By Rick Peterson Jr. – KSHSAA Covered
GREAT BEND — An invaluable part of Lebo’s runner-up team last year, Zach Oswald’s specialty was defense and rebounding in the post.
This season, Oswald has packed a significant scoring punch for the Wolves, and that’s one of the biggest reasons why the Wolves are headed back to the Class 1A Division II semifinals.
The 6-foot-3 junior put up a game-high 21 points and scored four big points over the final 1:25 to help Lebo outlast Northern Valley 59-56 in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal at Barton Community College.
Oswald put the Wolves up two with a bucket inside with about a minute and a half left before Northern Valley answered with a layup by Drew Schmeper with 49 seconds remaining.
Lebo went right back to Oswald, who was fouled inside and hit two free throws with 35 seconds left that gave the Wolves the lead for good.
“Especially in late games, we know that we have to get the ball to Zach,” Lebo coach Dennis Becker said. “He’s a great passer out of there and he’s also a great finisher. He’s one of our best free throw shooters as well.
“We’ve worked with him a lot this year on some counter moves and putting some moves in the bag that maybe he didn’t have last year. He’s really worked on his game, and it’s showing up right now in March.”
Lebo held on to a one-point lead after Northern Valley made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left before Dominic Risner drained two free throws to push the Wolves’ lead to three.
Northern Valley missed a guarded look at a 3 in the closing seconds.
“It was just a heck of a high school basketball game, back and forth,” Becker said. “Both teams throwing punches. Just thankful that we were able to take one more.”
Lebo led 32-21 at halftime before Northern Valley started to catch fire in the second half. The game was tied on five occasions but the Huskies never led.
Grayson Shoemaker added 18 points for Lebo while Risner and Andrew Konrade each finished with 10. Oswald also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
“They all stepped up when the time was right,” Becker said.
Northern Valley, which has thrived on its outside shooting this season, was held to 4 of 17 from beyond the arc.
“That was definitely the talk of the scout all week,” Becker said. “We knew they were a team that shoots 20 to 25 threes a game, and they make 10 of those if they get hot. It was a big emphasis for us all week to get out and guard the shooters, make them take tough shots, and I felt like we did that.”
Northern Valley finished 21-3 on the season. Kenton Thalheim scored 19 for the Huskies while Drew Schemper added 16 and Jeremiah Hansen had 11.
Lebo will now face Axtell at 6 p.m. Friday in a rematch of last year’s semifinal that saw the Wolves take a 68-52 win.
“They’re a bruiser team that likes to take the ball to the hoop,” Becker said of the Eagles. “We have to be able to guard and take those punches that they’re going to throw.”
CUNNINGHAM 70, BUCKLIN 66 – Will Wegerer and Luke Albers each scored 25 points and Cunningham rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half to overtake Bucklin late.
The Wildcats (20-3) outscored the Red Aces 23-13 in the final frame. The score was locked at 62 with 2:30 left before Albers scored five straight points.
Bucklin got within a point with 1:19 left but Cunningham iced the game with defensive stops and three free throws over the last 1:04.
Cunningham trailed 40-28 at halftime before trimming the deficit to six by the end of the third.
Kaden Tilley scored a game-high 28 points for Bucklin while Darius McKinsey and Kolson Cook added 13 and 11, respectively, for the Red Aces (17-8).
Wegerer and Albers each finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 9 boards each.
Cunningham will meet top-seeded Dighton in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinal.
AXTELL 54, BELOIT-ST. JOHN’S/TIPTON 32 – Eli Broxterman led three Eagles in double figures with a game-high 18 points as Axtell secured its spot in the semis by pulling away from Beloit-St. John’s/Tipton in the second half.
The Eagles (22-2) led by just four at halftime before putting together a pair of 15-6 frames in the second half. They’ll look to avenge last year’s semifinal loss against Lebo at 6 p.m. Friday.
Brandon Schmelzle (15 points) and Colin Shaughnessy (11) joined Broxterman in double figures.
The Blujays were just 6 of 29 from the field after halftime. Edward Horinek led St. John’s with 11.
DIGHTON 72, MARMATON VALLEY 26 – Top-seeded Dighton cruised from the get-go, building an 18-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looking back.
Daniel Cramer scored a game-high 24 points while Carson Shimer added 18 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists for the Hornets. George von Leonrod also cracked double figures with 10 points.
Dighton moved to 23-1 on the season and will meet Cunningham in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinal.
Marmaton Valley finished with a 11-12 mark. Tyler Lord led the Wildcats with 16.
DIGHTON 72, MARMATON VALLEY 26
Marmaton Valley … 4 … 10 …. 10 … 2 … – … 26
Dighton .. 18 … 12 … 18 … 24 … – … 72
Marmaton Valley (11-12) – Stevenson 0-1 0-0 0, Morrison 0-2 0-0 0, Lord 5-14 5-6 16, Lawson 0-5 1-2 1, Fewins 1-5 0-1 2, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Granere 3-8 0-0 7, Michael 0-1 0-0 0, Scharff 0-0 0-0 0, Barney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-39 6-9 26.
Dighton (23-1) – B. Shimer 2-5 0-0 4, Cramer 11-21 2-2 24, C. Shimer 9-15 0-0 18, P. Redburn 3-6 0-0 7, von Leonrod 4-6 2-2 10, S. Redburn 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 2-3 0-0 4, Vogel 0-2 0-0 0, Ming 2-2 0-0 5, Roemer 0-2 0-0 0, Schmalzried 0-0 0-0 0, Marquez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-63 4-4 72.
