ROCHESTER – Faribault Bethlehem Academy didn’t have any surprises for LeRoy-Ostrander in their Section 1A championship boys’ basketball game at the Mayo Civic Center Arena Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, March 16, 2002

ROCHESTER – Faribault Bethlehem Academy didn’t have any surprises for LeRoy-Ostrander in their Section 1A championship boys’ basketball game at the Mayo Civic Center Arena Saturday afternoon. Instead, they had an Angell.

B.A. junior swingman Adam Angell made his first 10 shots – including five consecutive three-pointers – as the third-seeded Cardinals out of the West Sub-Section scorched the nets and the L-O Cardinals, 55-26, to advance to the Class A State Tournament.

"I think we were a little bit nervous, and then we got into a panic when Angell starting making those threes," said L-O coach Russ Foster. "We kind of lost sight of what it was we were trying to do, and that’s where our inexperience caught up to us."

Angell, a 6-2 forward, scored 14 of his team’s 16 first-quarter points, making four straight treys to take the ball out of LeRoy-Ostrander’s court before the game got underway. The L-O Cardinals countered with their best offense – Chad Orum.

Orum, a 6-5 junior center, scored all 19 of LeRoy-Ostrander’s points in the first half. He was 6-7 from the field in the second quarter alone, helping L-O stay in the game when Faribault B.A. appeared set to fly away. Orum scored six straight to cut B.A.’s lead to 10 with 42 seconds remaining, but the other Cardinals had every answer.

LeRoy-Ostrander trailed by 11 after the first quarter, 16-5, and by 12 at the half. Or so they thought. Orum’s three-pointer from the left wing was overruled at halftime and changed to a two-pointer after deliberation during the halftime break.

Even still, that one point might not have mattered.

Angell was 4-4 in the second quarter with two threes, and Alex Zweber’s first three-pointer of the game got Faribault a 32-19 lead with time winding down in the half.

"That kid was unconscious," L-O guard Jacob Rowe said. Rowe, who scored 20 points in the Cardinals’ West Sub-Section championship win over Spring Grove, was held scoreless in the Section 1A finals match by Faribault B.A.

"I couldn’t step up and hit some shots," Rowe said. "Nobody shot well today."

Except for Angell, who finished with a game-high 27 points. He missed his last two three-point attempts of the third quarter to finish the game 10-12 from the field and 7-9 from beyond the three-point arc.

"They did exactly what we worked on, that down-screen to Angell and he flares up to the top of the key," Foster said. "I thought we had it figured out, but we never did defend it right until the last five minutes of the game."

After losing a point to start the third quarter, LeRoy-Ostrander knew they had lost when Angell knocked down another three to start the scoring. L-O finished 0-8 from the floor in the third, scoring no points to assure Faribault B.A.’s spot at state.

"We’re disappointed that we lost, but happy that we made it this far," L-O junior Dustin Thorson said. "Nobody expected us to make it here."

LeRoy-Ostrander’s visit to the Section finals was the first in school history in boys’ basketball. And nevermind that the Cardinals’ entire roster of 13 players does not contain any seniors. L-O’s starting five is made entirely of juniors.

"We have high expectations for next year," Thorson said. "It’ll be hard not to with everybody coming back."

L-O might have to go back to the practice floor to figure out what went wrong. Trailing by 16 after Angell’s trey to start the second half, LeRoy-Ostrander shot 3-22 from the floor and few of them were quality looks at the basket. Faribault B.A.’s switch to an aggressive 2-3 zone forced the Cardinals to go to the air-attack, which failed for the first time in four postseason games.

"It was a heck of a season, nobody expected us to get this far," Orum said.

Orum was allowed only two shot attempts in the second half, securing Faribault’s third trip to the Class A tournament. Aside from Orum’s 20 points, only two others scored for L-O. Dustin Thorson knocked down a pair of 16-foot jumpers, and Andrew Knight cashed in on his only attempt from close range.

"When we fell behind, if you got an open look shoot the ball," Thorson said. "We couldn’t make a shot and they couldn’t miss."

B.A. was better than 50 percent (21-40) from the field, while L-O was much lower at 11-39 overall. The LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals were 2-15 from three-point land, while B.A. finished 10-14 behind Angell’s seven treys.

The Faribault B.A. Cardinals (18-10) will play the Section 4A champion in the first round of the state tournament Tuesday at Farmington High School. LeRoy-Ostrander, despite still having next season to look forward to, finished the year 16-10 overall.

"They’re a great basketball team," Coach Foster said. "They put it to us.

"Hopefully we can come back here next year. I’m proud of my kids, they have a lot to be proud of."

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at sports@austindailyherald.com.

Boxscore:

LEROY-OSTRANDER (26)-Brett Mensink 0, Shane Bunne 0, Nate Miller 0, Ben Adams 0, Jacob Rowe 0, Cody Eastvold 0, Tom Reburn 0, Dustin Thorson 4, Chris Newton 0, Kirk Olson 0, Chad Orum 20, Andrew Knight 2, Kellen Bucknell 0.

BETHLEHEM ACADEMY (55)-Nick Navarro 5, Matt Knutson 0, Mike Ogle 4, Tim Skluzacek 0, Justin DeGrood 0, Brett Boelter 3, Adam Angell 27, Alex Zweber 8, Dan Zweber 0, Pat Burkhartzmeyer 2, Ryan McNelis 0, Dan Poquette 6.

L-O 5 19 0 7 – 26

B.A. 16 16 14 9 – 55

Three-pointers-L-O 2 (Orum 2); BA 10 (Angell 7, A.Zweber 2, Boelter). Free-throws-L-O 0-2; BA 3-4.