Seattle Lutheran capitalized on Evergreen Lutheran mistakes in the fourth quarter to forge a riveting 64-55 SeaTac 2B League boys' basketball victory at the Eagles' campus in Des Moines on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
With the win, the Saints moved to 1-0 league and 3-1 overall. Evergreen Lutheran stands at 0-1 and 1-1 respectively. The Eagles also played in a tournament in Minnesota which included a close 65-64 loss to Illinois Lutheran plus losses to powerhouses Arizona Lutheran and Nebraska Lutheran.
"It was a matter of executing our offense," said Saints head coach Brett Kapels. "We calmed down and got into our sets. We need good looks at the hoop and we need to box out to finish plays. In the fourth quarter, we attacked them and did our game, owning the boards and not turning the ball over."
After battling to a 43-43 tie, Seattle Lutheran quickly wrested away control in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Jordan Webb converted two free throws that were followed by a driving layup from Nick Savas. Following missed two-shot charity tosses from each squad, Webb drained a pair of free throws. An Evergreen Lutheran turnover led into two more free throws by Webb to give Seattle Lutheran a 51- 43 margin.
The Eagles threw the ball away on their next possession, setting up Bryce Morgan for a killing three-point goal and a 54-43 dominance with 4:59 remaining.
Evergreen Lutheran pushed hard, but could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
"We just had too many unforced errors," said Eagle head coach Jeff Kurbis, who has 299 victories as he continues his 17th season of mentoring girls' and boys' basketball. "They got a lot of loose balls and were able to be at the right spots. We're going to get better. We've got to play tough against the better teams. The games in Minnesota were mainly for fun and fellowship, but we also learned some things we can do."
Both teams opened the proceedings at break neck speed with the Saints claiming a 12-8 lead ahead of an 18-12 margin after one quarter.
Steve Lawrence canned a three-pointer to open the second quarter for the Eagles. Seattle Lutheran responded by pulling away to a 23-17 lead. Evergreen Lutheran closed within 23-21 only to watch the Saints march to a 28-22 halftime edge.
After the Saints shot to a 33-22 third quarter control, the Eagles firmly flew back into contention using defense and up tempo transition tactics. Jayson Kjenstad assisted Sam Shannon for a basket that cut SL's margin to 37-33 as 3:09 showed on the scoreboard clock.
Trailing 39-33 midway through the frame, the Eagles rallied again. Kjenstad drove to the basket for two consecutive Evergreen Lutheran baskets and Karl Leitzke drove down the key for the basket that deadlocked the encounter at 39-all with 1:52 left.
Sam Shannon dropped home two technical shots, giving the Eagles the lead at 41-39. Seattle Lutheran nailed the second of two free throws. Clearing away on the fast break, Kjenstad grabbed an outlet pass from Lawrence and hit a layup for Evergreen Lutheran's final lead of the match up at 43-40 as 17 seconds remained.
With the clock winding down and the roar of the crowd echoing in the gym, Morgan drained a three-pointer to tie the game 10 seconds later to send the teams into the final quarter.
"We played defense better to lead into transitions and stopped turning the ball over," observed Kjenstad. "In the last quarter we gave up too many easy layups with unforced errors."
Final statistics showed the Eagles with 25 turnovers against the Saints' 14. Seattle Lutheran notched 19 points off turnovers compared with Evergreen Lutheran's seven. Evergreen Lutheran won the rebound battle, 46-35.
Morgan shot 11-for-22 from standard field goal range and 3-for-5 from three-point land on his way to a game high 27 points while also corralling 10 rebounds. Seattle Lutheran teammate Webb added 20 points and six rebounds.
For Evergreen Lutheran, Kjenstad poured in 22 points. Shannon earned 14 points and six rebounds while Leitzke grabbed 11 boards with seven caroms.
