LAPEL — Lapel High School boys basketball players turned in enough solid individual performances Friday to rout Speedway 78-55 on senior night, which was also the team’s regular season home finale.
Senior Jon Ross Richardson and sophomore Luke Richardson earned double-doubles to lead four Bulldogs in double-digit scoring.
Lapel (14-8) also honored their senior winter sports athletes, cheerleaders, and band members prior to the game, including basketball players Jon Ross Richardson, Will Jones and Andrew Hunt. Speedway fell to 4-14 with its fourth-straight loss.
But the team’s performance left something to be desired, coaching staff said, as they are hoping for a more consistent overall effort with the postseason looming.
Lapel led at halftime by a 27-17 score, but did so despite shooting just nine of 26 from the field, missing multiple shots in close.
Lapel coach Jimmie Howell said he was frustrated with the early performance against a shorthanded Sparkplugs team.
“It was very lackluster,” Howell said of the first half. “They were playing without a couple starters and their best player was out half the game with foul trouble. We didn’t get out on the 3s like we wanted to. We still gave up seven 3s. And how many easy shots did we miss? We missed five or six in the first few minutes.”
Howell, who was as animated on the sideline as he has been all season, said the team is running out time to show improvement.
“We’ve got to play better than that,” he said. “Maybe I’m looking for more than what we’re capable of. I don’t think I am, but we’re not close to where I think we can get.”
Two players who shined in the first half were Luke Richardson, who scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half, and junior Preston Scott, who finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds, supplied energy that was lacking early in the contest.
“(Preston) played better tonight,” Howell said. “For the most part, we got it (inside). We didn’t always get it in there at the right time, but my plus is that we played from the inside out. And we’ve got the people who can do that. We got a lot of post touches, which we try to get every game.”
The senior Richardson took over in the second half, and the team heated up as a unit. Lapel made 17 of 22 shots, and Jon Ross Richardson scored 13 of his game-high 21 after the break. Scott scored eight, and junior Josiah Hudson added nine of his 10 points in the second half as the Bulldogs scored 55 following intermission.
But it is the other side of the ball Howell said concerns him.
“It’s the defensive end that we’ve got to shore up,” he said. “And understanding what the other team does well or what the other team can do to play with us or beat us. We’ve got to take that away. Maybe we haven’t done a good enough job of making them understand that.”
Lapel turned the ball over just seven times and won the rebounding battle 41-22. Jon Ross Richardson had 11 rebounds and Luke Richardson had 10 to pace the Bulldogs. Hudson and junior Austin Lyons led Lapel with four assists each.
It will not be the last game in Lapel for the Bulldogs. Lapel will play host to sectional and regional again this season, so they are hoping to have several more chances to play before the hometown crowd. Jon Ross Richardson took a moment after the game to reflect on what senior night means to him.
“I had a lot of mixed emotions going,” he said. “I know this is senior night, and it’s totally different from when I was on the sideline watching the other seniors before. I love this place. With all the achievements, I see it as playing for the school that I love and the people that come and watch me play. That’s my real motivation.”
The Lapel junior varsity team was not as fortunate a the varsity team, falling to the Sparkplugs 63-38. Freshman Cole Alexander led the Bulldogs with 11 points and six rebounds, freshman Bryce Carpenter had four assists and three blocked shots, and freshman Luke Rich had two steals.
Lapel will close out its regular season Thursday at Tipton, but not before they find out their fate in the tournament draw, scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday.