Boys basketball: Superlarks win SEC West Showdown over Athletics
Published 11:43 pm Monday, January 12, 2015
GRAND MEADOW —Normally Landon Jacobson is not a big scorer for the Grand Meadow boys basketball team and Terrell Rieken is the Superlarks go-to guy, but GM made a change in that approach in an SEC West Showdown with Lyle-Pacelli in Grand Meadow Monday night.
Jacobson took on the scoring load as he had a game-high 24 points and the Larks prevailed with a 69-67 win in overtime.
LP’s Noah Jiskra, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds, missed a game-tying 3-point attempt with 40 seconds left and GM (11-2 overall, 9-2 SEC) was able to close out the game at the free throw line. Jiskra had hit two free throws with four seconds left in regulation to force overtime at a 58-58 score.
Jacobson also had eight rebounds and four assists in the win and he said the Larks simply weren’t giving up on Monday, even though they were down 51-39 with 6:30 left in regulation.
“Nobody likes losing. Especially not to one of our rivals. A lot of us weren’t about to take a loss to Lyle. It’s kind of a rivalry between our teams,” Jacobson said. “I’m a pass first kind of player. I usually try to get it to Terrell or Michael [Stejskal], because they’re our scorers, but sometimes when my shot gets going I get a lot more confident, then I try to continue it.”
While Jacobson was creating offense, Rieken was doing just about everything else for the Larks. He grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked four shots, while still scoring 12 points. But above all, Rieken played a lot of pressure defense that helped force 18 LP turnovers.
“I wasn’t making shots, so I just had to let my teammates shoot and help on defense and rebounds,” Rieken said.
LP (8-3 overall, 8-2 SEC) had a seven-game winning streak going into Monday’s showdown, but they were hit with foul trouble in the loss. LP’s 1,000-point scorer Jordan Hart played sparingly in the second half and he fouled out with 3:17 left in regulation and Jordan Cotter, who led LP with 19 points, fouled out in overtime. The loss of Hart was hard for LP to overcome.
“Anytime when your leader and your captain is on the bench it’s going to hurt,” LP head coach Dean DeBoer said. “I thought initially we didn’t respond real well to him being out, but as the second half went on I thought we settled in. It’s a different style of game when he’s out and offensively we’re a different team when he’s out.”
The game was a back and forth contest throughout, but LP looked to be pulling away when Jordan Cotter converted a 3-point play to make it 46-39 LP and Braden Kocer added a lay-up to to make it 51-39. GM was able to get back into the game with a lot of hustle and the Larks took their first lead of the second half when Reid Buschmann drilled a baseline 3-pointer to make it 55-54 with 55 seconds left. GM wasn’t unable to finish the game in regulation as it shot just 33 percent from the free throw line on the night.
Still, the Larks showed resiliency in overtime. Cotter hit a 3-pointer to put LP up 61-60, but Jacobson hit a jump shot off an offensive rebound to put GM up 62-61 with two minutes left. LP would never tie or hold the lead again.
“These guys are competitors. They’re a bunch of winners. You saw it on the football field and you’re starting to see it on the basketball court. No lead is insurmountable,” GM head coach Bob Burmester said. “You’ve got to give credit to [Rieken]. He didn’t shoot the ball real well and a lot of players if they’re not playing well offensively it will affect their defense. When it came down to it, Terrell blocked shots and he got in the right spot [defensively].”
The Athletics had to take a tough loss on Monday, but it was the kind of close game that they hope can help them get stronger as the season goes on.
“We were excited for this game and we were ready to play,” DeBoer said. “Their length bothered us early and they’re a veteran led team. We knew it was going to be a battle and it was. It’s a loss on your record, but we feel like we’re going to be able to grow from this and do things better next time.”
LP 31 27 9 — 67
GM 27 31 11 — 69
GM scoring: Landon Jacobson, 24; Michael Stejskal, 15; Terrell Rieken, 12; Reid Buschmann, 11; Cody Ojulu, 3; Trevor Sloan, 2; Wes Ojulu, 1; free throws: 33 percent (12-for-36); rebounds: 56 (Rieken, 17); turnovers: 14
LP scoring: Jordan Cotter, 19; Noah Jiskra, 18; Braden Kocer, 12; Jordan Hart, 9; Nathan Drees, 5; Lee Bauer, 4; free throws: 64 percent (20-for-31); rebounds: 45 (Jiskra, 13); turnovers: 18