Lee's Summit North Broncos Finish Third in State Championship Play
by Courtney Lewis
March 14, 2011
photo by Rhonda Upman
Bronco Head Coach Mike Hilbert holds the third place trophy with the Bronco players and fans sitting behind him.
The Broncos of Lee’s Summit North end with the best season in North’s history, with a 3rd place victory in the Class 5 basketball championship.
The Broncos end the year with a record of 22-7.
On the road to the championship, the Broncos went to state after beating the Liberty Blue Jays in quarterfinal play 52-41. North went on to play McCluer North Stars of St. Louis on Friday March 11 in the Mizzou Arena for the semi-finals.
David Kravish started the game off with a short jumper, as the Broncos were first on the scoreboard. The game continued with the Broncos ending the first quarter 17-11. In the second quarter Kravish got an explosive dunk that made the score 21-17. Later in the quarter PJ Lewis hit a deep three, giving Lee’s Summit North a seven point lead. The Broncos ended the half 33-26. It was a fast paced third quarter with the Broncos up 42-37. BJ Young of the McCluer Stars turned it up, making 19 of their 25 points in the fourth quarter. The Broncos had a turnover with 5.5 seconds left which ended the game 62-59 McCluer.
On Saturday, March 12, at 11:30 the Broncos played the Rock Bride Bruins for the consolation game. PJ Lewis opened up the game with two 3-pointers while the Bruins matched, leaving the first quarter tied 12-12. Lewis scored another two 3-pointers in the second quarter helping the team but Rock Bridge ended up taking the lead 29-27. Lewis started the third quarter by making both of his free throws that tied the game.
“My teammates gave me the ball in good spots on the floor so it made it easy for me to score, and after the tough loss on Friday I just wanted to come out strong. I wanted to do everything I could to help my team win because it was the last game we (seniors) would ever play as Broncos,” Lewis said.
The Bruins then stalled the game for almost two minutes straight. Tory Miller broke the tie game with a hammered dunk. Matthew Kelly of Rock Bridge then made a layup at the buzzer to end the quarter 41-36 Bruins favor. As the fourth quarter was very close having crucial moments, Anthony Eller made key free throws and layups to help the team advance.
“I knew it was going to be our last game and we could not go out on a bad note. I wanted to win so badly for all our seniors and Coach Harrison. We were not going to lose,” Eller said.
With 28.5 seconds left the Bruins tried passing the ball in before Lewis swiftly stole the ball and made the quick layup to end the game 55-43. The 2010-2011 Lee’s Summit North Broncos, made school history by going to state and placing 3rd.
“I feel like all our hard work paid off from over the years. It is an accomplished feeling, even though it was third. We were one of only two teams in the state that ended our season with a win,” Eller said.
The Lee's Summit Tribune would like to thank Courtney Lewis, LSN sophomore and member of the Northern Exposure newspaper staff and Rhonda Upman, member of LSN booster club
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