Diang scores 1,000th point, but Athletics bow out to JWP
Published 9:56 pm Thursday, February 28, 2013
![Lyle-Pacelli's David Diang handles the ball against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in Lyle Thursday. -- Rocky HUlne/sports@austindailyherald.com](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2013/02/0301.LPBBB3_.jpg)
Lyle-Pacelli’s David Diang handles the ball against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in Lyle Thursday. — Rocky HUlne/sports@austindailyherald.com
LYLE — It was a bittersweet night for Lyle-Pacelli senior David Diang.
LP’s point guard scored his 1,000th career point for the Athletics boys basketball team, but he also saw his high school basketball career come to an end in a 69-65 loss to No. 5 seeded Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in a Section 1A West Division tournament game in Lyle Thursday.
The No. 4 seeded Athletics (14-12 overall) led 61-53 with six minutes left, but the Bulldogs (10-14 overall) closed the game on a 16-4 run to get the win. LP had the ball while leading 61-58, but JWP turned a pair of turnovers into lay-ups to take a 62-61 lead with 1:43 left in the game.
![Lyle-Pacelli's Jordan Hart battles for a rebound with JWP's Ricky Johnson in a Section 1A West Division Tournament game in Lyle Thursday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2013/02/0301.LPBBB2_-329x449.jpg)
Lyle-Pacelli’s Jordan Hart battles for a rebound with JWP’s Ricky Johnson in a Section 1A West Division Tournament game in Lyle Thursday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“That kind of shows where we’re at,” LP head coach Casey Anderson said. “A few of our older kids kind of panicked towards the end. In the last four minutes, we went from playing team basketball to do doing it their way. It showed.”
LP’s Skylar Meyer converted a lay-up to make it 64-63 JWP with 54.5 seconds left and after the Bulldogs hit one free throw, Diang missed a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left.
“It sucks that (my career) has to end short,” said Diang, who finished with 21 points and six rebounds. “This is the third year in a row that we got close (to advancing in the postseason) but we couldn’t keep it. It’s good to have 1,000 points, but it would’ve been better with the win.”
JWP missed two free throws after Diang’s miss, but Ricky Johnson pulled down an offensive rebound and hit two free throws to seal the win.
LP trailed 10-0 to start the game, but it bounced back to take a two-point lead at the break and it led 49-38 with 12:30 left after Meyer, who had 25 points and 11 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer.
Meyer eventually had to sit for a stretch with his fourth foul and JWP took advantage by getting back in the game.
Diang helped LP dig out of its first half hole as he scored 19 of his points in the first frame and he knocked down five 3-pointers in that stretch. He scored his 1,001st point on a 3-pointer that made it 33-30 JWP with 3:05 left in the first half and he added another triple to tie the game at 33.
“I’ve been trying to help out the team. I was doing every thing I could,” Diang said.
The Athletics will have a tough time replacing Diang and Meyer, who have been the team’s top two scorers for the past couple of seasons.
“We’ve got a few younger kids who played pretty well tonight,” Anderson said. “There’s something to build on, but losing David and Skylar is going to be tough.”
Jordan Hart had four points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss for LP.
JWP 35 34 — 69
LP 37 28 — 65
LP scoring: Skylar Meyer, 25; David Diang, 21; Braden Kocer, 8; Brennen Ruis, 4; Jordan Hart, 4; Stephen Juenger, 3; Matt Kasel, 2; free throws: 75 percent (3-for-4); rebounds: 34 (Meyer, 11); turnovers: 19