Lawrence North Shuts Down Tech
Category: High School Archives Written by Jeff Schoenle
With a basketball tradition as long and storied as Lawrence North, sectional titles may seem like a birthright. After winning six sectionals in a seven year period from 2003-2009, Jack Keefer's squad had not advanced past the first weekend since. That all changed Saturday evening, as Lawrence North would go wire to wire against Tech to win the Sectional 10 crown.
The game was a rematch of a January 6th game which saw Lawrence North win 98-86. It looked early on as though the game would be played at the same tempo, as he Wildcats looked to run off any miss or turnover. Those would be plentiful, as Tech struggled to connect on passes and could not find the bottom of the basket.
Things would get worse for Tech as star junior guard CJ Walker, who came into the game averaging 24 points a night, picked up his second foul with 5:15 left in the opening quarter. That would send him to the bench, and without their leader on the floor, Tech would continue to struggle.
Lawrence North would fail to convert on many of the opportunities that were presented to them, but senior Pat Bacon would drain a pair of threes in the period to give LN a 10-4 lead at the horn. "We just hit more buckets the first time, and I didn't want to do that again," said Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer. "We wanted to make it more of a half court game, make the extra pass and involve our bigs a bit more."
CJ Walker would return in the second, as Tech coach Jason Delaney tried to keep the game from slipping away. That would be short lived, however, as Walker would pick up his third foul on a charge just a minute after entering.
Foul trouble would turn to bother Lawrence North, as Pat Bacon, Kevin Easley, and Antwaan Cushingberry would all pick up their second foul in the quarter.
That would hardly slow the Wildcats though, as they raced out to a 30-9 halftime lead on the backs of freshmen Cushingberry and Easley. "They're special kids. Kids play so many games anymore, they've played 23 games for us. They hit six free throws in the last minutes to beat LC, they just don't act like freshmen," commented Keefer about his two freshmen.
The tempo would pick back up in the third as Tech came out of the locker room trying to assert themselves back into the game. Senior Donte Gladney would open with back to back threes for the Titans, but Pat Bacon was able to beat the Tech pressure to find junior big man Wesley Bender for easy baskets around the rim. It was then Chris King's turn to try and get the Titans back in the game.
The former Lawrence Central wing, playing in his old gym, would turn defense into offense, going on a personal 9-0 run to bring the Titans to within 17.
As Tech would continue to pressure and gamble, the Wildcats would make them pay by breaking the pressure for easy layups. It would also draw the fifth foul on CJ Walker, sending him to the bench for the final 5:49 of game action.
From there, it would be a formality, as the lead would hover around 20 points for Lawrence North until the final buzzer sounded, sending Jack Keefer's team to the second weekend of the tournament.
Arsenal Tech 4 5 21 16 - 46
Lawrence North 10 20 20 17 - 67
Tech: Chris King 16 pts (5/15 FGs), 3 rbs, 3 ast; Donte Gladney 8 pts (2/8 FGs), 3 rbs; Eric Meeks 8 pts (1/19 FGs, 6/11 FTs); CJ Walker 4 pts; Ernest Myles 4 pts; Greg Gaddie 2 pts; Chris Davis 2 pts; Damion Wilburn 2 pts
Lawrence North: Pat Bacon 14 pts (5/10 FGs, 2/2 3Ps), 6 ast; Wesley Bender 13 pts; Kevin Easley 12 pts (5/7 FTs), 7 rbs; Antwaan Cushingberry 9 pts, 4 ast; Jaylen McKay 6 pts (3/6 FGs), 10 rbs, 2 stl, 3 blk; Ra Kpedi 6 pts; Ethan Jarrett 3 pts; Dion Gilbert 2 pts; KJ Davis 2 pts