Spalding humbles Warriors in D2 semis

LINCOLN – Joe Imus says that rather than scout other teams, he’d just as soon work on improving his own Spalding/Spalding Academy Knights.

And right now, things are clicking on all cylinders for Imus’ club, which outraced top-seeded Leyton to the tune of a 68-51 romp in Friday afternoon’s Class D2 boys basketball semifinals inside Lincoln’s Pershing Center.

“We don’t spend a lot of time scouting,” said Imus, whose club advanced to today’s championship game opposite Wynot (24-3), which knocked off Falls City Sacred Heart in the second semifinal contest Friday.

“We focus on us getting better as a team.”

Gary Oltmann’s Warriors won’t argue that point, as Leyton (22-2) lost a one-point lead entering the second period, following a brilliant effort from junior center Brennen Cruise, who scored 16 first-quarter points.

The biggest culprits were numerous run-out layups by Spalding (25-2), and the Knights were catching the Warriors too deep on defense and getting easy layups.

“We had two guys staying up instead of getting back,” Oltmann said, “and they were getting 3-on-1, 4-on-1 breakaways and scoring. We just didn’t do what we needed to do.”

Down 24-21 early in the second period, Spalding ran off nine consecutive points, as the Warriors were rushing shots and paying dearly.

“We knew they liked to gamble on defense,” Imus said of Leyton. “We were able to grab the rebound and get the ball out.”

The beneficiaries of the big run were Mike Glaser, who scored three times. Leyton shot just 1 of 11 from the floor in the second quarter which translated to 36-27 halftime arrears.

“We were right in the game there,” Oltmann said. “Then we tried making up everything up at once instead of chipping away at their lead.”

In addition, Leyton was guilty of not checking the Knights on the offensive boards, which also helped Spalding build its lead in the second half, to as large as 20 points.

Leyton, which plays just six players in its regular rotation, was worn down by a Knights team that went nine deep.

“I can go up to 10 deep, and we knew that Leyton basically six players,” Imus said.

Oltmann’s team was strapped with foul trouble, as four starters had picked up four personals by the start of the fourth period. Dylan Brenner and Cruise eventually fouled on down the stretch.

“When you have most of your starters playing with four fouls, that sort of limits what you can do,” Oltmann said.

M.Glaser led the Knights with 23 points, Kyle Bloom adding 21. Cruise put up 26 to pace all scorers, with Sam Schumacher struggling to score 11.

Assured of playing three games, Oltmann is eager to see which team shows up in today’s 2 p.m. third place game.

“It’s gut-check time,” Oltmann said. “These third-place games come down to who wants it the most. We’ll see how we come out.”

SPALDING/SPALDING ACADEMY (25-2)

MGlaser 7-13 5-7 23, Bloom 8-15 4-8 21, Haschke 4-8 1-2 9, Berger 1-3 3-6 5, Hudson 2-3 0-0 4, Stevens 1-3 0-0 2, JGlaser 1-4 0-0 2, BMcKay 1-1 0-2 2, WePfifer 0-1 0-0 0, Hartley 0-0 0-0 0, WyPfiefer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 13-25 68

LEYTON (22-2)

AWFrerichs 0-1 1-2 1, Melzer 1-5 0-1 2, Schumacher 4-17 1-3 11, Brenner 0-6 4-8 4, Cruise 10-18 3-3 26, KMcKay 2-3 0-0 4, Reimers 0-0 0-0 0, Blanke 0-0 0-0 0, Rushman 1-2 0-0 3, Schuessler 0-0 0-0 0, ACFrerichs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 9-17 51 .

Sp/SpA 21 16 19 12-68

Leyton 22 6 9 14-51

3-point goals – Spalding/SpA 5-10 (MGlaser 4-5, Bloom 1-4, Berger 0-1), Leyton 6-22 (Cruise 3-8, Schumacher 2-8, Rushman 1-1, Melzer 0-2, Brenner 0-2, AWFrerichs 0-1). Rebounds – Spalding/SpA 33 (Bloom 10), Leyton 34 (Cruise 13). Turnovers – Spalding/SpA 21, Leyton 20. Team fouls – Spalding/SpA 18, Leyton 20. Fouled out – Brenner, Cruise.