(The Legends proudly point to where they're heading back to)
When Lancaster adopted a new nickname for its school, it sorted through several options, before ultimately settling on 'Legends'. When the team took the court for warm-ups in the Class AA quarterfinal against Kenmore West, they were all wearing shirts that said "We Are Legendary", apparel that the large home crowd was predominately decked out in as well. The word legendary means 'remarkable enough to be famous; very well known'. After punching its ticket for a return trip to Buff State and making head coach John Otto's group the first core of players in recent memory to accomplish back-to-back trips to the sectional semifinals, this version of Lancaster is remarkable and after they play in front of 2,000 fans under the big lights on Tuesday, they will also be very well known.
Alex Konst delivered an epic playoff performance, scoring a game-high 31 points to lead Lancaster to a 64-54 win over Kenmore West in the Section VI Class AA quarterfinals. The win sends the Legends back to Buff State to face top seeded Niagara Falls on Tuesday night at 5:15 pm.
Lancaster got off to a good start and had its home crowd going early, taking a 13-8 lead after the opening quarter as Sean Gill splashed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left for the five-point lead. Kenmore West got a big boost in the second quarter from senior Aaron Tucker and were quickly back even with the Legends. Tucker scored 10 of his first half points in the second frame, drilling a pair of 3-pointers and scoring twice in the paint, as the 6-5 inside/outside threat seemed to be having his way and giving Lancaster significant trouble. Konst sunk a pair of free throws for Lancaster with three seconds left in the half, to get his team within two at the break, 26-24.
The Legends returned to the court for the last 16 minutes having made some adjustments, and wisely focusing on ways to limit Tucker.
"In the second half, we played with a little more smarts," said Otto. "We tried to mix it up a little in the third quarter and that helped us out a lot - we had to do something to try to shut number one down (Tucker)."
Using a combination of defenses, Lancaster shut Tucker out in the second half and quickly began to take control of the game. It began with an 8-3 spurt to start the second half on a pair of scores from Konst and a free throw & '3' from Joe Powers, giving Lancaster the lead back, 32-29. But there was a second run coming - the one that would turn the game upside down and ultimately propel the Legends to victory. Alex Damiani scored to kick off a 15-2 run for Lancaster that included another trey from Powers, and back-to-back 'And 1' conversions for Konst - who also scored in the final seconds of the third to push his team's advantage to 49-35.
The Blue Devils made a push to start the final frame, scoring the first seven points on a 3-pointer from Tyler Aquilina (team-high 22 points) and four points from Terrell Ford. But just as Kenmore West had made it a seven-point game, 49-42, the player of the game came up huge. Coming out of a timeout, Konst let a '3' fly from the wing and it was cash. The long range bomb restored a double figure lead and sparked another 9-2 run to put the game away.
"I wanted it real bad, I wanted to get our team back to Buff State," Konst said. "That was our goal from the beginning and I knew we could do it."
"Alex stepped up big for us," said Otto. "He had a humongous three when things started to go awry for us, right when we needed it."
The game could best be described as a battle. Both teams played very physical and neither squad was lacking for energy throughout. It was exactly the type of game I was expecting when I selected it out of the 32 available options last night.
"We grind out just about every game, so we're kind of used to that," Otto said. "Their coach complimented our team on the physicality we played with."
While Konst stole the show and likely had one of the brightest nights of his three-year varsity career, the win was a total team effort. Lancaster played like a senior laden squad that didn't want its season to end. Players like Dan Speyer and Sean Gill turned in gritty all around performances, diving for loose balls, crashing the boards, and getting after it defensively.
"The core of this team is the guys that were putting in the off-season work," said Otto. "Our motto has been preparing for the next step...the next step isn't getting to Buff State - it's winning at Buff State, so that's our plan."
Point Totals
Lancaster: Alex Konst 31, Alex Damiani 13, Joe Powers 7, Vito Fulciniti 6, Sean Gill 3, Dan Speyer 2, Noah Speyer 2
Kenmore West: Tyler Aquilina 22, Aaron Tucker 14, Terrell Ford 4, Tal James 4, LaPlante 2, Jay Taylor 1
-centercourt
Is Alex Konst any relation to the Konst twins from Will East back in the day? Them boys could shoot!
Posted by: AkronPark | Monday, February 22, 2016 at 01:10 AM