Kaws Capture 2nd Consecutive Mclouth Championship
Gimzo's big night leads PLHS to victory
by Staff
January 21, 2008
Prior to the 2006-2007 season, the Kaws with an over 15 year association with the Mclouth Invitational Tournament, had only one tournament championship to show for it. Not anymore. Clear off some space in the trophy case because for the 2nd consecutive year, the Kaws came away with the 1st place trophy with a gritty come from behind win against Oskaloosa.
PLHS knocked off the host team, Mclouth in the opening round 52-41. Andy Bowman, junior, dominated the paint for the Kaws with 19 points and 11 rebounds and stellar team defense held the Bulldogs to 41 points.
That win propelled the Kaws into a match-up with the always dangerous Jefferson County North Chargers. The game was an intense battle that went back and forth before PLHS jumped ahead in a spirited 3rd quarter, that saw the Kaws surge past the Chargers, outscoring them 19-7.
A balanced scoring attack for the Kaws made the difference with Joel Gantz hitting for 16, Kyle Morgison 15, Bowman 11 and Shane Gimzo with 9.
" When we are really good offensively is when we are balanced in our attack. On any night we have as many as five players that can lead us in scoring. And when we play unselfishly, we can be difficult to stop", said Coach Jeff Dickson.
" Our team defense is always the key to everything we do. We sat down and played Kaw Defense in the 3rd quarter and that made all the difference in the game", added Coach Dickson.
The Kaws went on to win the semi-final match up 53 to 38 to set up a championship round vs rival Oskaloosa.
The championship game was everything anyone could have wanted and more with PLHS jumping out to a 10-6 1st quarter lead and from there it was all Oskaloosa who outscored the Kaws 34 to 27 in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to take a 40-37 lead into the 4th quarter.
But the Kaw's experience in the championship round paid off for the team in the 4th as they quickly took the lead back on a 15 foot jumper by Morgison and after a defensive stop, a long 3 by Gimzo to put the Kaws up 42-40, a lead they would never give back.
Gimzo turned in another monster night for Perry-Lecompton with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and only one turnover.
"Shane is one of the very best players in the state. He outworks, out hustles and out toughs everyone around and Joel does the same thing night after night. Those two kept us afloat tonight and then Kyle, Andy and Caleb came alive in the 2nd half and we got on a roll. I am very proud of our kids. We got solid minutes from our sophomores, Riley Shafer and Brad Phillips, who keep getting better and better. Those two along with Kameron Hurd if they continue to work hard and get in the weight room are going to be as good as anyone around", said Dickson.
Andy Bowman who scored 37 points in the 3 games in the tournament was named the MVP of the tournament and Morgison and Gantz were also named to that all tournament squad.
" We are all about the team first and foremost. Any individual awards that our kids receive are nice but those guys will be the first to tell you that without their teammates they would not receive that attention. There is no one that can tell me that Shane and Caleb don't deserve to be on the all tournament team. Shane does it all every night out and Caleb is the same way. I would not trade anyone of our guys for any other player in the tournament. Kyle said it best when he said that the all tournament team was sitting in our locker room. As far as I am concerned there is no way to say it any better. It's a special group and we are going to keep working hard, playing together, being unselfish and put on our hard hats and go to work every day, " said Dickson.
