KML ends Laconia's long streak

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 8, 2014

KML ends Laconia’s long streak

Spartans had won 29 in a row in Flyway

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

TOWN OF JACKSON — Kettle Moraine Lutheran boys basketball coach Todd Jahns told his team before Friday’s game he didn’t want to see the Chargers’ chance at a conference championship end on the home floor.

It didn’t.

What did end, however, was a 29-game Flyway Conference winning streak by Laconia and KML’s 8-game losing streak to Laconia as the Chargers won 56-48.

The victory, more importantly, also kept the Chargers alive in the conference championship race. If KML had lost Friday, Laconia would’ve clinched the championship. “The conference does not end tonight,” Jahns said. “We’re one down with two to play. It’s not ending tonight and it’s not ending on our floor.

“You just saw a bunch of boys commit to it.”

Steve Seider and Jared Henning each scored 13 points to lead KML, while Noah Greve scored a game-high 17 points to lead Laconia.

The Spartans, the sixth-ranked team in this week’s Associated Press Division 3 poll, have been the class of the Flyway for the last three years.
Last year, they went 25-1, losing to eventual Division 4 state champion Dominican in a sectional final. In the last three years, Laconia is 67-7 overall, including 43-3 in the Flyway.

The Spartans’ last conference loss was to St. Mary’s Springs on Feb. 2, 2012.

“Tonight it was let’s play hard, let’s have fun together and go get them and see what happens,” Jahns said.

“This was one of our goals,” he added. “We were going to get Laconia.” In the last eight meetings between KML and Laconia, the Chargers (15-4, 10-2) have lost by an average of 6.8 points, including two in overtime and two others that ended in regulation where the total deficit was three points. Earlier this season, the Spartans (182, 11-1) beat the Chargers, 56-43. So, in a way, a close game was to be expected.

However, the only thing that was disappointing after Friday night’s game was the thought of what could’ve been. On Tuesday night, the Chargers lost to Springs, which left KML two games behind Laconia heading into Friday’s game.

“You could tell; the boys were down,” Jahns said about the Springs loss. “They were disappointed in themselves and we didn’t practice well (Thursday). We actually quit practice early because we weren’t in and weren’t focused.

“My focus was could we recover mentally.”

However, King believed the Chargers were going to be ready for the game regardless if had they won or lost Tuesday’s game against Springs. Unfortunately for him and his team, he was right.

The Chargers jumped on the Spartans quickly, taking an 8-0 lead with 5:03 left in the first quarter. KML led 17-8 at the end of the first quarter with the help of five 3-pointers.

“They played a great game,” King said.

In typical KML fashion, the Chargers also played tough defense, especially on the Spartans’ leading scorer, Nick Vollmer.

Vollmer scored a game-high 23 points in the last meeting against KML. On Friday, he was held to eight points and managed just five field-goal attempts.

Seider spent most of the game guarding Vollmer. It was the same matchup in the last meeting. When the team watched the game tape afterward, Jahns challenged Seider to play better defense.

“I knew I had to prove myself,” Seider said. “I’ve been playing well as of late.”

Jahns said, “We probably get on Steve more than anybody for his defense. ... Steve’s a competitor, he’s a winner and he took the challenge.”