Lebo senior Adam Laflin missed basketball practice on Wednesday, because, as his coach Doug Piper put it, Laflin was “sick as a dog.”
What Laflin did last Friday against Waverly would also classify as sick — as the kids use it these days.
Laflin, the Gazette’s Area Athlete of the Week, scored a career-high 45 points in a 64-54 Lebo win, and also had six rebounds and four assists.
“He got in a zone,” Piper said. “He’s so athletic and he takes the ball to the hole so well that I knew he’d scored maybe 30 points. He scored 30 earlier in a game this season and I thought that was about the same game. … I didn’t realize he’d scored that many points.”
It was hard to fathom that Laflin had scored that many points, because he only attempted 24 shots.
Many times a jaw-dropping point total comes because of the 3-point line. For example, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks made 10 3-pointers on Tuesday when he scored 54 against Tennessee. But Laflin, a 6-foot-4 power forward, had only one 3-pointer, and he scored 10 of his baskets on drives to the hoop.
“Every shot he took was within the offense,” Piper said. “He was very aggressive towards the hole, which we want him to be. He kind of fell into the zone and everything fell for him. Sometimes he tries to force a little bit, but this was one of those games, like the game earlier in the season when he scored 30, he just sat back and let the game come to him a little bit more than trying to take the game over.”
Laflin had plenty of motivation to try to take the game over on Friday, because his 45-point effort followed a season-low four points on Tuesday in a loss to Madison. “I had a friend that called me and said I was the only coach in the state of Kansas who could hold Adam Laflin to four points,” Piper said.
Laflin is averaging 18.5 points per game this season. He followed his 45-point game with 19 points on Tuesday in a 44-38 win over Burlingame.
Piper said he believes Laflin was starting to get sick on Tuesday during the game — not that he’s making excuses for 19 points from his star forward. He can’t have a sick 45 every game.