As Lebo prepares for its state tournament basketball game against South Gray, the Wolves are preparing for a Rebel team that starts a 6-foot-5 player— at point guard.
Garret Watkins is that point guard. As Lebo coach Doug Piper sees it, Watkins is able to play at point guard because South Gray has so many other options in the post. Austin Love is 6-5 and a projected starter down low for South Gray. So is the 6-4 Derek Ridenour. Kincaid Dahlke (6-5,) Collin Wright (6-5,) and Wyatt Slaven (6-3,) are also options for the Rebels off the bench.
The Wolves and Rebels will meet at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at White Auditorium in the quarterfinal round of the Class 1A Division I State Tournament.
Lebo's tallest player, Thadd Barker, is 6-4. He said he's confident his teammates can help him with the abundance of size the Rebels will throw at them. He also rattles off a list of other tall teams the Wolves have faced during the season.
“We’ve played against kids who were stronger than us,” Barker said. “Justin Lee from Waverly was one of those kids who likes to try to back you down on the block. If they do have somebody who’s a lot better than us one-on-one, we’ve been practicing to help, double-team on man-to-man. Or guards can come down.”
The Wolves come into the game as the No. 6 seed in the tournament. They have an 18-4 record, and Trevor White said some of those wins have come out of an ability to beat teams Lebo doesn't necessarily match up with well on paper. South Gray is 22-1, with the lone loss on the season coming to Ashland. The Rebels are also the reigning state runner-up.
The ability to win in those unfavorable matchups, White says, comes from the Wolves’ ability to utilize multiple scoring weapons depending on the opponents’ defense.
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