'Just stay the course.' Lapel survives early Blackford run, punches semistate ticket

LAPEL - Lapel coach Kevin Cherry knew Blackford guard Amarian Leggett would be a big problem when the Bulldogs squared off against the Bruins on Saturday for the Class 2A regional championship. The 6-foot-5 sophomore surpassed 1,000 career points just two weeks ago, and guarding him would be a hefty challenge.

But Cherry also knew that Blackford had weaknesses elsewhere, and the No. 9 Bruins exploited them as they emerged victorious in a 67-55 win.

“We talked about coming to this game that, you know, Leggett may score 30, but our path to success was those other four guys couldn't get going,” Cherry said. “But I thought, really, for the most part, when we went to that two-three zone, which we haven't played a lot of this year, it was a little bit more effective of making (Leggett) be a little bit more of a catch-and-react player versus just being able to get it and get downhill. So, I’m really proud of our guys.”

Early momentum was heavily in Blackford’s favor as they opened the game with a 9-2 run, including four points from Leggett who led the Bruins with 23 points. Cherry called an early timeout to remind his team they were playing at home.

“Just stay the course,” he said of his message to the team during those tense opening minutes. “Just calm down, you know, we're fine. We're not playing to our standard. Let's just keep grinding and find a way to get us back into this.”

Two more goals courtesy of junior Eli Morgan extended the lead to 13-5, and Leggett’s buzzer-beating three-point shot from the midcourt line gave the Bruins a 16-8 lead to conclude the first period.

“He's a really nice player,” Cherry said of Leggett. “No doubt about it. He's a great player, but we turned that on its head a little bit, and I told our guys in locker room, ‘They have a great player and we respect that, but we got a great team, and let's go hit him with all seven of us.’ I thought we did that tonight.”

After another three-point goal from Leggett, Lapel’s offense caught fire in the middle of the second quarter as they went on a 10-0 run to tie the game. Eight points from senior Devin Craig and another bucket from junior Owen Garber kept the Bulldogs in the game. Lapel took their first lead courtesy of a three-point shot from senior Tyler Cash – to the cheers of a raucous hometown crowd – with two minutes in the half.  Morgan added six points in the closing minutes to give Blackford a 29-26 lead at halftime.

“I thought it was a really rough start, but once we got settled in, we did a nice job,” Cherry said. “I thought we settled in that second quarter and kind of got into the flow of the game and the message at halftime was, ‘Keep defending, keep rebounding, and they're probably going to make a run at us, but we just got to stay the course.’”

Leggett’s field goal to open the third quarter gave the Bruins a five-point lead, but that swish would be one of just three for the Bruins in the third quarter – and would also be their last lead of the game.

Lapel stormed to an 8-0 run, including back-to-back jumpers from Luke Jones to take a three-point lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Blackford was able to tie courtesy of a 3-point swish from senior Mason Kitterman, but Lapel concluded the third quarter with a 6-0 run to lead 42-36.

“They got players everywhere,” Leggett said. “And they're a very good team.  I mean, I'm sad we lost. I know we gave it everything we’ve got, but they're a good team, and we need to hold our heads high.”

The Bulldogs fouled Leggett on a 3-point attempt, putting him on the line to open the fourth quarter. He made all three and added a bucket to pull the Bruins to within a point, but Craig, who led the Bulldogs in scoring with 23 points, swished back-to-back 3s to re-extend the lead to seven points. The Bulldogs’ lead ballooned to an insurmountable 14 points after a two from Garber.

Blackford coach Aaron Daniels praised Lapel’s physicality, which was hard for the Bruins to match.

“I think they played extremely hard,” Daniels said. “They’re a game-of-runs team. If they're down 20, they're not out of it, and if they're up 20, it doesn't feel like they're they have it in the bag. We never felt like we were out of the game because of the way they play, but you never feel like they're out of the game with the way they play. They just play so hard, and when they shoot it as well as they do, then in the late games, they shoot the free throw so well. It's really hard to get back into it.”

With the victory, Lapel (21-5) punches their ticket to the semistate in what has been Cherry’s best season in his fourth year leading the program.

“Just happy for our community, happy for our team, and we get to play again next weekend, which is pretty special,” Cherry said. “Anything can happen at this point, so I don't know. It'll be nice to see who we play, where we play, but we're going to enjoy this one tonight, and we'll worry about next week probably Monday morning.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Lapel rallies, defeats Blackford for Class 2A regional