It was over before it began.

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

It was over before it began.

Lyle/Pacelli climbed out to a 17-0 lead over Section 1A, East Division opponent Mabel-Canton Tuesday night at Austin High School and coasted to an 80-35 victory.

"The kids did a real nice job for us," said L/P coach Gary Erlandson. "We were able to get all 14 players into the game. A nice game by Nate Gunderson who came off the bench and played a nice game. A nice job also by Brandon Johnson."

Gunderson finished with nine points and Johnson with two. But the game was decided long before the reserves stepped on to the court.

Danny Greibrok scored on a jumper :09 into the game and that was a sign of what was to come.

Andy Boisjolie got a layup off a steal and Greibrok hit a three-pointer with under a minute gone in the game and Lyle/Pacelli was on its way with a 7-0 lead.

Nine seconds later L/P made a steal and Boisjolie was hitting a jumper at the other end of the court. The junior guard was fouled on the play and made the free throw to give the seventh seed a 10-0 advantage at 5:54.

Greibrok made a steal on the Cougars next possession and pulled up for a three-point jump shot. Lyle/Pacelli led 13-0 with 5:39 left in the first quarter.

L/P’s string of baskets went silent for awhile before Philip Halbach hit a turnaround bank shot at 4:30 to give his team a 15-0 lead.

Greibrok came right back with a steal and went in for a layup that put Lyle/Pacelli ahead by 17 points.

Mabel-Canton’s Nathan Pastwa finally put an end to the Lyle/Pacelli scoring spree with two free throws at 3:11 of the period that put the Cougars on the scoreboard.

It was a temporary interruption.

Boisjolie hit a three-pointer at 2:48 and followed it up with one technical foul shot at 2:32 to give Lyle/Pacelli a 21-2 lead. The technical was called on a Cougars’ player for slapping the backboard.

Boisjolie was back at the free-throw stripe 13 seconds later to hit two free throws for a 23-2 lead.

Halbach hit another jumper at 1:28 and Greibrok followed it up with his third jumper of the period, and 13th point, to put L/P up by 26 points, 28-2.

The Cougars’ Jacob Nash made a free throw at the :37 mark to make the score 28-3 at the end of the first period.

After Matt Row fired a pass to Halbach underneath at the start of the second period for a bucket and Lyle/Pacelli’s 30th point, Erlandson substituted for everyone but Boisjolie. At 6:08, Erlandson pulled Boisjolie.

Brandon Wangen hit Mabel-Canton’s first bucket – a three-pointer, but he Cougars trailed 35-6 with 3:45 left in the half. L/P held a commanding 40-11 lead at halftime.

Greibrok finished with a game-high 23 points and Boisjolie added 13 points. Nathan Pastwa led Mabel-Canton with nine points.

Lyle/Pacelli now meets second-seeded Southland on Thursday.