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Undefeated

No. 1 LaBrae holds off No. 6 SR in battle of DIII powers

Tribune Chronicle / Joe Simon LaBrae’s Tariq Drake (14) celebrates along with the Vikings’ Tyler Stephens (21) and Andrew Hankins following LaBrae’s 55-50 victory over South Range. Both teams entered their final regular-season game 21-0.

LEAVITTSBURG — Two teams came into the final game of the regular season undefeated at 21-0.

Ironically, they were scheduled to play one another. The No. 1-ranked Division III team in the state, LaBrae, against No. 6 South Range at LaBrae High School.

Media from all over was on hand along with a sellout crowd and student sections that were chanting before the game even started.

The stage was set, and the showdown didn’t disappoint.

LaBrae rallied from 10 points down in the second half and surged past South Range in the fourth quarter for a 55-50 victory that gave the Vikings their second undefeated season in the last six years. They also finished No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in school history.

Tribune Chronicle / Joe Simon LaBrae’s Tariq Drake (14) looks to pass while being guarded by the Raiders’ Brandon Youngs (21) and Anthony Ritter (33). The Vikings won, 55-50, to finish the season undefeated. South Range fell to 21-1.

“It’s a nice reward for the regular season,” said LaBrae coach Chad Kiser of finishing 22-0. “It crowns you in the regular season.

“The big one is the state championship, and you can’t win the state championship in one game, but you can lose it in one game. We tell our guys to play every game like it’s the state championship. We wanted to play this game in the same format. It was a must-win.”

The Raiders (21-1) matched LaBrae’s intensity and showed their poise early on, breaking the Vikings’ vaunted full-court press defense and executing their half-court offense to perfection. South Range’s Dan Ritter was a force inside, scoring eight of his 15 points in the first half to help give the Raiders a 25-20 halftime lead.

South Range continued to play well offensively early in the third quarter and went up 32-22, but that’s when the momentum started to change.

“What happened was their pressure hurt us,” said South Range coach John Cullen, whose team committed a season-high 24 turnovers. “I knew it would because that’s how they always finish up games. They’re a very good pressing team.

“When we got set up and got into our stuff, they had a hard time guarding us. The transition from press-breaker into offense wasn’t good enough for us to control the game the whole way.”

LaBrae took its first lead during a 19-8 run to end the third quarter. Sophomore forward Tyler Stephens, who led the Vikings with 16 points, hit a 3-pointer from the corner for a 41-40 edge that ignited the crowd. The Raiders didn’t stay down long as the teams traded leads early in the fourth quarter, but turnovers plagued South Range down the stretch. LaBrae missed some chances to capitalize on Raider miscues in the first half, but the Vikings took advantage in the final two quarters, outscoring South Range, 35-25.

“I think we did wear them down a little bit,” Kiser said. “We just never quit running the floor. We didn’t finish (at the hoop) as well we normally do, and part of that is their defense, but I’m just proud of our guys to stick with it. It was easy when we were down 10 to hang our heads, but we held strong, we picked each other up.”

Stephens seemed to be the one who picked them up offensively. With other players struggling from the field, he routinely scored at big moments, when the game seemed to be slipping away from LaBrae. His final bucket gave the Vikings a 54-50 lead with 33 seconds left, essentially sealing the momentous victory.

“I haven’t played in (an environment) like this before,” Stephens said. “It’s something I hope to play in time and time again. It feels great.”

Both teams enter the postseason as No. 1 seeds, and they wouldn’t play one another unless each advances to the regional final. It’s a matchup Kiser said he would like to see, but for now, he and the Vikings are going to enjoy their perfect season.

“(Finishing undefeated) means a lot to us,” Stephens said. “We never thought something like this would happen to us. It’s hard work in the offseason, it’s hard working during the season, and we just got it done.”

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