OLPE — Cole Krueger grew up in Olpe going to basketball games to watch his cousins play for the Eagles against rival Hartford.
So before Krueger even stepped foot on campus, he developed a disdain for the Jaguars. That might help explain Krueger’s performance on Friday night. The senior forward scored a game-high 20 points and the Eagles became the only undefeated team in the Lyon County League, giving Hartford its first league loss, 64-36.
Surprised?
“No,” Krueger said. “I planned on it. I don’t like Hartford.”
The feeling is probably mutual after Krueger and the Eagles beat up on the Jaguars.
Krueger and fellow senior Josh Klumpe might not form the tallest frontline in the Lyon County League, but the two football standouts are probably the strongest duo in the league.
With a distinct size and strength advantage on the Jaguars, Olpe made a point to get the ball into Krueger and Klumpe early and often Friday night. Hartford started the game in a zone, which left the Eagles with opportunities to shoot outside shots if they wanted them. Instead, they feed Krueger and he scored Olpe’s first six points and had 12 by halftime.
“When I got the ball inside, I felt like I had a pretty big mismatch in there and I just wanted to keep getting the ball,” Krueger said.
Klumpe scored only four points, but he dominated the boards, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
“We knew they were pretty small coming in and we had a size advantage on them,” Olpe junior point guard Bradley Argabright said. “So we pushed it inside to Cole and Klumpe and they really did good for us. We pushed it inside and they put it in the hole.”
Hartford was able to keep pace with Olpe early, trailing 11-9 after the first quarter. But the Eagles opened the second quarter on a 15-4 run. Ten of those points came in the paint, including six from Krueger.
“He’s a tough matchup,” Olpe coach Chris Schmidt said. “He’s tough to keep from getting to the glass, and when he gets there, he’s pretty strong and he finishes and he made his free throws for the most part tonight. So that always helps. Again, the other kids did a good job of getting the ball to him in a good spot.”
Krueger helped Olpe build a comfortable 14-point lead at half, and Argabright helped add to it after halftime, scoring nine of his 16 points in the second half. He also took the game over on defense, coming away with six steals in the second half.
“That’s how we work,” Argabright said. “We push it inside and then we kick it out. The second half is mostly when I get my points, because I know that they’re looking inside and then I can get my jumper going.”
Olpe’s goal on Friday was to work on its consistency throughout the game. The Eagles have won all their games; however, they believe they’ve lacked consistency.
“We’ve had stretches where we’ve been good and then stretches where we’re not,” Schmidt said. “And tonight I thought we were consistent all night, but there’s still room for improvement.”
Friday at Olpe
Hartford 9 6 10 11 — 36
Olpe 11 18 15 20 — 64
Hartford (5-2, 3-1) — Gardner 8, Smith 6, Barrett 4, Woods 8, Grieder 1, Wilson 4, Ewy 4.
Olpe (6-0, 4-0) — Krueger 20, Klumpe 4, Argabright 16, Redeker 9, Miller 3, Bass 6, Vaughn 4, Diener 2.