Redemption Year: A Look back at La Lumiere's Run In The 2017 Dick's Nationals Tournament
Photo Credit: Jeffery Armstrong @VisionsbyJeff
La Lumiere came into the Dick’s nationals as the No. 1 seed and a chance at redemption.
In the quarterfinals, La Lumiere took care of business in a 12 point win over Watsach out of Utah. The true test for La Lumiere came in the semi-finals when they went up against a very tough Findlay Prep team. The Lakers were able to squeak out a 54-52 win due to the missed free throws and a missed shot at the last second by Findlay Prep. The Lakers were able to overcome poor shooting and a slow start in the first quarter in order to achieve that win.
Saturday’s Championship game brought a familiar opponent to the Lakers, The Eagles of Montverde Academy. The Eagles have been to the championship game and won it three years in a row. Last year La Lumiere beat Montverde in the Semifinals to head to the championship. Coaching against Kevin Boyle is a challenge that coach Shane Heirman won’t hesitate to accept. “It’s always an honor to go up against these guys, they are the best in the game. He’s going to be in the hall of fame one day. It’s an honor and it’s exciting to compete against him” Says Heirman.
In the first quarter, Montverde had control of the game as they were up 17-12 at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers prevented the game from getting away from them as they out scored Montverde 15-11 in the second quarter to cut the deficit to one.
The third quarter would prove to be the turning point of the game as the Lakers turned up on defense and got big shots from their stars as they went on a 20-10 run to take a 47-38 lead going into the fourth and final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, La Lumiere goes on a 7-4 run to take a 54-42 lead. Montverde would answer but The Lakers would answer right back as Jacob Epperson threw down back to back dunks to keep them up 56-46 this is when the game started to move heavily in favor of La Lumiere. The lakers would extend their lead to as much as 19 points by locking down on the defensive end especially in the paint as their bigs took control of the paint. As the game clock started to wind down you can easily see the euphoria around the team as they were finally able to get over the hump and win the championship.
La Lumiere won the championship game 70-52 over Montverde and redemption is a great feeling for the lakers especially Forward Brian Bowen “It means the world to me after heartbreaking loss last year I called it that we were going to win the championship the next year and we did”.
La Lumiere’s run in this tournament would be remembered for a long time, and their is definitely a chance that the team will return next year to defend the title. The 2016-17 La Lumiere Lakers will always be known as the Redemption team.
