The Olpe Eagles have become known for being an offensive juggernaut. But facing Burlingame in the opening round of the Lyon County League Tournament on Monday, the Eagle defense dominated.
Thanks to solid defensive pressure, the top-seeded Eagles cruised to a 57-22 win over eight-seeded Burlingame.
“We played with a lot of energy and we have to because people meet us with a lot of energy,” Olpe coach Jesse Nelson said. “I think our kids played really hard tonight. I thought defensively tonight we were pretty good.”
The Eagles used their size advantage to control the boards, especially in the first half. Though the Eagles shot just 10 of 36 in the first half, they out-rebounded Burlingame 22-12, including 12 on the offensive glass.
“That’s a good sign,” Nelson said. “Some kids came off the bench and did a good job on the boards as well. Take a kid like Taylor Scheidegger, she came in and really drug some of them off. And I think that sometimes it takes a kid like that to light you up a bit.”
In the second quarter, Emily Samuels grabbed two offensive rebounds on consecutive possessions, and scored both times on 3-pointers from the baseline. The second shot from behind the arc gave Olpe a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Eagles also started the second half well on a 10-2 run. By the time the third quarter was over, Olpe led 51-14. And even with the 35-point victory, Nelson wanted more.
“We didn’t shoot the ball really well tonight,” he said. “I think a lot of times offensively, we had good looks and got the ball where we wanted it to. But it didn’t go in the hole. Sometimes that happens.”
Burlingame faced an uphill battle from the start with just seven players in uniform. Hayley Lewis led the team with 11 points.
Olpe’s Elena Flott scored 21 points, Kendyl McDougald added 11 and Samuels added 10.
Olpe will play Hartford in the semifinal game at 7 p.m. on Friday. The winner will advance to Saturday’s championship game.
Tuesday at White Auditorium
Burlingame 4 2 8 8 — 22
Olpe 9 17 25 6 — 57
BHS: B. Lewis 5, McKanna 6, H. Lewis 11.
OLPE: Ke. McDougald 11, Scheidegger 2, Haag 6, Ka. McDougald 3, Flott 21, Samuels 10, Peters 4.