By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Bishop LeBlond boys basketball team used scoring runs in the first and third quarters to separate themselves from Mid-Buchanan, eventually pulling out a 54-36 win on Tuesday night at Grace Gymnasium.
The Eagles (8-4) ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 11-6 and eventually led 24-11 with 2:26 left in the second.
Mid-Buchanan answered back with a 7-0 run of their own to make it a 24-18 ball game at halftime.
"I was pretty fired up with the kids at halftime," LeBlond coach Mitch Girres said. "I was not real happy with the way we finished the first half. We kind of got after them in the locker room a little bit. Anytime you play Mid-Buch, no lead is safe, because they're so aggressive and so good defensively and turn you over."
LeBlond played well coming out of the locker room, scoring 17 third quarter points and ending the third on an 8-0 run to lead 41-25 entering the fourth.
Mid-Buchanan fought to the end, but the Eagles maintained a comfortable lead through the final eight minutes.
Sophomore Chris Miljavic led LeBlond with a game-high 16 points on four made three-pointers.
"I think we did good," Miljavic said. "It all starts with teammates finding open guys."
Senior Jake Korell scored 14 points, while senior Landon Gardner followed with 11. Senior Joe Clark led Mid-Buchanan with 14 points. Fellow senior Jackson Wahlgren scored eight for the Dragons.
In the end, it was a nice bounce back for LeBlond after finishing a disappointing fourth in their home LeBlond tournament last week.
Plus, LeBlond got some payback after Mid-Buchanan beat the Eagles 48-43 in the Mound City Invitational championship back on December 3.
"The kids really battled and played really hard," Girres said. "We struggled in the last two games of our (LeBlond) tournament and we had a quick turnaround. It was nice to put one in the win column."
The LeBlond boys are in action Thursday at Chillicothe. Mid-Buchanan is at West Platte Friday.
LeBlond girls get off to fast start, stay unbeaten after routing Dragons
The Bishop LeBlond girls (11-0) had little trouble with Mid-Buchanan Tuesday, getting off to a 20-1 start and rolling to a 60-38 win. Senior Tatum Studer scored 17 points, while fellow senior Shae Lewis had 16.
Studer sunk four three-pointers in the win. Senior Mallie Lieffring led Mid-Buchanan (5-8) with 10 points.
The LeBlond girls are home to Chillicothe Friday. Mid-Buchanan is at West Platte on Friday.
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