Photo by Carly Pearson
Lebo's Cameron Smith goes up for a shot over Waverly's Travis Sipe Thursday night at White Auditorium. The Wolves went on to win the game, 54-41.
It was a coach’s decision that kept Lebo’s Adam Laflin on the bench for the entire first quarter of Thursday’s game against Waverly.
It was Laflin’s decision, though, to make the best of his opportunity once he was able to return to the contest in the second quarter.
The junior more than made up for his lost time, putting in 24 points in the final 24 minutes of the game to help Lebo to a 54-41 victory in the consolation bracket of the Lyon County League Tournament.
“We need him, and he responded to everything the right way,” Lebo coach Matt Barrett said. “I’m awful proud of him.”
For a while, the Wolves played just fine without the services of one of their best players.
Led by six points from Cameron Smith, Lebo started the game on a 9-0 run over the first 5 1/2 minutes.
“They were doing pretty good,” Laflin said, “so it didn’t look like they needed me much.”
Waverly switched the momentum soon after.
The Bulldogs responded with their own outburst, as Matt Hevel scored the first five points in a 10-0 spurt that gave Waverly a 10-9 lead just 18 seconds into the second quarter.
“We know Waverly’s got that capability,” Barrett said. “They’re never going to quit, and they’re going to play hard the whole time.”
Photo by Carly Pearson
Waverly's Dakota Foster drives past Lebo's Blake Jones Thursday night at White Auditorium.
The combination of Laflin and Smith put Lebo back on top.
The pair combined to score the Wolves’ final 16 points of the half — 10 coming from Laflin and six from Smith — to give Lebo a 25-16 advantage at the break.
Laflin added two 3-pointers and nine total points in the third quarter, then contributed a trey and layup in the fourth quarter to give Lebo its largest lead at 51-30 with 6:17 left.
“He played awfully well against us the first time we played them,” Waverly coach Mike Hevel said, “and he played awfully well tonight.”
Meanwhile, Waverly couldn’t keep up offensively.
The Bulldogs turned the ball over at least five times in each period and ended with 22 turnovers.
Waverly also hit just 14 of 49 shots (29 percent).
“It’s a skill game,” Hevel said. “When you don’t handle the ball and don’t shoot it well, it’s kind of tough.”
Laflin’s 24 points came on 8-of-17 shooting. He also was 4-for-8 from behind the arc.
“He’s a big player for us,” Barrett said. “He’s athletic and he can score in a lot of ways.”
Cameron Smith added 14 points, making 7 of 11 shots. Twelve of his points came in the first half.
Blake Jones hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
Mike Sarver paced Waverly with 12 points, while Matt Hevel posted nine.
Lebo will take on third-seeded Hartford in the fifth-place game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Lebo 54, Waverly 41
Waverly 8 8 11 14 — 41
Lebo 9 16 19 10 — 54
Waverly — Matt Hevel 4-11 1-2 9, Mike Sarver 3-12 4-4 12, Dakota Foster 1-4 1-3 3, Mason Fleming 0-1 1-2 1, Kale Hamm 2-6 0-1 4, Kevin Schmidt 0-2 0-0 0, Josh Teal 1-3 0-0 3, Travis Sipe 1-6 0-0 3, Raymond Zilliox 0-1 1-2 1, Lee Yette 1-1 0-0 3, Chris Restoff 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 14-49 8-12 41.
Lebo — Gage Milota 0-3 0-0 0, Blake Jones 4-11 0-0 11, Devon Johnston 0-2 0-0 0, Cameron Smith 7-11 0-0 14, Dylan Smith 2-4 0-5 4, Dylan Montgomery 0-1 0-1 0, Calvin Perry 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Laflin 8-17 4-5 24, Craig Woods 0-3 0-0 0, Brent Gould 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Linsey 0-0 0-0 0, Jesse Madsen 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 21-52 5-13 54.
3-point goals — Waverly 5-18 (Sarver 2-6, Yette 1-1, Teal 1-2, Sipe 1-5, Schmidt 0-1, Fleming 0-1, Hevel 0-2), Lebo 7-21 (Laflin 4-8, Jones 3-6, C. Smith 0-1, Johnston 0-1, Milota 0-2, Woods 0-3). Rebounds — Waverly 31 (Hevel 6), Lebo 35 (Jones, D. Smith 9). Turnovers — Waverly 22, Lebo 16. Total fouls — Waverly 12, Lebo 19. Fouled out — None.
Hartford 63, Chase County 59
Hartford exploded for 27 points in the fourth quarter to rally for the four-point victory over Chase County.
The Bulldogs were in control for most of the game, holding a 12-point lead twice in the second half before the Jaguars made their move.
Using a full-court press, Hartford completed its comeback with 5:52 left in the game, as Justin Farr’s layup off a steal gave his team a 50-49 advantage.
The Jags never trailed again.
Farr led four Hartford players in double figures with 16 points. Storm Cartee added 13, while Taylor Heckathorn had 12 and Cody Barrett contributed 11.
Though the Jaguars only attempted three free throws in the first three quarters, they made 16 of their 21 freebies in the final frame to preserve their lead.
Chase County’s Brian Palermo posted a game-high 18 points, while Eli Fowler (16) and Chayne Onek (11) also hit double digits.
The Bulldogs made just 13 of their 24 attempts from the free-throw line.
Third-seeded Hartford will face Lebo in the fifth-place game at 1:30 on Saturday.
Hartford 63, Chase County 59
Chase County 13 17 13 16 — 59
Hartford 8 17 11 27 — 63
Chase County — Eli Fowler 16, Brian Palermo 18, Greg Davis 4, Kyle Grokett 0, Shawn Talkington 4, Jim Lauer 0, Chayne Onek 11, Johnny Lang 0, Jesse Cole 6. Totals 20 13-24 59.
Hartford — Josh Dunn 0, Adam Ewy 6, Tommy Smith 0, Storm Cartee 13, Cody Barrett 11, Taylor Heckathorn 12, Justin Farr 16, Logan Grieder 0, Ethan Beemer 2, Aaron Thomsen 3. Totals 21 17-24 63.
Halftime — Chase County 30-25. Total fouls — Chase County 25, Hartford 17. Fouled out — Hartford: Heckathorn.
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Posted by my2cents (anonymous) on January 26, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's too bad that those boys had to endure an accident caused by their bus driver at the Bunge RR Tracks, by the bus driver not stopping at the tracks as mandated by KS Law- causing the bus to be hit by a knuckle of the oil car. It has been heard that the Emporia Police Dept isn't going to charge the driver with not stopping either. The bus left the scene of the accident before the officers arrived. The bus didn't stop to begin with.
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