Olpe and Madison will face off for a trip to the state tournament Saturday evening after sub-state semifinal wins Friday night in Madison.
Olpe never trailed en route to a 54-26 victory over Burlingame in the night’s first contest.
The Eagles would use a quick 5-0 run in the first to build their lead and would extend it to as many as 14 taking a 28-14 lead into the half. In the third quarter, Olpe stretched the lead to 16 and held Burlingame to just two points in the fourth to clinch the win.
The Eagles were led by junior Damon Redekker with 19 points. Fellow junior Derek Hoelting added 11 points.
Head Coach Chris Schmidt says he liked the intensity he saw out of his team.
Burlingame was led in scoring by junior Trever Quaney with 11 points.
In the night’s second semifinal, Madison would weather a late surge by the Lebo Wolves to pick up a 44-41 victory.
Madison managed to come out on top of a back-and-forth first quarter with a 13-9 lead before shutting the wolves out in the second taking a 22-9 lead into the locker room. Lebo would continue to trail through the third quarter before catching fire in the fourth.
Despite outscoring the Bulldogs 24-12 and coming within one point of overtaking the lead two late free throws and a last-second turnover would see Madison advance to the sub-state championship game.
Madison was led in scoring by senior Kelton Buettner with 14 points.
Head Coach Brett Dannels says this may be his team’s biggest win thus far.
Lebo had two players end the night in double figures. Senior Devan McEwen ended the night with 11 points and sophomore Landon Grimmett ended the night with 10.
Sub-state championship games will take place Saturday with the Olpe Lady Eagles facing the Burlingame Lady Bearcats in the girl’s championship at 2 pm. The boy’s championship game is set to begin at 5 pm.
