devon Johnston capped an 11-4 Lebo run to pull the Wolves to within four points at 48-44. But Argabright slammed the door shut on any thoughts of the Wolves handing the Eagles — the top-ranked team in Class 2A — their first loss of the season.
Argabright first drained a 3-pointer — his fifth of the night — from the left wing to make it 51-44, and then, on the ensuing Lebo possession, Argabright made a steal at the halfcourt stripe and raced the other way for a fast-break layup to put the Eagles ahead 53-44.
And just like that, Lebo’s will had been broken.
“I was just trying to step up for the team,” Argabright said. “The three felt good, and it felt good to get the defensive steal and put the layup in. It was good to get that lead back up again. It got us going and got the team pumped up.”
The Wolves would get no closer than eight the rest of the way, and the Eagles reclaimed the LCL Tournament title to go with their regular-season league championship.
“Bradley, he stepped to the challenge. He made some big shots at the end when they (Lebo) were coming back,” Olpe coach Chris Schmidt said. “We had some big shots out of a lot of kids here and there. It was a good team effort.”
Argabright’s late-game scoring spurt summed up how the entire game had gone for both squads. Olpe got out to an early lead and only trailed once in the contest at 8-7, but time after time, just when it looked as if the Eagles might deliver the knock-out blow, Lebo rallied to make things interesting again.
Olpe led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter, and two straight baskets by senior Cole Krueger pushed the Eagles out in front at 21-12 to start the second frame.
But the Wolves would not go away, as Lebo kept making enough shots to pull closer little by little, and Olpe only led at halftime, 27-21.
Then, sparked by four points from Johnston, Lebo went on a 10-4 run to open the third quarter to tie the game at 31.
“We did that a little this week. We’d get to a point where we get a 10- or 11-point lead, and then we can’t get away,” Schmidt said. “We’ve done it the last couple of games, but Lebo’s an awfully good team. They didn’t panic.”
Olpe’s answer to Lebo’s run came in the form of a put-back layup and free throw from Krueger, a trey from Agrabright, another layup by Krueger and a short jumper by Josh Klumpe, and just like that, Olpe was again out in front by 10 at 41-31.
“We just couldn’t get to them,” Lebo coach Doug Piper said. “We could never get to a point where we could get past them a little bit.”
Lebo didn’t back down this time either, as the Wolves cut Olpe’s lead to six by the end of the third quarter, and three times in the fourth period, Lebo came within four points, the last being Johnston’s jumper that made it 48-44.
Argabright took over from there, giving Olpe the last push it needed to put the Wolves away for good.
Argabright and Krueger each finished with 17 points to lead all scorers, while Klumpe also reached double figures with 12 points. Adam Laflin paced Lebo in scoring with 13.
“We bent but we didn’t break,” Schmidt said. “It wasn’t our best defensive performance, but I give a lot of credit to Lebo. I thought we did enough things right.”
Olpe boys 60, Lebo 49
Lebo 12 9 17 11 — 49
Olpe 17 10 17 16 — 60
Lebo (10-6) — Gould 4-8 3-4 11, Johnston 3-7 0-0 6, Perry 1-5 2-2 4, Laflin 6-14 1-4 13, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, White 3-5 1-2 7, Barker 2-2 0-1 4, Linsey 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-46 7-13 49.
Olpe (13-0) — Krueger 8-19 1-3 17, Argabright 6-13 0-2 17, Vaughn 1-6 0-0 3, Redeker 1-6 6-8 8, Klumpe 6-12 0-0 12, Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 1-3 0-0 3, Bass 0-1 0-0 0, Kehres 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 7-13 60.
3-point goals — Lebo 0-6 (Johnston 0-1, Laflin 0-5), Olpe 7-22 (Krueger 0-1, Argabright 5-10, Vaughn 1-4, Redeker 0-3, Miller 1-3, Kehres 0-1). Rebounds – Lebo 34 (Laflin 10), Olpe 38 (Redeker 11). Turnovers — Lebo 11, Olpe 5. Total fouls — Lebo 14, Olpe 15.
Madison boys 55, Waverly 43
Michael Luthi scored 22 points to lead Madison to a third-place finish at the Lyon County League Tournament.
Luthi scored 16 of his points in the second half when Madison pulled away after leading by only two at half. Henry Ott scored 12 points for the Bulldogs, and Caleb Hamilton added nine.
Madison boys 55, Waverly 43
Waverly 11 10 11 11 — 43
Madison 8 15 16 16 — 55
Waverly (6-10) — Restoff 6, Sipe 3, Steward 4, Zilliox 4, Rice 11, Teal 15.
Madison (8-6) — Luthi 22, Hamilton 9, Schankie 5, Childers 4, Ott 12, Nowell 3.
SCC boys 49,
Burlingame 44
Justin Meyer scored 15 points to lead Southern Coffey County to a fifth-place finish. Burlingame was led by Austin Masters, who scored a game-high 19 points.
SCC boys 49, Burlingame 44
Burlingame 6 14 6 18 — 44
SCC 12 11 6 20 — 49
Burlingame (3-12) — Lang 10, Droege 12, Masters 19, Smart 3.
SCC (10-4) — Craft 4, Meyer 15, Smith 2, Kraft 8, J. Ludolph 7, A. Ludolph 7, C. Ludolph 6.