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The Pittsburg boys jumped out to an early lead Tuesday evening against the Labette County Grizzlies and pulled away late for a 58-49 home win.
Labette County gained its first and last advantage on the first two points of the game, two made free throws by junior guard Dontae Johnson. Pittsburg built a 12-4 lead and 16-7 lead after one quarter, defense and offense complementing one another for a strong beginning.
“I thought what set the tone for us was our guys being focused in on the defensive end of the floor,” Pittsburg head coach Kiley Roelfs said. “I thought we did a good job of understanding what Labette County was trying to do and taking away some of their early looks they like to get out of their offense. I thought that energy carried over into the offensive end of the floor. We were attacking the rim and not settling for jump shots. That’s why we got off to that early lead, by shooting high-percentage shots.”
Pittsburg led 28-24 at halftime. Four players had six points apiece — FeDor Lomax, Jornell Fondren, Joe Wimmer and Jalen King — and Dillon O’Dell added four points for a balanced Pittsburg offensive attack.
Despite seven points by Labette County sophomore forward Tucker Thompson in the third, Pittsburg edged out to a 39-32 lead after three. Fondren made three shots in the quarter and became the first player in double figures with 12 points.
Pittsburg avoided the devastating offensive and defensive lulls that have cost the Purple Dragons games this season.
“We’ve made that a point of emphasis,” Roelfs said “There’s no doubt about it. We had to get past those longer periods of losing focus and letting a good team make a run on us. I thought our guys really stayed locked in for most of the night and when you do that, your chances for success increase dramatically.”
Every time Labette County narrowed the Pittsburg lead down to three points in the fourth, Pittsburg answered with baskets or free throws or a scoring run, including a 5-0 run after Labette County made it 49-46 with 1:31 remaining.
“Any time they did get it within three, we came down and we got a good shot and usually got it back up to five again,” Roelfs said. “I don’t think we ever let it get back down under three, so we answered the bell. Again, I think it all goes back to that intensity and that focus we were able to maintain tonight.”
The Pittsburg boys jumped out to an early lead Tuesday evening against the Labette County Grizzlies and pulled away late for a 58-49 home win.
Labette County gained its first and last advantage on the first two points of the game, two made free throws by junior guard Dontae Johnson. Pittsburg built a 12-4 lead and 16-7 lead after one quarter, defense and offense complementing one another for a strong beginning.
“I thought what set the tone for us was our guys being focused in on the defensive end of the floor,” Pittsburg head coach Kiley Roelfs said. “I thought we did a good job of understanding what Labette County was trying to do and taking away some of their early looks they like to get out of their offense. I thought that energy carried over into the offensive end of the floor. We were attacking the rim and not settling for jump shots. That’s why we got off to that early lead, by shooting high-percentage shots.”
Pittsburg led 28-24 at halftime. Four players had six points apiece — FeDor Lomax, Jornell Fondren, Joe Wimmer and Jalen King — and Dillon O’Dell added four points for a balanced Pittsburg offensive attack.
Despite seven points by Labette County sophomore forward Tucker Thompson in the third, Pittsburg edged out to a 39-32 lead after three. Fondren made three shots in the quarter and became the first player in double figures with 12 points.
Pittsburg avoided the devastating offensive and defensive lulls that have cost the Purple Dragons games this season.
“We’ve made that a point of emphasis,” Roelfs said “There’s no doubt about it. We had to get past those longer periods of losing focus and letting a good team make a run on us. I thought our guys really stayed locked in for most of the night and when you do that, your chances for success increase dramatically.”
Every time Labette County narrowed the Pittsburg lead down to three points in the fourth, Pittsburg answered with baskets or free throws or a scoring run, including a 5-0 run after Labette County made it 49-46 with 1:31 remaining.
“Any time they did get it within three, we came down and we got a good shot and usually got it back up to five again,” Roelfs said. “I don’t think we ever let it get back down under three, so we answered the bell. Again, I think it all goes back to that intensity and that focus we were able to maintain tonight.”
