Sunday, February 27, 2000
Graves leads Lakota East to 1st tournament victory
Thunderhawks beat La Salle; play Withrow
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
John Graves' play in the open court was the catalyst for a fourth-quarter rally that gave Lakota East a 60-54 victory over LaSalle on Saturday.
It was the first tournament victory for Lakota East (9-12) in the three-year history of the program and came at Lakota West, where the opening-round games of the Oxford Division I sectional are being played.
Graves had 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, helping East overcome a four-point lead LaSalle took by scoring the final seven points of the third quarter.
“John sometimes gets out of control and overhustles on defense,” East coach Dave Davis said. “Tonight, his overhustling helped us.”
Graves came from across the court to make two steals as LaSalle was advancing over midcourt in the fourth quarter. The first came just after he had scored on a fast-break layup and resulted in another fast-break layup that tied the score 46-46. The second came after he had just scored on a conventional three-point play and resulted in his being fouled. He made 1- of-2 free throws, giving Graves a streak of eight straight points and East a 50-48 lead with 5:11 left in the game.
“In the first two quarters, LaSalle had been running the same play over and over again,” Graves said of why he recognized the steal opportunities. “I played off them, and they didn't see me coming. I just snuck up on them.”
“We didn't come to meet a couple of passes,” LaSalle coach Dan Fleming said. “That hurt because they got easy lay ups out of it. Those are critical plays in the fourth quarter, and we can't let that happen.”
East didn't score another field goal in the game but expanded its lead by making 10-of-12 foul shots down the stretch. The final margin of six points matched the largest lead of the game by either team. There were 13 lead changes and eight ties in the game.
“We're in sort of uncharted territory with close games,” Davis said. “We had several this year and had as many where bad things happened as much as good things. Tonight, we did a good job.”
Doug Kruthaupt, LaSalle's leading scorer on the year, had 13 points in the first half, but just four after half when East's E.J. Underwood came off the bench to guard him.
“They keyed on him harder,” Fleming said. “His shoulder is pretty messed up and he was playing through a lot of pain. He played with a lot of guts.”
Steve Graves added 11 points for East, which had balanced scoring. East advances to meet Withrow in the sectional semifinals at 6:30p.m. Friday at Miami's Millett Hall.
“Our record doesn't really show what we are,” John Graves said. “In the GMC, we played every game this year pretty tough.”
LASALLE (54) — Bucheit 3 4 11, Djenge 6 0 12, Carrelli 2 0 4, Hornbach 3 2 8, Kruthaupt 6 3 17, Thinnes 1 0 2. Totals: 21-55 9-15 54.
LAKOTA EAST (60) — Williams 2 1 5, S. Graves 3 5 11, Woods 3 2 8, J. Graves 4 9 17, Day 2 3 7, Underwood 2 4 8, Small 2 0 4. Totals: 18-32 24-36 60. LaSalle 10-19-15-10-54 Lakota East 9-21-10-20-60
3-pointers: LaS 3-21 (Bucheit, Kruthaupt 2), LE 0-4. Records: LaS 10-1, LE 9-12.
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