Landrum beats Chesterfield to advance in state playoffs
Published 5:39 pm Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The visiting Rams, winners of 11 of their last 13 games, then proceeded to fall apart as Landrum hit its stride, and the game turned into another lopsided victory for the Cardinals. The final score was 63-40, and Landrum (24-1) outscored Chesterfield 22-6 in the fourth quarter.
Landrum took a seven-point advantage into halftime, but that was quickly erased as Chesterfield (16-10) scored eight straight points to take the lead at 29-28. But they failed to find a rhythm with their offense, instead settling for three-pointers that continually missed the mark. Chesterfield went 3-28 from beyond the arc.
Landrum coach Lyn Smith was more than happy to let the Rams fire away from deep. &dquo;They were missing (threes), we boxed out and rebounded and limited them to one shot, and I think that&squo;s how we pushed it away there late,&dquo; he said.
The Cardinals had a significant height advantage which helped their rebounding chances. DeShaun Hall is four inches taller than Chesterfield&squo;s starting point guard, and Jacob Hatchette is seven inches taller than their starting two guard. None of the Rams&squo; starters were taller than 6&squo;2&dquo;. Alex Wilson and Corey McDowell, Landrum&squo;s two tallest players, pulled down 20 combined rebounds on the night.
Wilson also led all scorers with 27 points, 13 of which came in the first six minutes of the game. He then picked up two quick fouls and had to sit down.
&dquo;We decided to put him back in with about 1:50 to go (in the first half), and he went in and scored a couple baskets, and then we got him right back out,&dquo; Smith said.
Wilson was 11-11 at the free throw stripe.
DeShaun Hall had 15 points for the Cardinals, as well as seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. Hatchette and Dustin Morris had eight points each.
Landrum travels to an undetermined site to take on Williston-Elko Tuesday night in the third round of the 1A state playoffs. The Blue Devils are 14-8 with a 3-3 record at neutral courts. They are 4-4 in road games. The Cardinals lost their only game at a neutral site this year, but are 10-0 in away games.