LAPEL – Lapel coach Kevin Cherry knows Blackford linebacker Amarian Leggett will be a big question when the Bulldogs take on the Bruins on Saturday for the Class 2A district championship. The 6-foot-5 sophomore passed 1,000 points just two weeks ago, and guarding him will be a huge challenge.
But Cherry also knew Blackford had weaknesses in other areas, and the Ninth Bruins took advantage of them en route to a 67-55 victory.
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“We talked about this game, you know, Leggett could probably score 30 points, but our path to success is the other four guys can’t get going,” Cherry said. “But I think actually, for the most part, when we get into the second and third, which we haven’t played a lot this year, it’s going to be a little more effective to have (Leggett) be a catch-and-response player as opposed to just being able to catch the ball and go downhill. So, I’m really proud of our guys.”
The initial momentum was good for Blackford, who started with a 9-2 run, in which Leggett scored 4 points to lead the Bruins with 23 points. Cherry called a timeout early to remind his team they were playing at home.
“Just stay the course,” he said of his message to his team in those tense opening minutes. “Calm down, you know, we’re good. We’re not up to our standards. Let’s keep working hard and find a way to get back to this.”
Junior Eli Morgan scored two more goals to extend the lead to 13-5, and Leggett’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the midfield line gave the Bruins a 16-8 lead to end the first quarter.
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“He’s a really good player,” Cherry said of Leggett. “There’s no question. He’s a great player, but we turned that around a little bit and I told our guys in the locker room, ‘They’ve got a great player, and we respect that, but we’ve got a great team, let’s go out there and hit him with seven of us.’ I thought we did that tonight.”
After Leggett made another three-pointer, Lapeer’s offense started to get hot in the middle of the second quarter and went on a 10-0 run to tie the score. Senior Devin Craig scored eight points and junior Owen Garber added another goal to keep the Bulldogs in the lead. Lapeer took its first lead two minutes into the first half on a 3-pointer by senior Tyler Cash, earning raucous cheers from its hometown fans. Morgan scored six points in the final minutes and Blackford led 29-26 at halftime.
“I thought it was a really rough start, but once we settled in, we did pretty well,” Cherry said. “I thought we settled down in the second quarter and got into the rhythm of the game, and the message at halftime was, ‘Keep defending, keep rebounding, they’re probably going to come at us, but we’ve got to stay the course.'”
Leggett’s basket to open the third quarter gave the Bruins a five-point lead, but that would be the Bruins’ only third of the third quarter and their last lead of the game.
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Lapeer went on an 8-0 run, including back-to-back jumpers from Luke Jones, to take a three-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Blackford tied the game on a 3-pointer by senior Mason Kitterman, but Lapeer ended the third quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 42-36 lead.
“They have players everywhere,” Leggett said. “They’re a really good team. I mean, I’m sad we lost. I know we gave everything we had, but they’re a good team and we need to keep our heads high.”
The Bulldogs fouled Leggett on a three-point attempt, putting him in danger early in the fourth quarter. He hit all three points and a field goal to bring the Bruins within one point, but Craig, who scored a Bulldogs-high 23 points, hit consecutive three-pointers to extend the lead back to seven points. After Garber’s two-pointer, the Bulldogs’ lead grew to an insurmountable 14 points.
Blackford head coach Aaron Daniels praised Lapeer’s physicality, which the Bruins will have trouble matching.
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“I thought they played really hard,” Daniels said. “They’re a run-based team. If they’re down 20 points, they’re not out, and if they’re up 20 points, they don’t feel like they’re already out. We never feel like they’re out because of the way they play, but you never feel like they’re out the way they play. They just play hard, and when they shoot the ball well, then late in the game, they shoot the ball well.” It’s really hard to shoot the free throw line so well. “
With the win, Lapeer (21-5) punches its ticket to the semistates and is having its best season in Cherry’s fourth year leading the program.
“Happy for our community, happy for our team that we get to play again next weekend, it’s very special,” Cherry said. “Anything can happen at this point, so I don’t know. It’ll be exciting to see who we play and where we play, but we’re going to enjoy this game tonight and we’ll be worried about next week maybe Monday morning.”
This article originally appeared in the Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Lapel rally, beat Blackford to win Class 2A regionals
