Early deficit too much too overcome for Spartans in first round
LINCOLN - The Class D1 No. 6 Ansley-Litchfield boys basketball team was never able to make up an early deficit as they fell to D1 No. 3 North Platte St. Patrick’s 59-47 in the opening round of the Class D1 State Basketball Tournament at Lincoln Southeast on March 10.
“Their defense was much better than I anticipated,” A-L Coach Matt Drew said. “We go quick triggered and weren’t able to run our stuff. That press bothered us and just didn’t allow us to get going. Once we broke the press they really packed it in and challenged us to shoot and we didn’t shoot well.”
Out of the gate, St. Pat’s was able to jump out to a two-possession lead with the three-ball. Jack Heiss knocked down the first on the opening possession and Corby Condon followed that up with another one the next time down the court.
Trailing 7-0, Jackson Henry was able to connect on a three up top. Calvin Finley was then able to make a great pass to Caden Holm down low for an easy layup.
After a jumper by Condon, Finley made a layup off a miss by Leyton Rohde. To close the first quarter out, Jeffery Cunningham made a corner three to trim the Spartans deficit to 15-10.
The momentum Cunningham had off the big shot to end the first, carried over to the second quarter when he started things off with a jumper near the free-throw line.
With the Spartans
trailing by five, Heiss was able to put in two free-throws at the line. A layup in transition by
Sam Loy that was set up by a great hustle play by Rohde made it 19-14 in favor of the Irish.
A-L finished off the half with a three-point play by Holm and a layup underneath by Henry. At the break, the Spartans were trailing 27-18.
A big reason for the deficit was the play of Heiss who had a gamehigh 27 points. He hit multiple big shots and got to the line with his driving ability.
“He’s a great player,” Drew said “You knew he was going to make a few of those shots but the drives are what hurt us.”
To start the second half, the Irish continued to role. Alexander Davies was able to make a layup down low and Joseph Heirigs made two free-throws to put the Irish in front 32-18.
After the fast start by St. Pat’s, A-L answered back with a bucket by Tycen Bailey. Layups by Holm and Henry had the Spartans on a 6-0 run and made the deficit more manageable at 32-24 late in the third.
Just like the first half, Heiss came through when the Irish needed him most. After several misses and rebounds, he made a three up top. Cunningham was able to knock down two freethrows a few possessions later to make it 39-26 after three-quarters of play.
In the final frame, A-L was able to score first with a layup by Holm. Three’s by Finley and Cunningham made the score 44-34 in favor of St. Pat’s.
At one point in the quarter, the Spartans were able to trim their deficit down to single digits at 48-39 after another three by Cunningham.
In total A-L was able to explode for 21 points in the fourth, but it ultimately was too little too late. The Irish were able to capitalize at the freethrow line and sealed the victory.
“I knew eventually we would start making a few shots,” Drew said. “I was kind of hoping karma would happen since we blew huge leads against Amherst and Burwell, but it just didn’t happen.”
Leading the Spartans in scoring was Cunningham with 15 points. Also in double figures in the game was Henry with 11 points.
This marked the final game for seniors Tycen Bailey, Evan Samuelson, Henry, and Cunningham. They were all good leaders for A-L this season and ended up doing something that has never happened in the Co-op’s history.
“I was very proud of them,” Drew said. “You would like to play better when you play your final game, but I am very proud of them. They put in a lot of time before I got here, and the three years I’ve been here.”