Streak snapped: Superlarks take down Lyle-Pacelli

Published 9:51 pm Tuesday, January 14, 2020

The Grand Meadow boys basketball team showed that it has Lyle-Pacelli’s number as they snapped the Athletics’ 10-game winning streak with a 66-49 victory in Pacelli Tuesday night.

The Athletics (10-4 overall, 6-3 SEC) hung around for most of the first half, but the Superlarks extended their halftime lead to 34-28 after Colt Landers connected on a contested three at the top of the key to beat the buzzer.

Lyle-Pacelli’s Mach Diang shoots over Grand Meadow’s Colt Landers during the first half Tuesday night in Pacelli. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“It felt pretty good,” Landers said of the shot. “I heard ‘one shot left’ and I looked at the clock, did a couple of crossovers and I nailed the shot.”

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Landers, a junior, finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots, hitting a variety of post hooks and jump shots from all over the court.

GM point guard Ethan Lane, who had five points, five rebounds and five assists, knew it was crucial to keep feeding Landers as GM pulled away in the second half.

Lyle-Pacelli’s Zach Bollingberg reverses direction against Grand Meadow in the first half Tuesday night in Pacelli. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“Once we knew he was hot, we had to give (Colt) the ball. He can score inside and outside,” Lane said.

L-P was led by freshman Buay Koak, who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, but the Athletics couldn’t find their offense for a stretch early in the second half as GM put together a a 13-3 run to go up 51-33 on a Landers three with 9:52 left.

GM also beat L-P 51-40 on Dec. 9 right before the 10-game streak began and the Superlarks (11-4 overall, 7-1 SEC) are now in the driver’s seat in the SEC West Division.

Grand Meadow’s Evan Oehlke pressure’s Lyle-Pacelli’s Tyson Anderson during the first half Tuesday night in Pacelli. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“They were coming in hot,” Landers said. “We knew their last loss was to us and they had beaten some good teams. We just had to come in here and take care of business.”

While the Larks held on to win, Lane said they could still polish up a little bit of their offense as they finished with 14 turnovers.

“We’ve got to slow it down sometimes,” Lane said. “We were in a rush, but we’ve got to slow it down. Everyone seems to be running with their heads cut off sometimes. We’ve just got to get everybody cooled down.”

Lyle-Pacelli’s Jed Nelson leans into a drive during the first half against Grand Meadow Tuesday night in Pacelli. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

GM 34  32    66

LP 28  21    49

LP scoring: Buay Koak, 23; Jed Nelson, 13; Cole Walter, 5; Zach Bollingberg, 4; Mach Diang, 2; Sam Nelsen, 2; free throws: 68 percent (13-for-19); rebounds: 21 (Koak, 9); turnovers: 13

GM scoring: Colt Landers, 24; Evan Oehlke, 10; Ben Kraft, 8; Ethan Gilbert, 6; Zac Hoffman, 6; Ethan Lane, 5; John Baldus, 3; Ryan Hinz, 3; Blake Ludemann, 1; free throws: 57 percent (8-for-14); rebounds: 23 (Landers, 9); turnovers: 14