Prep roundup: LHS Warriors now 17-1

BAYARD — Maybe it’s just for some late-season amusement, but these recent early-game struggles have Leyton High School boys basketball coach Gary Oltmann a tad concerned.

“We had 17 points in the first quarter, which is a good deal for us,” Oltmann said of his team’s 57-34 win Tuesday at Bayard.. “But we didn’t play well defensively early.”

Leyton (17-1) trailed 19-17 after a quarter, then turned up the heat the rest of the way, outscoring the Tigers to the tune of 40-15 the rest of the way.

Brennen Cruise paced LHS with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Sam Schumacher put up 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists, and Dylan Brenner added 11 points and three assists. Chris Melzer just missed twin digits with nine points.

Leyton now has just one more regular season game on the slate, that being the Feb. 15 against Garden County.

“It’s a long break for us,’ Oltmann said. “I don’t care for it, but it’s just the way the schedule shook down.”

Leyton 57, Bayard 34

Leyton 17 17 12 11—57

Bayard 19 4 5 6—34

Leyton (17-1): Cruise 16, Schumacher 14, Brenner 11, Melzer 9, McKay 4, Schuessler 2, AWFrerichs 1

Elsewhere …

Leyton’s girls dropepd a 32-19 decision at Bayard. … Rachael Ernest scored four points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Warriors. … Creek Valley’s boys and girls both lost on the road at Perkins County. The Storm boys (5-12) led 17-14 after a period, but then fell apart and was outscored 46-8 the rest of the way in a 60-25 drubbing. … “We lost our composure in the second half, and things broke down,” Creek coach Roger Behrends said. … Sam Behrends led Creek with 12 points. …. Creek’s girls also lost, 58-42. Jerry Straber had 11 points for the Lady Storm, Shania Brown and Jill Behrends both adding eight points for CV. ...