ST. JAMES - So much for the old adage, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it."
When the Blair Oaks Falcons and Eugene Eagles met during the regular season, the Falcons carved out a 68-62 win Feb. 3 in Wardsville. Despite getting the win, Blair Oaks decided to switch some things up in Monday night's championship game of the Class 3 District 9 Tournament.
"The last time we played them, we played primarily zone and even though we won, they hit 13 3s against us," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "So we knew we had to do something different, and our kids really came out and played some impressive, hard-nosed, man-to-man defense."
The change paid dividends, as the Falcons led by double digits most of the night and rolled to a 69-44 win at St. James High School.
The Falcons were up 17-6 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 28-15 at halftime.
"Any time you can hold Eugene, with the kind of offensive firepower they have, to 15 points in a half, you know you're playing some pretty good defense," Fick said.
The Falcons' lead grew to 46-28 after three quarters and they were never challenged in the final period.
Owen Luebbering led all scorers with 20 points and he also pulled down seven rebounds. Jason Rackers was the only other Falcon in double figures with 10 points, although C.J. Closser added nine and Cody Alexander and Jordan Hair had eight apiece.
Travis Kempker was the only Eagle to reach double digits, as he had 16 points.
"We knew defensively we had to be concerned about their "Big Three' of Travis Kempker, Tyler Kemper and Chase Dickerson, and I thought we did a good job of frustrating them for the most part," Fick said. "I think the biggest thing we did was control the rebounding, because Eugene is so good at capitalizing when they get second-chance opportunities."
The Falcons (20-8) will play in the sectional round at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Missouri S&T in Rolla against Licking (24-4), the winner of District 10 with a 48-37 victory Monday night against Mountain View: Liberty.
Blair Oaks lost 70-53 to Licking on Jan. 23 in the semifinals of the St. James Tournament.
"They put it on us pretty good, but we'd like to think we're playing a lot better basketball right now," Fick said.