Lomax scored eight points in the fourth en route to a game-high 14. All seniors, Fondren added 13, King 12, O’Dell eight, Wimmer eight and Dylan Gromer scored three points on free throws on Senior Night.
Thompson scored a team-high 12 points for Labette (6-8, 1-1 SEK), all in the second half. Lee Reliford added 11.
Lomax helped Pittsburg win the JV game 62-51, scoring 15 points (leading scorer in both JV and varsity games) and Spencer Bernhardt added 13. Labette County won the freshman game 38-36; Shane Moore led Pittsburg with 18 points.
Pittsburg (8-5, 1-0) faces Independence on the road Friday and hosts both Coffeyville and Chanute (Homecoming) next week.
Labette County 39, Pittsburg 36
Pittsburg forced 16 Labette County turnovers and the Grizzlies made only 6 of 16 free throws on Tuesday evening.
However, Labette County entered the fourth quarter with a 29-20 advantage, scoring the final nine points of the third quarter over the final 3:56.
Tiara Ford made a spin move and finish over Mackenzie Spresser for a three-point opportunity. Shelbie Foister rebounded Ford’s missed free throw and went up for two. Lakyn Baughman spotted up for an open three and drained her shot off a swing pass, culminating an extended Labette possession. Michaela O’Brien made the last basket of the 9-0 scoring run.
“We only had three points (in the third),” Pittsburg head coach Kim Peterson said. “We had one basket and a free throw in the third quarter. Digging that hole was huge because playing against a good team, it’s tough to come back after digging a hole that deep.”
Pittsburg made a comeback on Labette County and had a chance for a game-tying 3-point shot on what turned out to be the final possession.
Spresser and Lizzy Willis sparked the comeback offensively, each having six points in the fourth, and Pittsburg forced six Labette County turnovers.
“I was impressed with the fact that we did not give up and we continued to fight clear until the end,” Peterson said. “You’ve got to credit the girls for that. They could have just given up or lost their composure and ended up losing by 12, 14 or 16 points, but we talked about how you can’t dig a hole that big against a team that’s solid.”
Labette County (11-3, 2-0 SEK) ends Pittsburg’s winning streak of 10 games.
The freshmen girls lost 55-9 to Labette County. Camille Kent had five points.
Pittsburg (10-3, 0-1) faces Independence on Friday and returns home next week for games against Coffeyville (Tuesday) and Chanute (Friday).
Labette County girls 39, Pittsburg 36
LCHS 9 7 13 10 — 39
PHS 8 9 3 16 — 36
LABETTE COUNTY (39) — Michaela O’Brien 5 2-2 12, Tiara Ford 4 1-3 10, Shelbie Foister 3 1-2 8, Lakyn Baughman 1 2-3 5, Allie Maffei 2 0-4 4, Sadie Atkins 0 0-2 0. Totals: 15 6-16 39.
PITTSBURG (36) — Mariah Forrest 3 1-2 7, Skyler Muff 2 3-4 7, Mackenzie Spresser 2 1-2 6, Lizzy Willis 2 2-2 6, Mercedes Vogel 2 0-0 4, Katy Short 2 0-3 4, Brianna Maxwell 1 0-0 2, Ashley Willis 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 7-13 36.
Pittsburg boys 58, Labette County 49
LCHS 7 14 11 17 — 49
PHS 16 12 11 19 — 58
LABETTE COUNTY (49) — Tucker Thompson 5 1-1 12, Lee Reliford 5 0-1 11, Dontae Johnson 3 3-6 9, Jonny Krewson 2 2-2 7, Erik Swanwick 2 0-1 5, Zack Stewart 1 1-2 3, Cole Traxson 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 9-15 49.
PITTSBURG (58) — FeDor Lomax 6 2-2 14, Jornell Fondren 5 3-4 13, Jalen King 6 0-0 12, Dillon O’Dell 3 2-4 8, Joe Wimmer 4 0-0 8, Dylan Gromer 0 3-4 3. Totals: 24 10-14 58.
