[heading]Bruins deliver win on coach’s birthday; top Lee’s Summit [/heading] Coming off a close eight point victory over Lee’s Summit North on Monday, the RBHS boys basketball team stepped onto the court once again for the Culvers Classic Tournament for the semi-finals yesterday, Jan. 22. Although their competitors, Lee’s Summit Tigers are roughly only two miles away from LSN, this was a whole new ball game.

It started with a tie at the end of the first quarter at 19 points apiece. The game progressed and the Bruins grew a slight lead on their opponents by the end of the half, leading 33-29 at the break. The game was tight till the end of the third as well, only one basket keeping the Bruins in the lead at 50-48, but at the end of the fourth, they sprung themselves over the hurdle with a resounding score of 66-57.
Sophomore forward Carson England said although their competition was fierce, they were able to stick to it until the end and bring home the victory.
“I think the most important part [of the game] was how we closed out,” England said. “We were able to take care of the ball when they applied pressure and we knocked down our free throws.”
One of the most frustrating things for England during the game were a few “defensive mishaps” that happened throughout the game that kept the score so close up to the end.
“We would just let them drive to the middle of the lane and kick out for three’s,” England said, “and we just cannot allow them to do that.”
Although these mishaps would happen, both England and senior center Arris Pardalos thought the game went well overall and they played to win.
“We played really well as a team tonight. We rebounded the ball pretty well tonight as well, it was just a well rounded game for us,” Pardalos said. “It was coach Scanlon’s birthday today, so we wanted to give him a victory. If we won, we knew we would go to the championship game as well, and that’s what we wanted.”
Though the game went well, England said he realizes the competition for Friday night’s game will be tough and the team will need improvements if they want the victory against their competitors Lee’s Summit West.
“We can improve in every area, but I think rebounding is a key area. We talk about it every day how everybody needs to crash the board,” England said. “I think we obviously hurt now that Travon [Tumey] is gone because he was the guy who would always guard the opposing teams best player but now we have to have guys step up and help get rebounds as well, since he was one of our best rebounders. So far though, I think we have done a really good job of that.”
Though improvements must be made through their practice tomorrow, according to England, Pardalos said the team is able to deal with this and go into the championship game as strong opponents.
“Even though we lost a lot of strong players, like Travon, I think this is one of the best basketball seasons RBHS has had for a while,” Pardalos said. “There are still some things we need to work on like our defense since we sort of have to deal with these players not on the team, such as rebounding and a strong defense, I think we’re going to be ready.”
With the championship on the line, Pardalos and England agree that the team will do all they can in their 32 minutes of playing time to come away with yet another championship title.
“I’m excited about going to the championship. This is back to back tournaments that we are in the championship and I just can’t wait,” Pardalos said. “I’m ready for the challenge and so is this team.”
By Justin Sutherland
The Bruins (13-2) will take on Lee’s Summit West on Friday in Kansas City for the Championship Game. LSW advanced to the championship game following a win against No. 1 Hickman (15-1).