LeRoy-Ostrander exploded for three three-pointers and a baseline jumper early in the fourth period against Lyle/Pacelli Thursday to erase a 39-36 third-quarter deficit and streak to a 49-42 lead.

Friday, February 02, 2001

LeRoy-Ostrander exploded for three three-pointers and a baseline jumper early in the fourth period against Lyle/Pacelli Thursday to erase a 39-36 third-quarter deficit and streak to a 49-42 lead. The Cardinals then fought off the Austin school in the final minutes for a 54-51 victory.

"We had a couple of chance to take control," said Lyle/Pacelli coach Gary Erlandson. "We just never felt comfortable with the lead or we got too comfortable. I don’t know."

And when the Cardinals’ got the seven-point lead, coach Russ Foster said his team was not supposed to concentrate on protecting it, just the opposite.

"I was trying to get them to go back door when they overplayed," Foster said. "That’s how youth shows in a tight situation, but they have to live and learn by that."

The Cardinals started four sophomores and one senior.

Once LeRoy-Ostrander pulled out to the seven-point lead in the fourth, Lyle-Pacelli came clawing back as it did all night. Philip Halbach hit two free throws at the 3:44 mark and came back to score underneath at 3:11 after he set up the play with a steal. The Austin school trailed by three, 49-46.

When sophomore Dustin Thorson – who had given the Cardinals the seven-point lead on a baseline jumper with 4:05 left – pushed Andy Boisjolie in a scramble for the ball and the Lyle/Pacelli senior went to the free-throw line to hit two and bring his team within one, 49-48, with 1:22 left.

LeRoy-Ostrander went into a more deliberate offense to get a back-door and take time off the clock. Finally, 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore Chad Orum was purposely fouled with :35 left and went to the line to make 2 of 2. He made 5 of 6 in the last :35 to preserve the victory.

"Chad was timid in the first half," Foster said. "They did a good job on him. They took him out of his game a little bit., but it got better in the second half."

In hindsight, Lyle/Pacelli should have gotten the ball more inside, Erlandson said.

"We didn’t pound the ball inside enough," he said. "Our bigger people inside probably would have gone to the line a little more. We’ll have to keep working on that."

After trailing 27-24 at halftime, Lyle/Pacelli appeared to have a new game and a different plan to start the second half. Erlandson must have set off some dynamite in the locker room because the L/P players were exploding offensively.

Lyle/Pacelli went on an 8-2 run to start the second half and grab a three-point lead, 32-29.

Halbach started the half with a jumper at 7:47 and :17 later Danny Greibrok was filling the net with another jumper.

Matt Row got off a high arcing jumper over Orum at 7:00 and came back with a bank shot to give Lyle/Pacelli a 32-29 advantage. L/P maintained the three-point advantage, 39-36, going into the fourth quarter.

"That’s what we’ve been working for," Erlandson said of the intensity. "We got a little bit loose as the game wore on from there."

The Cardinals assumed control from there. Senior Brandon Vreeman did a step and under move to get by the taller row to score at 7:43.

Senior Matt Ferguson hit a three-pointer at 6:40 and the Cardinals were ahead to stay, 41-39. Feeling it again :29 later, Ferguson lofted in a three again and LeRoy-Ostrander led, 44-40.

Boisjolie hit a jumper to bring it back within two, 44-42, at 5:41 but sophomore Shane Bunne stepped behind the three-point line and fired it in to give the Cardinals a five-point advantage, 47-42, with 5:23 left.