Olathe — What started as a matchup of two of the best boys basketball players in the Sunflower League became a thrilling showdown between Free State High and Olathe South.
Sure, FSHS junior center Keith Wooden and OSHS junior guard Ryan Rundberg lived up to their billing, scoring team highs of 18 and 21 points respectively. But in the end the former's Firebirds came up short against the latter's Falcons, as O-South prevailed, 55-54 in overtime Tuesday night at the Olathe South gym.
"Rundberg's phenomenal, jiminy Christmas. He's just a heck of a good player," FSHS coach Jack Schreiner said. "He may be the best player in the league. I'm not afraid to make that statement. He's got some skills."
Rundberg, the reigning Sunflower League sophomore of the year, scored seven of Olathe South's final nine points, including four of the team's six points in overtime.
As far as the Falcons are concerned, though, there's no "I" in Rundberg.
"I don't think Ryan worries about what his status is in the league. I know I sure don't," OSHS coach John McFall said. "That's another thing that's exciting about that bunch of kids (the Falcons) they're all about the team. We've got seniors that sat out the entire second quarter and came back and did a nice job for us. It's not about 'me.'
"They're great kids and I'd say that win or lose."
Olathe South (6-1 overall, 3-0 league) nearly did lose.
After seeing the Falcons force overtime with two free throws from who else? Rundberg, Free State (2-5, 0-3) took a 52-51 lead on a three-point play by junior point guard Neil Dougherty with 1:23 remaining in the extra period.
Rundberg responded with a layin and O-South pushed its lead to 55-52 on two free throws by sophomore forward Nick Holmes with :24.2 showing. Dougherty and junior forward Cole Douglas both missed three-pointers in the closing seconds, and sophomore forward Bijai Jones scored on a follow at the buzzer.
Jones, who scored eight points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting, received more than a little contact, prompting Schreiner's frantic pleas for a foul, which fell on deaf ears.
"There was no question. I'll just flat out say it because I can't get fined," Schreiner said. "There was no question that's a foul. Coach McFall told me the exact same thing. It was a no-brainer. Officials just won't make that call at the end of the game and I don't understand why.
"But that's not why we won or lost."
Truth be told, the Firebirds probably lost at both the free-throw line and from three-point range, where Olathe South outscored Free State by a combined score of 31-16.
The Firebirds were 7-of-14 from the charity stripe, compared to the Falcons' 13-of-17 shooting, and Free State was 3-of-11 on threes compared to O-South's sizzling 6-of-11 shooting.
Coming into the game, the Firebirds had hit just two of their last 28 three-point attempts.
"Gosh, I thought about four of them were going down," Dougherty said of going 2-of-9 on three-pointers. "It was just all of them were long, but they'll go in."
Free State came out on fire, connecting on five of their first six shots. FSHS shot 70 percent in the first quarter (7 of 10) while building an 18-9 edge, and finished the first half shooting 63.2 percent (12 of 19).
"We knocked some shots down early which really helped us but we missed some shots late," Schreiner said. "We'll just continue to get better. The wonderful thing about the state of Kansas is it doesn't really matter until you get to the end.
"We're going to keep working, we're going to keep our heads up and good things are going to happen for us."
Free State plays host to Olathe East at 7 p.m. on Friday.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.