Lebanon continues late-season surge, rolls past Cougars 58-44

Lebanon High School’s boys basketball team is happy to see brightness at the end of the tunnel.

It’s been a tough season for the Warriors, but they’re still getting after it and won their third straight game Tuesday night, overpowering visiting Edgewood in the second half en route to a 58-44 victory.

“The kids never hung their heads,” said Lebanon coach Kevin Higgins, whose squad is 7-14. “It’s really a testament to them. A lot of teams could go ahead and tank, but these kids just keep showing up and trying to get better.”

Junior guard Drew Sekerak (16) and freshman guard Brendan Lamb (15) put up career-best scoring totals for the Warriors, who shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half.

PHOTOS: Greg Lynch’s gallery from the game

The Cougars (14-7) led 29-26 midway through the third quarter, but pretty much got handled the rest of the way.

“We didn’t have energy when we came out,” Sekerak said. “Our coach got on us at halftime. He said we were playing flat and needed to come out with energy in the second half, and we sure did. That’s what got us the win.”

Lebanon picked up its defense while cashing in with a very patient offensive approach at the other end. The Warriors got to the rim regularly.

“We changed back in December what we were doing. We’re about controlling the tempo,” Higgins said. “We’re not going to be rushed. We’re going to take what we think is the best shot humanly possible, and our kids understand that. It doesn’t matter if somebody’s yelling stuff at them from the crowd to shoot it. They’re not going to unless it’s the right one.

“We don’t shoot a lot of 3s. We’ll try to hit one or two big ones. We’re not going to sit out there and chuck ’em just because you give them to us. We’re going to remain patient until we get what we want.”

Edgewood more than doubled Lebanon in turnovers (13-6) and lost the battle of the boards (25-18). Eddie Driskell scored 20 points and Garrett Gabbard added nine for the visitors — Ethan McCarty contributed seven rebounds and five assists.

After the game, Cougars coach John Thomas said he couldn’t find anything to be happy about.

“If these kids care about basketball and care about this team, they shouldn’t be happy either,” Thomas said. “Lebanon dictated the tempo of the game — hats off to them. The first half we stayed with it and we were fine. The second half we didn’t stay with it and got our butts kicked.

“We didn’t show patience when we had to and got in a hurry. Everybody thinks patience means don’t shoot. Patience means get your shot. That’s what they were doing. That’s what we weren’t doing.”

Lebanon’s only two seniors, Dakota Allen and Parker Smith, marked eight points apiece on Senior Night. Allen grabbed seven rebounds, Zach Huffman collected eight points and eight boards, and Sekerak added five steals.

Sekerak had scored in double digits only three times in his varsity career before Tuesday.

“It was just free throws,” said a smiling Sekerak, who was 6 of 9 at the line. “Basically I was just getting open and doing my normal thing.”

Lamb had reached double figures once before converting 5 of 8 field goals and 5 of 7 free throws against Edgewood. He scored 10 points against Finneytown on Jan. 14.

The Warriors sank 17 of 24 foul shots Tuesday. The Cougars were 5 of 13 from the charity stripe.

Both teams will close the regular season Friday. Lebanon travels to Springboro, while Edgewood hosts Mt. Healthy.

Edgewood 11-14-5-14—44

Lebanon 9-11-17-21—58

EDGEWOOD (14-7): Nick Noble 3 0 7, Drew Reckart 2 1 7, Ethan McCarty 0 1 1, Eddie Driskell 7 3 20, Garrett Gabbard 4 0 9. Totals: 16-5-44

LEBANON (7-14): Dakota Allen 2 4 8, Drew Sekerak 5 6 16, Zach Huffman 3 2 8, Parker Smith 4 0 8, Brendan Lamb 5 5 15, James Wilson 1 0 3. Totals: 20-17-58

3-pointers: E 7 (Driskell 3, Reckart 2, Noble, Gabbard), L 1 (Wilson)

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