Langford Area rode some hot three-point shooting to pick up two wins in the past week.
The Lions hit 11 treys on the way to a 67-59 victory over cross-county rival Britton-Hecla last week Tuesday and then sunk 10 from downtown in a 61-49 comeback win over North Central on Saturday. In between Coach Brian Schuring’s crew, now 39, rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit but fell to Leola-Frederick 56-48 on Friday.
This week LA play a doubleheader with the girls squad at Northwestern on Friday and hosts Groton Area on Tuesday.
Langford Area 67 Britton-Hecla 59
Langford Area used some efficient outside sniping to defeat Britton-Hecla in the annual cross-county rivalry game.
The Lions connected on 11 shots from downtown – five from Jackson Bahr, and three each from Kassen Keough and reserve Rennan Bruns. The Braves actually hit two more field goals than LA, but managed just five treys. B-H also struggled at the free throw line, netting just 9-23 compared to LA’s 14-26.
“We were the beneficiary of a very good shooting night against Britton-Hecla, especially from three-point land,” said Schuring. “We have some really good shooters on our team, and we were able to shoot in rhythm and really didn’t force many shots. The boys played hard for 32 minutes, and we needed to against a scrappy Britton-Hecla team. The atmosphere in this game was awesome and fun to be a part of.”
The Lions shot a respectable 21-48 for 44 percent from the field, but they were 11-26 for an excellent 42 percent from beyond the arc.
“Hats off to Langford Area, as they made shots,” said B-H boss Troy Knecht. “That barrage of 11 three-pointers was unexpected. We didn’t weather the storm very well in those middle quarters and ultimately we dug too big of a hole to get out of. The kids battled back in the fourth but we waited too long to start attacking the basket.”
The Braves started fast. Landon Carlson and Will Schuller both connected from outside the arc and Gage Storley hit a pair of driving layups to spark a 12-0 run that gave B-H a 12-3 lead with 3:27 left in the opening period.
But the Lions then found their roar, scoring 15 straight in a four and a half minute stretch. Kassen Keough hit a pair of treys and converted a fastbreak to lead LA to an 1812 lead just a minute into the second period. Ty Fagerland countered with a fielder off a Schuller assist and Storley hit a pair of free tosses to cut the margin to 18-16, but that was as close as the Braves would get the rest of the contest.
Bruns and Bahr both hit a pair of three-pointers to key a 17-8 run that gave the Lions a 35-24 lead at intermission. It was more of the same in the third period. Bahr, who led the Lions with 23 points, was on fire from outside with two more long-range jumpers that sparked a 16-5 run and a 51-29 lead with 3:35 left in the third stanza.
But just when most fans were likely counting out the Braves, Knecht’s crew made things a bit interesting. Four players had two points each to cut the margin to 51-37 after three quarters.
After LA went back up by 18, Daniel Person came off the bench to score five straight off a follow shot, steal, and free toss. Carlson added a trey to make it 60-48 with 2:54 to play. The Braves were able to cut the lead to eight in the late going but couldn’t quite climb out of its 22-point hole.
Bahr led a balanced Lions’ attack with his 23 points, Kassen Keough added 15 and 10 boards, Jesse Keough 12 points,13 rebounds, and 13 assists, and Bruns 10 counters. Carlson paced Britton-Hecla with 11 points.
BRITTON-HECLA: Gage Storley 2 2-3 6, Landon Carlson 4 0-0 11, BoDell Davidson 4 1-7 9, William Schuller 4 00 9, Ashton Mills 2 0-0 4, Ty Fagerland 3 0-0 6, Luke Storley 1 1-2 3, Dawson Treeby 1 2-2 4, Daniel Person 2 3-9 7. Totals 23 9-23 59.
LANGFORD AREA: Jackson Bahr 7 4-5 23, Jesse Keough 3 6-10 12, Kassen Keough 5 2-3 15, Rennan Bruns 3 1-2 10, Keegan Schock 2 0-1 4, Carter Block 1 0-0 2, Kalen Godel 0 1-5 1. Totals 21 14-26 67.
B-H (1-8) 12 24 37 59 LA (2-8) 11 35 51 67 3-point goals - Carlson 3, Schuller; Bahr 5, K. Keough 3, Bruns 3. Fouled out - Davidson, Fagerland; Schock, Block. Total fouls – BH 21, LA 20.
Langford Area 61 North Central 49
Langford Area used a fourth quarter explosion to roar past North Central.
Schuring’s club nearly equaled its score for the first three periods in the fourth quarter alone, pumping in 29 points and erasing a 35-32 deficit after three quarters. The Lions hit 10 three-pointers in the contest.
“We struggled early in this game. Shots were not falling,” said Schuring. “However, only being down 10 points, and North Central shot really well the first half, we felt that we could battle back and pull this one out. The boys played hard on both ends again and we caught fire from threepoint land. This combination gave us plenty of momentum to come back and get the W!”
Jackson Bahr hit five treys and led the Lions with 20 points. Kassen Keough added 14 counters.
LANGFORDAREA: Jackson Bahr 6 3-4 20, Jesse Keough 5 6-7 16, Kassen Keough 5 2-2 14, Rennan Bruns 3 0-0 9, Keegan Schock 1 0-2 2, Kalen Godel 0 0-3 0. Totals 20 11-18 61.
NORTHCENTRAL: ColeBukaske 4 1-3 9, Dawson Walz 3 1-2 7, Raynor Spraque 1 0-0 3, Spencer Buechler 4 12 9, Bastian Delalande 6 6-7 19, Cole Beitelspacher 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 11-16 49.
LA (3-9) 7 17 32 61 NC (1-9) 13 27 35 49 3-point goals - Bahr 5, Bruns 3, K. Keough 2; Sprague, Delalande. Fouled out – LA, Carter Block. Total fouls – LA17; NC 21.
Leola-Frederick 56 Langford Area 48 Langford Area outscored Leola-Frederick 19-7 in the third period to cut a 19-point deficit to seven but could not come all the way back.
“We battled a very good, athletic team in Leola-Frederick,” Schuring noted, but dug ourselves a hole being down 19 points at halftime. However, we worked hard on both ends of the court and when shots start to fall it can make things interesting. So proud of the boys and their grit and how hard they play.”
Kassen Keough had a trio of treys and led the Lions with 15 points, Jackson Bahr added 14 counters and Jesse Keough 10.
LEOLA-FREDERICK: Brayden Sumption 3 2-4 9, Noah Kippley 3 6-8 13, Samuel Vetter 2 3-4 7, Hans Lapka 2 3-4 7, Connor Spitzer 1 2-4 4, Stephen Achen 2 0-0 4, Winston Clark 3 0-0 7, Milo Sumption 1 1-1 3, Ethan Petrich 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 17-25 56.
LANGFORDAREA : Jackson Bahr 5 2-4 14, Jesse Keough 4 1-1 10, Kassen Keough 6 0-0 15, Rennan Bruns 1 0-2 3, Carter Block 1 0-0 2, Kalen Godel 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 3-7 48.
L-F (7-4) 19 35 42 56 LA (2-9) 11 16 35 48 3-point goals - Sumption, Kippley, Clark; K. Keough 3, Bahr 2, J. Keough, Bruns. Fouled out – Block. Total fouls – LF 12, LA 21.
Langford Area’s Jackson Bahr put up a shot over Britton-Hecla’s BoDell Davidson in the Lions 67-59 win last week Tuesday. Bahr hit five three-pointers in the win and also canned five treys in the Lions victory over North Central this week.
