Fresh off a championship, Halstead still finding identity in loaded sub-state
Entering Tuesday night, the defending Kansas Class 3A state champions were the No. 6 seed in an eight-team sub-state tournament.
At 7-3, the Dragons have more losses than they did all of last season. Coach Lonnie Lollar said his group is still finding its identity, “but the time’s a-ticking.”
“You’ve got to play your best basketball at the end of the season,” he said. “It is going to be a tremendous fight. I feel like there are eight teams that feel like they’ve got a chance to get to the last round.”
As of Monday night, Halstead’s sub-state was the only geographically determined tournament in which every team has a winning record. Here are the standings after the Dragons’ 49-42 win over Minneapolis in the first round of their home Adolph Rupp Tournament:
- Belle Plaine (9-1)
- Kingman (8-2)
- Cheney (8-2)
- Halstead (7-3)
- Hesston (7-3)
- Haven (7-3)
- Collegiate (5-3)
- Chaparral (6-4)
“You know any tournament where Collegiate is the No. 7 seed is a dang good sub-state,” senior guard Braden Gerber said.
Halstead didn’t play a pretty game Tuesday night. The Dragons shot 36.4 percent from the floor and 26.1 percent from three-point range. They got to the free-throw line once in the first half.
They led by nine with 1:24 to play but faced a one-score game with 30 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately for Lollar and Halstead fans, they have struggled to put four complete quarters together.
The Dragons haven’t won by at least 10 points since Dec. 18, but there is good news. Halstead has played five games decided by seven points or fewer. In those games, the Dragons are 3-2. Only one loss has come decisively, and they have proven capable to show up late in tight games.
After Tuesday’s game, Lollar met with Maize coach Chris Grill, who made the trip to watch.
“He said, ‘Hey, you won,’ “ Lollar said. “We’ve got to keep telling each other that and beat ourselves up too much.”
Halstead has two of the best players in Class 3A this season. Seniors Andrew O’Brien and Braden Gerber are the only two starters left from last year’s title team. Tuesday night, they combined for more than 60 percent of the team’s points.
O’Brien is a 6-foot-6 combo guard who can post up or drain threes. He is vocal on the court and is one of the most experienced players on the roster. He is averaging 17 points and eight rebounds this season and already has a 44-point game under his belt.
Gerber is his counterpart. Although not the volume scorer O’Brien is, Gerber’s motor is unmatched. He is excellent around the rim and reads the game well. Lollar said he has known Gerber since he was little; he has always wanted to play on the Halstead court and win the Rupp Tournament.
Even in a championship-winning season, the Dragons haven’t won their home tournament in the senior class’ career, dropping in the semifinals to Cheney — the same team in the same round they face Friday.
The Cardinals started hot, winning six of their first seven games, but they don’t have a signature win. A road victory against the defending 3A champions to their home tournament for the second straight year would fill that void.
Lollar gave credit to Minneapolis for its fight Tuesday night but said his group must play better to make it a game against Cheney.
“This game is 85 percent mental, in my mind,” Lollar said. “A lot of times, we’re not where we need to be. But I have confidence that we can get there because we have shown it. At times, we’re not that far away from last year.”
Lollar said he has tried to alleviate the weight of being defending champions. They don’t talk about it a lot. He doesn’t believe they need to.
Even with three new starters this year, they know what it is going to take to get back to the state tournament. They know they are playing in the strongest sub-state in Kansas.
And they know everyone else knows about last year’s title.
“It feels like it’s sort of an expectation now,” Gerber said. “Take it for what it is. It’s nothing to complain about. We expect to come into every game knowning we’re going to get people’s best shot.”