3-point goals – Marmaton Valley 2-12 (Granere 1-3, Lord 1-3, Morrison 0-1, Campbell 0-1, Smith 0-1, Michael 0-1, Fewins 0-2). Dighton 2-12 (P. Redburn 1-2, Ming 1-1, Cramer 0-4, C. Shimer 0-2, S. Redburn 0-1, Vogel 0-1, Roemer 0-1).
Rebounds – Marmaton Valley 17 (Lawson 4); Dighton 42 (Shimer 14) . Assists –
Marmaton Valley 0, Dighton 20 (C. Shimer 6). Turnovers – Marmaton Valley 22, Dighton 13. Total fouls – Marmaton Valley 10, Dighton 13. Fouled out – Lawson.
CUNNINGHAM 70, BUCKLIN 66
Bucklin … 27 … 13 … 13 … 13 … – … 66
Cunningham … 12 … 16 … 19 … 23 … – … 70
Bucklin (17-8) – Tilley 10-20 5-5 28, Bowman 3-8 0-0 6, Cook 4-12 2-2 11, McKinsey 5-10 0-0 13, Kirk 3-11 0-0 7, Yancey 0-0 0-0 0, Feikert 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 25-62 8-9 66.
Cunningham (20-3) – McGuire 2-7 0-0 4, Wegerer 9-23 6-10 25, Albers 9-17 6-6 25, Reed 1-4 2-2 4, Sterneker 3-4 0-2 6, Halderson 2-5 2-4 6, Kinsler 0-0 0-0 0, Rogers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 16-24 70.
3-point goals – Bucklin 8-26 (Tilley 3-8, McKinsey 3-7, Cook 1-3, Kirk 1-5, Bowman 0-3), Cunningham 2-14 (Wegerer 1-6, Albers 1-4, McGuire 0-2, Reed 0-2). Rebounds – Bucklin 36 (Bowman 11), Cunningham 38 (Wegerer 9, Albers 9). Assists – Bucklin 18 (Cook 7), Cunningham 11 (Wegerer 4). Turnovers – Bucklin 15, Cunningham 11. Total fouls – Bucklin 18, Cunningham 15. Fouled out – none.
AXTELL 54, BELOIT-ST. JOHN’S/TIPTON 32
St. John’s/Tipton 13 … 7 … 6 … 6 … – … 32
Axtell … 15 … 9 … 15 … 15 … – … 54
Beloit-St. John’s/Tipton (14-8) – Horinek 5-14 0-0 11, LaRocque 1-4 0-2 2, Gates 1-6 0-0 2, Stewart 0-5 0-0 0, Winkler 3-8 0-0 6, Niewald 2-10 0-0 4, Mick 0-1 0-0 0, Rabe 0-0 0-0 0, Schroeder 1-4 0-0 2, Walter 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Roderick 2-6 1-2 5. Totals 15-58 1-4 32.
Axtell (22-2) – Broxterman 6-15 3-4 18, Detweiler 3-3 1-2 7, C. Shaughnessy 3-9 2-4 11, Schmelzle 7-13 0-0 15, Grad. Buessing 1-2 1-2 3, Schmitz 0-2 0-0 0, G. Shaughnessy 0-0 0-0 0, Sandmann 0-2 0-0 0, B. Buessing 0-0 0-0 0, Heinen 0-0 0-0 0, Talbot 0-0 0-0 0, Gran. Buessing 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 7-12 54.
3-point goals – Beloit-St. John’s/Tipton 1-18 (Horinek 1-4, Niewald 0-4, Gates 0-4, LaRocque 0-2, Roderick 0-2, Winkler 0-2). Axtell 7-21 (Shaughnessy 3-7, Broxterman 3-8, Schmelzle 1-3, Sandman 0-2), Gran. Buessing 0-1). Rebounds – Beloit-St. John’s/Tipton 30 (Roderick 6, Stewart 6), Axtell 43 (C. Shaughnessy 10). Assists – Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton 5 (Roderick 2, Niewald 2), Axtell 9 (Schmelzle 4). Turnovers – Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton 22, Axtell 26. Total fouls – Beloit-St. John’s-Tipton 11, Axtell 11. Fouled out – none.
LEBO 59, NORTHERN VALLEY 56
Lebo … 19 … 13 … 10 … 17 … – … 59
Northern Valley … 15 … 6 … 18 … 17 … – 56
Lebo (17-7) – Durst 0-1 0-0 0, Risner 3-5 4-6 10, Shoemaker 8-17 2-4 18, Konrade 5-12 10, Oswald 9-15 3-5 21, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 9-15 59.
Northern Valley (21-3) – Kinderknecht 1-8 0-0 3, G. Thalheim 2-5 1-2 5, K. Thalheim 5-16 8-12 19, Hansen 5-14 1-1 11, Schemper 7-10 0-0 16, Hammond 0-0 0-0 0, Cox 1-5 0-1 2, Preston 0-1 0-0 0, Rudd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-60 10-16 56.
3-point goals – Lebo 0-4 (Durst 0-1, Risner 0-1, Shoemaker 0-1, Konrade 0-1), Northern Valley 4-17 (Schemper 2-2, Kinderknecht 1-5, Thalheim 1-4, Kinderknecht 1-5, Thalheim 0-1, Hansen 0-4, Preston 0-1). Rebounds – Lebo 33 (Oswald 13), Northern Valley 36 (Schemper 9). Assists – Lebo 10 (Shoemaker 4), Northern Valley 9 (K. Thalheim 3, Hansen 3). Turnovers – Lebo 11, Northern Valley 9. Total fouls – Lebo 15, Northern Valley 16. Fouled out – none.
