sports

STEPHEN-ARGYLE USES BIG FIRST HALF RUN TO BEAT SHORT-HANDED SACRED HEART

January 30, 2021

The Stephen-Argyle Storm boys basketball players had taken some lopsided losses the last couple of years, but this group of players has worked hard, stuck together through thick and thin. The Storm has shown the team’s character this season by coming out and winning all four games so far, including a 61-36 victory over the short-handed Sacred Heart Eagles in a game played in Stephen. Sacred Heart was without starters Sam Gapp and Carmello Rojas and top reserve Tucker Pederson because of injuries.

FIRST HALF
The game was pretty much decided in the first nine minutes of the game as Stephen-Argyle came out strong on the defensive end while they scored the first 12 points of the game. Colten Pagnac started the scoring with a basket a minute into the game. Brandon Kroll added four straight points in a 30-second span before Jason Lindgren scored. The Storm kept going and Kroll added another basket and Kole Szczepanski finished the run two points for a 12-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.
Sacred Heart’s Kobe Tomkinson scored the first points of the game with 9:42 left, but it didn’t phase Stephen-Argyle as they went on a 16-1 run that was started by five straight points from Lindgren. After a Sacred Heart free throw, Colin McGregor had five straight points, Pagnac added a three, and Kroll added another three-pointer for a 28-3 lead with 4:35 left in the half. “I knew our guys were ready,” said Stephen-Argyle Coach Nevin Lubarski. “Not too many kids like to practice four days in a row and that is what we had, so it was time to get out there and get back at it. We came out of the gates really well. We played great defense and worked hard and all-in-all I was really happy. When you keep the other team from scoring you will be in good shape.”
Stephen-Argyle took a 33-9 lead into halftime. “We couldn’t get a break early on,” said Sacred Heart Coach Destry Sterkel. “We had shots that looked like they were going in and they didn’t. We couldn’t get a break and against a good team like Stephen-Argyle that hurts.”

SECOND HALF
Stephen-Argyle had a good start to the second half while scoring the first four points. The teams played even the rest of the way and Sacred Heart’s Tomkinson kept playing hard and scored 11 second-half points, while Isaac Zavoral chipped in eight second-half points, but the damage was done in the first half and Stephen-Argyle coasted to a 61-36 victory. “Our upperclassmen really are driving the bus and working their tail off and holding each other accountable,” said Coach Lubarski. “I am proud of the guys and like we talked about before the game in the pregame interview, we owned the paint early on and we owned the boards. Good things happen when we do that.”
Sacred Heart Coach Sterkel said, ” We are a much better team than this and we will continue to work hard at making this season the best it can. We won’t let this game be the way our season is defined.”

Stephen-Argyle improves to 4-0 on the year and will take on Warren-Alvarado-Oslo on Tuesday. Sacred Heart drops to 1-4 on the year and will travel to Climax-Fisher on Monday.
J.V. – Sacred Heart won 63-33