Crest High’s three seniors had a taste of state tournament qualification as freshmen. They wanted to get back to state.
Back they go as Crest High’s Lancers captured a 2012 Kansas Class 1A, Division II Substate Basketball Tournament championship Saturday. They defeated Chetopa High’s Hornets 72-62 in the title game in Allen County Community College’s gym.
“It’s been three years since we’ve gone to state. We went as freshmen and it’s nice to go back as seniors,” said Jayden Bowen, as he held the championship trophy along with fellow seniors Cole Bowen and Chris Brallier.
Brallier put the Lancers on the right track with an eight-point first quarter performance. He set the tone by taking a defensive rebound and driving the length of the court for a layup for a 2-0 lead.
“I saw they were boxing off Kyle (Hammond) and Jordan (Morton) so I knew someone else had to step up. I was able to get some shots to go early,” Brallier said.
For guard Cole Bowen, “I was out there doing whatever I could for the team.”
The Lancers had to work hard for their championship. Crest and Chetopa played in the regular season with the Lancers cruising to a 58-27 win.
“What a game. Chetopa played so well tonight and we had to step things up to win this game,” said Travis Hermreck, Lancer head coach. “There was a time in the first half that they had the momentum and our guys calmed themselves down and we got the lead back.
“Early in the third quarter, they came out and hit some shots and we didn’t. Our lead was just three points. We were in a precarious situation but the kids got some big buckets and defensive stops and calmed themselves down again.”
Hermreck said he was glad the Hornets came out and played so well against his team.
“It gives our guys a better feeling about themselves going into the state tournament. We all know that this substate wasn’t as tough as others but man, Chetopa made this a tremendous championship game.”
Crest goes into this week’s 2012 Kansas Class 1A, Division II State Basketball Tournament as the No. 6 seed. The Lancers (15-8) play third-seeded Frankfort (19-5) at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Fort Hays State’s Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.
Brallier’s two and a three-pointer in a minute span late in the first quarter gave Crest a 16-10 lead. Jordan Morton and Brock Ellis drained back-to-back threes in the final minute to push the Lancers to a 22-12 advantage.
Crest never trailed the rest of the way but the Hornets kept coming at them. Led by their only senior, Tyler Pike, the Hornets pushed the Lancers in the second half.
The Lancers didn’t break. Kyle Hammond took over the game in the fourth quarter for Crest scoring 10 of his team-high 22.
