South O'Brien muscles past H-LP boys, 67-27

LAKE PARK, Iowa -- There wasn’t anything fancy about the way South O’Brien attacked the Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team Tuesday night. It was push the ball inside in the first quarter, push the ball inside in the second quarter, and push it inside in the second half en route to a 67-27 victory at the Lake Park gymnasium.

The shorter, less-stout Wolves seemed helpless to stem O’Brien’s propensity for making layups. And offensively, the hosts were simply off their mark.

“We were kind of outmanned. And then we got in foul trouble,” said H-LP head coach Jeff Sohn afterward. “And Bubba tweaked his ankle and he was a step slow. And Colton (Voss) and Jaxson (Heikens) both got their third fouls by the half.

“Just a perfect storm,” summed up the coach.

Harris-Lake Park’s most prolific scorer, 6-foot senior guard Bubba Sohn, had averaged 18 points through four games. But he was held scoreless in the first half Tuesday and finished with just three points.

On defense, the Wolves were unable to put a halt to the Wolverines’ repeated forays under the basket in the first two quarters while using mostly a man-to-man scheme. They began the third quarter in a 1-3-1 zone, which seemed to help at first, but the Wolverines still were able to score the first 14 points of the frame to assume a commanding 50-15 advantage.

Meanwhile, unable to get inside against South O’Brien, Harris-Lake Park was also unable to consistently hit its outside shots. The Wolverines blunted Sohn’s drives, and none of the Wolves were able to pick up the slack.

“Their coach does a good job of recognizing where our shooters are,” said Coach Sohn. “We had a lot of good looks. We just couldn’t make ‘em.”

The setback moved H-LP to 2-3 on the season. South O’Brien evened its record at 3-3.

O’Brien’s Jake Wallin, a 6-7 sophomore, led all scorers with 21 points. Teammate Josh Johannsen, a 6-4 senior, added 19.

Tyce Gunderson paced H-LP with seven points and Brody Boles had five.

Twelve of the Wolves’ 27 points came on four 3-point attempts. South O’Brien made just one 3-pointer; they didn’t need to attempt very many.

“One of those deals,” said Coach Sohn, who said it was one of those games that might as well be forgotten as the team moves ahead. “Hopefully, we won’t let it shake our confidence at all.”