Long after Bradley Argabright had done enough to make his performance in Saturday’s Lyon County League Tournament title game a memorable one, he went and did that.
That was a dunk — a bona fide throwdown from Olpe’s 6-foot guard early in the fourth quarter that wowed the White Auditorium crowd and capped a deciding 12-0 run that allowed Olpe to coast to a 53-40 win over Waverly. The LCL Tournament title was the Eagles’ second straight.
Argabright had already poured in 22 points before the dunk — he ended up with 27 for the game — and had brought Olpe back from a 10-point first-quarter deficit almost single-handedly, with 15 second-quarter points. But the steal and dunk — a right-handed slam from the lefty-shooting Argabright to make the score 48-36 — was the game’s most memorable image. And at the next whistle, Argabright himself was still pumped, clenching both fists as he acknowledged the Olpe student section.
“I tried one against Marais des Cygnes a couple weeks back, and I missed it, and so they were all on me about it,” he said. “That’s the second time I’ve tried it, and it went for me, so it was good.”
Argabright didn’t have the most efficient night — he got his 27 points with 25 shots — but in crucial bursts he was simply unstoppable. After a first quarter in which Olpe struggled against Waverly’s zone, settled for 3-pointers and trailed the hot-shooting Bulldogs 16-6, Argabright took over in the second. Two drives for layups, a jumper and a 3-pointer brought the Eagles from nine points down to a 17-17 tie. Argabright hit two more threes before the half was over, and the Eagles led 25-23 at the break.
The game-changing 12-0 run, fueled by the Eagles’ pressure defense, began late in the third quarter after Waverly’s Ethan Rice buried a three to bring Waverly to within one. Ethan Hall scored on a stickback to give Olpe a 41-35 lead, and Matt Redeker then found a leaping Argabright with a great pass to the left block for a layup to make it 43-35 before the end of the period.
“We struggled on offense, but I think the key was that our defense stepped up during that stretch,” Olpe coach Chris Schmidt said. “Even though we didn’t attack the zone, which we did eventually (do) better, but we were giving them opportunities to score pretty easy, I thought, and then that allowed them to get back into that zone and set up camp. So our pressure defense, I think, stepped up, made some things happen, and it was able to eventually to kind of get away from them a little bit.”
Colby Nuessen’s 3-pointer one minute into the fourth quarter made it 46-35, and on Waverly’s ensuing possession came Argabright’s steal, breakaway and throwdown. The Bulldogs never got closer than 10 points after that.
“He’s a leader kid, he’s been through this,” Schmidt said. “I thought he stepped up and he led us through this tournament, and the other kids jumped on and finished off strong. But he made a lot of things happen for us. He is a special kid.”
Hall added 11 points for Olpe, which is still undefeated on the year at 12-0. Ian Steward led Waverly with 14, and Travis Sipe added 10.
The second straight tourney title is a large point of pride for the Eagles.
“The atmosphere, this league is awful tough to do that,” Schmidt said. “So to be able to be fortunate to do that — but again, I give all the credit to the kids.”
“It feels real good,” Hall said. “We’re hoping that we can keep (up) the momentum throughout the rest of the season and on to the postseason.”
Saturday at White Auditorium
Waverly 16 7 12 5 — 40
Olpe 6 19 18 10 — 53
Waverly (10-5) — Steward 5-7 2-2 14, Tr. Sipe 4-9 0-0 10, Teal 0-4 0-1 0, Zilliox 2-5 0-0 4, Rice 1-4 4-6 7, Lee 2-3 1-2 5, Fleming 0-0 0-0 0, Ta. Sipe 0-0 0-0 0, Good 0-0 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 7-11 40.
Olpe (12-0) — Nuessen 2-6 0-0 6, Argabright 11-25 1-2 27, Redeker 2-5 0-0 5, Hall 5-10 1-2 11, Bass 2-4 0-2 4, Dreier 0-0 0-0 0, Stueve 0-0 0-2 0, Blankley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 2-8 53.
3-point goals — Waverly 5-7 (Tr. Sipe 2-4, Steward 2-2, Rice 1-1), Olpe 7-22 (Argabright 4-13, Nuessen 2-4, Redeker 1-3, Hall 0-2). Rebounds — Waverly 24 (Teal 8), Olpe 24 (Argabright 6). Fouled out — None.
SCC boys 56,
Burlingame 48
Led by Chyler Ludolph’s 14 points, Southern Coffey County took third place with a win over Burlingame.
Aaron Ludolph added 12 for SCC. Burlingame’s Austin Masters had 18 points in a losing effort, and Austin Droege added 10 for the Bearcats.
Saturday at White Auditorium
SCC 8 14 10 24 — 56
Burlingame 11 12 11 14 — 48
SCC (7-6) — Spencer 6, Fisher 8, Graham 7, Bryan 7, A. Ludolph 12, Stohs 2, C. Ludolph 14.
Burlingame (8-6) — Prescott 6, Carlson 5, Lang 6, Droege 10, Masters 18, Vandevord 3.
Madison boys 65, Lebo 42
Madison earned fifth place with a blowout of Lebo, led by 19 points from Henry Ott.
The Bulldog defense held Lebo to just nine first-half points, and Madison’s offense put up 37 in a high-scoring second half.
Ott had three 3-pointers and went 10 for 14 from the foul line. Kale Schankie was also in double figures for Madison, scoring 10, and Ryan Thomsen added eight points off the bench.
Brent Gould had 10 points for Lebo, and Trevor White had eight.
Saturday at White Auditorium
Lebo 3 6 19 14 — 42
Madison 13 15 22 15 — 65
Lebo (10-4) — Holmes 1, Gould 10, Johnston 7, Perry 1, Linsey 4, Barker 5, White 8, Montgomery 5, Robke 1.
Madison (8-6) — Ko. Schankie 4, Ka. Schankie 10, Childers 7, H. Ott 19, Thomsen 8, Smith 2, Nowell 7, Kile 4, Williams 4.