Young classes take out the champs in hard-fought game

Kyle (left) and Angie Johnson ware presented with the Lloyd McEathron Fan Appreciation Award Feb. 11, during the annual Lake Holcombe School Alumni Basketball Tournament. The award is given each year, to those who support the school’s youth athletics. “These two have done so much with the youth over the years, said alumni tournament coordinator Brandon Crank, “and we greatly appreciate it.” Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

There was a lot of good-natured trash talk at the 41st annual Lake Holcombe Alumni Tournament, none more so than the final day of the event Feb. 11, as the Classes of 2007-10 (Purple Team) went up against the Classes of 2019-2021 (White Team), for the championship and bragging rights.

Using his height, Michael Mudgett got the opening tip for the Purple Team, with Joey Lamoureux taking point and circling the perimeter, getting it to Brandon Crank, under the basket, for a miss. The White Team got the rebound, then raced down the court, where Brock Flater made sure the ball was in Kaden Kinney’s hands.

However, the shot was no good and went out of bounds to Purple. On the other end, Lamoureux cut down the lane for a shot that didn’t go down. Capitalizing on that, White took the board down to their end, where Kaden Crank nailed a three to put White on the board.

Back on Purple’s end, they couldn’t get open and reset the offense, which involved getting Mudgett the ball under the basket, who was tied up. The possession arrow favored White and Flater took advantage of that to let a three-pointer fly. The shot went in-and-out, with the board going back to Purple.

Kent Velie turned over the ball for Purple, which was followed by Lamoureux committing a foul on Kinney. The ball was then kicked out to Luke Geist, who attempted a three for White, with no luck, and the ball went back to Purple.

B. Crank pulled up for a jump shot on Purple’s end, but it didn’t fall and Flater made them pay on his end, with a three-pointer, to put Purple up, 6-0. Kinney then caused a turnover on the other end, leading to K. Crank cutting to the basket for two.

As for Purple, their shots wouldn’t fall, until Lamoureux hit a three with 3:44 left in the first quarter. Mudgett was then fouled and went to the charity stripe, knocking down both free throws to cut the lead to three for Purple.

White wasn’t allowing that to happen, as Will Kliegle drove to the basket and was fouled, with the shot falling, giving him a change at an old-fashioned three-point play. The extra point at the line was good, making it 11-5 in favor of White.

After some back-and-forth action, Kinney sent a nolook pass under the basket to Kliegle, for an easy bucket, giving White the lead at the end of the quarter, 15-5.

To begin the second quarter, Lamoureux tried a long three, but the shot went out of bounds to White. Some good ball movement led to a jumper by K. Crank, but Purple made a comeback, despite remaining down by double-digits, which was extended, after a three-pointer fell for Purple’s Tyler Dixon.

Sitting at 23-7, neither team scored for several minutes, until a lay-up by Mudgett stopped the drought. A few ticks later and Mudgett sent up a soft floater to get Purple back in the game. Just before halftime, Purple cut the lead to under double-digits, going into the break up 26-19.

Coming out of halftime, some quick scoring and a pass from Kinney to Kliegle put the White Team up by 11, followed by an uncontested lay-up from Kliegle.

Meanwhile, on the other end, the shots just wouldn’t fall for Purple, until Lamoureux knocked down a threepointer to take the wind of White’s sales. That high didn’t last long, as Kliegle answered back with a basket on the other end, to put White up, 34-22.

Showing he isn’t just the big man under the basket, Mudgett sent up a nothing-but-net three, then grabbed a board to help his team get the score under 10 for the first time all quarter. Aaron Johnson also got in on the action for Purple, with a pull-up jumper, but a three from Kinney wiped that out.

Frustrated, Purple started fouling to close out the third quarter, with White up by 17.

It was obvious that Purple had tired legs at the start of the fourth, but a fresher Johnson nailed a three to give his team some life. Kliegle proved he can also shoot a three, putting his team back up, then Dixon notched a shot from beyond the arc, with just five minutes left to go in the game.

Thanks to efforts from Kyle Schneider and Johnson, Tyler Marshall got the ball under the basket for Purple, for two points, but with only 3:31 left to go, it was now or never for a comeback.

Purple had the lead down to 12 and a take-away from Mudgett led to him being fouled on his end. The big man shot a pair of free throws and Purple was back in it. An offensive foul from K. Crank gave Purple a chance, but a bad pass gave the ball back to White, who started playing “come get me,” to take time off the clock.

Desperate now, Purple cut the lead to seven, but only 1:17 remained on the clock and fouls continued to add up, while White played keep-away. Eventually, Purple’s comeback was cut short and White claimed the win, 5445, putting an end to the weekend’s festivities.

[caption id="attachment_219209" align="alignnone" width="300"] The Classes of 2019-21 walked away with the Lake Holcombe School Alumni Tournament championship Feb. 11, defeating the 2007-10 team. Making up the winning team, left to right, in front, are Brock Flater, Kaden Kinney, Tyler Dixon and Brandon Nitek. In back, are Talon Yeager, Will Kliegle, Kaden Kinney and Luke Geist. Photo by Ginna Young[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="368"] Falling short of the championship crown during the alumni tournament, were the Classes of 2007-10. Receiving runner-up honors, left to right, laying across teammates, is Joey Lamoureux. In front, are Aaron Johnson, Kyle Schneider, Kent Velie and Tyler Marshall. In back, are Mike Johnson, Brandon Crank, Michael Mudgett and Dane Luethi. Photo by Ginna Young[/caption]