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Caleb Schaab scores 23, leads Leopold past Meadow Heights
MARBLE HILL - Leopold rode the hot hand of guard Caleb Schaab to a 64-54 win over Meadow Heights to advance to the championship round of the Woodland Invitational Basketball Tournament for the first time since winning it in 2013.
The junior scored 23 points for the Wildcats, 17 of which came in the second half. Cameron Abernathy scored 13 points and James Peters scored 10 points.
“Caleb played a very good game tonight,” Leopold coach Gary Poyner said. “The big thing with Caleb was he kept us under control. When we got a little excited at times, turn the ball over a little bit, he was able to take charge out on the floor, get us back under control, get us set up, and get us back to doing what we needed to do on the offensive end.”
“With our team, we move the ball so much,” Schaab said, “really anybody player can go off at any game with all the motion and all the ball movement. Really, I just got the shots tonight and I got to the line a lot too.”
Schaab was sent to the free-throw line more than any other Leopold player in the fourth quarter. Meadow Heights tried desperately to catch up by having Tristen Mayfield shoot three-pointers and keep the Wildcats from eating the clock. Sixteen of Mayfield’s team-leading 21 points came in the fourth quarter but Schaab drained most of his free throws to keep the Wildcats on top.
“We practice free throws three or four times every practice,” Schaab said. “We run and we shoot free throws, so I think coach helps us out a lot with that. We’ve just gotten better over time.”
Meadow Heights (2-1) led throughout the first quarter. A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Schaab cut the Panthers’ lead to 16-12.
Back-to-back jump shots from Abernathy and Gavin Merriman sparked a 16-2 run that gave the Wildcats the lead in the second quarter that only ended after a 3-point basket by Meadow Heights’ Will Green at the buzzer to go into halftime.
“Those shots were momentum changers in our favor,” Poyner said. “That’s just an example of this group. This group has a 'never say die' attitude. As a whole, this group is confident.”
Entering the third quarter up 28-23, the Wildcats picked up where they left off and went on a 12-1 run to lead 40-24. The Panthers gained some ground in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats were solid on the free-throw line and secured their lead.
The last time Leopold (2-0) was in the championship round was 2013 when the Wildcats defeated Perryville 56-34.
Poyner is in his first year as coach of the Wildcats and was floored at the immense following his team has in the community, as evident by the number of views the live stream gets.
Leopold will take on tournament host Woodland today at 8.pm.
Poyner said a win would mean a lot to the community as well as signify improvement from last year’s 13-13 finish.
“To come out and win this tournament would definitely set the tone for the start of the season,” Poyner said.