If your opponent has only had two players score at halftime, it is a fairly safe bet you are in a good position for a victory.
Not if you are facing Buhler.
JP Lohrentz and Brandon Givens combined to score 43 of Buhler’s 54 points as the Crusaders cruised to a 53-40 victory at Andale on Thursday.
“We’re aggressive. We look to score a lot,” Lohrentz said. “If they’re going to let us, then we’re going to take what they give us.”
Buhler broke away early with a 13-2 run in the first quarter. At halftime, the Crusaders held a comfortable 26-18 lead. Or in a different light, Lohrentz and Givens held a 26-18 lead.
In fact, the pair combined to score the first 33 points of the game for Buhler before free throws from Trevor Torgerson gave the Crusaders a 35-27 advantage. Buhler’s lead swelled to as many as 17 in the fourth quarter.
Lohrentz led all scorers with 29 on 10-of-14 shooting from the field.
“The offense was flowing well,” he said. “We were moving the ball. Different people score every night – tonight it was me.”
Givens added 14 points, of which 11 came in the first quarter.
“I like the start we got off to. We were concerned about getting off to a good start down here and not allowing Andale to have a great start,” said Denny Wahlgren, Buhler head coach. “I thought JP and Brandon Givens both got us off to a great start.”
Buhler also made headway by holding Andale Andrew Bergkamp, a 6-feet-6-inch senior, to 10 points. Bergkamp made all five of his shot attempts from the floor, but he rarely found himself with a clean view of the basket.
“It was a team effort. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it really was a team effort because we had different players that were getting in and were assigned with that role,” Wahlgren said. “He had to work to get his points. A good players is going to get his points, but what you’d like to do is cut down so he doesn’t get as many points.”
Andale made 40 percent of its shots from the floor – too little to hang with the Crusaders, which made 50 percent of their shots.
Buhler improved to 11-2 with the victory, and will host Wichita Collegiate Feb. 3. Andale fell to 12-2 on the season.
Both of Andale’s losses have come at the expense of Buhler. The Crusaders won the season opener 60-56 in overtime over Andale.
In the girls’ game, Andale overcame a slow start to defeat Buhler 52-43.
The Crusader girls came out strong, opening with a 17-10 advantage. Andale rallied in the second quarter to take a one-point lead into the locker rooms, then finished the job in the second half.
The Andale girls improved to 12-2, while Buhler dropped to 6-7.