Top ranked Little River upset in state semifinals

DODGE CITY, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) – Little River head coach Wayne Morrow and assistant coach Roger Trimmell stood outside a quiet Redskin locker room in the United Wireless Arena. They placed the box score and third-placed Class 1A, Division I plaque on white storage containers that were used to hold curtains.

Morrow has served as head coach for 29 seasons. Trimmell directed McPherson College for 27 years. The duo dissected a surprising 75:66 defeat against Olpe in the semi-finals on Friday. The two veterans were unable to resolve the question of Little River’s slow start, which ultimately resulted in a disappointing ending for a very seasoned squad.

“I just don’t think their engines ran the way they normally run,” said Morrow. “And that’s strange for these guys.”

Olpe scored the first six points of the game and was leading 15-3 with 2 minutes and 17 seconds in the first quarter. At this point, LR security guard Graham Stephens had committed two fouls.

“Why the engine wasn’t running all the way, we might have wondered why it’s always like this,” said Morrow. “There are just no excuses and these people won’t make excuses. They just don’t know why it didn’t go a little better out of the gate.

The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City on Friday, March 12, 2021. (Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com)(Everett J. Royer)

“Because that’s the first thing we say almost every time we play,” Get out of the gate for the first four minutes and we’ll give you time out but you have to blow your tails, “he added. Man, they just didn’t move. The legs didn’t move. “

Olpe eventually pushed the lead to 20. Little River reduced the deficit to 65-57 by less than two minutes, but missed a 3-pointer.

“We talked about being the underdog,” said Olpe coach Chris Schmidt. “That the pressure was on her more.”

Olpe, who finished 30 of 48 for 63 percent off the field and pocketed 11 of 16 free throws, completed the win from the foul line. The Eagles were plus-15 on the glass.

“We knew they were being disciplined,” said Senior Jayden Garrison. “We knew they were going to come out and do something, and they did very well. And they shot the ball very effectively and took our press, broke it into pieces and got some simple baskets. “

Two years ago, Morrow retired to run Little River. He has served as head coach at seven schools and won well over 300 games.

Last winter, Little River finished 23-3 and was one of the Forever Four Class 1A teams when the tournament in the semifinals was canceled by the coronavirus. LR and St. John were the consensus top 2 teams in 1A. Garrison was 1A Player of the Year and Morrow was Co-1A Coach of the Year.

The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game in ...The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City on Friday, March 12, 2021. (Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com)(Everett J. Royer)

“We wish we’d started a little different with a straight zone or a straight man-to-man or something and filled it in, but hey, you can’t go back now and do it again,” Morrow said. “So we went through what brought us here for two years and I thought they fought in the second half and tried to come back.”

Garrison and Stephens led LR to an eight-man Division I football crown last fall. This winter, LR returned his entire team, including all five starters, and had been 1st in the classification since the beginning of December.

“Just a lot of questions to live with for a while,” said Morrow. “And hey, it’s a basketball game, but it’ll hurt for a long time.”

Garrison has achieved 2,000 career points. The Redskins went 22-2. Morrow fell short of his very first state title.

“I just wanted to go back to do something I loved to do,” said Morrow. “And it just didn’t work out. I’ve never won any of these things and they’re hard to come by. They are hard to come by. So the people who are getting them, I congratulate them because they are terribly hard to get. “

Schmidt is the experienced football and boys’ basketball coach for the Eagles at his alma mater. In the fall, Olpe won the top national soccer championship title. Olpe (17-3) will face Montezuma-South Gray (24-0) at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Eagles have never won a state boy basketball crown. The lonely final ended in 2002 with a 58-56 defeat against Pittsburg Colgan.

The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game in ...The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City on Friday, March 12, 2021. (Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com)(Everett J. Royer)

“Basically solid, well trained, strong, rebound, offensive rebound,” Morrow said of Olpe. “But we knew all of this. The hard part is saying why we had gas in the second half and they have no gas in the beginning. “

Olpe consistently had wide open layups and sunk midfielders. In modern basketball, teams often avoid the midfielder for layups and 3-pointers. Olpe often practices the middle class game – and wanted LR to look like that.

“We talked defensively about forcing them to take the middle-range shot because they like the outside and obviously get the (inside) shots,” said Schmidt.

In the 15: 3 run, Olpe hit a foul line jumper to open the competition.

“We do a lot of exercises where we hit 15-foot shots,” said Schmidt. “We have a couple of kids, that’s kind of a reach.”

The Eagles made two more jumpers and then shot a shot by Junior Derek Hoelting from a pass by Senior Jordan Barnard. Overall, Barnard shot 10 out of 16 and led Olpe with 24 points.

“They like to be aggressive high up,” said Schmidt. “They send people up and they really catch, but if you get through this trap you will usually be in a 3v2 situation a lot of the time and I thought we did a great job getting the ball in the middle and then beat from block to block, and then finish the kids. “

The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game in ...The Olpe Boys defeated Little River 75-66 in a 1AD1 State basketball semifinal game at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City on Friday, March 12, 2021. (Everett Royer, KSportsImages.com)(Everett J. Royer)

Hoelting included Garrison at the start of the competition and ended with 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Garrison shot 8 out of 23 for 28 points.

“We came out flat, which we can’t in a state tournament,” said Garrison. “And it kind of set us up.”

Olpe led 18-8 after the first quarter, 35-20 at halftime and 52-42 in the fourth quarter.

“You shot the ball better than we saw on tape,” said Morrow. “(Barnard) played an outstanding game.”

The Eagles play in the challenging Lyon County League, which includes Madison and Lebo. The trio all ended with at least 16 wins. Little River plays in the softer Wheat State League but has three big wins against Elyria Christian, who will play for the Class 1A, Division II title against Hannover on Saturday.

“You’re playing in what is probably a bit tougher competition,” said Morrow. “… We just weren’t ready for physicality.”

Little River followed at 61-50 when Stephens came back with four fouls and only a little over four minutes left. He took a foul near midfield at 2:20 with the Redskins on nine. LR never got closer than eight.

Garrison and Stephens then congratulated several Olpe players right outside the locker room. Nearby, Morrow and Trimmell watched the loss quietly.

“The season has been great,” said Garrison. “Children were great. The coaches were great. The community is great. To see the support out there today is great. Just everyone is kind of baffled that we couldn’t win the state championship, but you know, that’s life. It will tear you down. And you will have to build yourself up again. “

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