Sometimes one good player can take a team on his back and carry them a long way. But it is much harder to do, when that player is facing a true team effort on the other side. That is exactly what happened in the semifinals of the 5th place bracket at the Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass Saturday night.
Lexington Christian got a monster game from Kyle Rode. The problem for LCA was that Madisonville got a true team effort, and that was too much for Rode to overcome, as the Maroons cruised past LCA 50-35.
A classic example of the problem took place in the opening quarter. Madisonville got points from five different players, while Kyle Rode scored all of the points for LCA, as the Maroons took a 15-9 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Neither team had much to crow about in the way of offense in the second quarter. LCA got two quick threes from Conor Harrison to tie the game at 15-15 with 5:30 to go in the half. LCA did not score again in the half. The Maroons weren’t exactly on fire in the 2nd, but did score the final four points of th half to lead 19-15 at the break.
The team effort of the Maroons continued in the third quarter as five different players scored. Madisonville held their biggest lead of the night when the quarter ended at 35-25.
LCA would make one final charge at the Maroons. Behind the effort of Rode, LCA got the lead trimmed down to 39-35 with 3:33 to go, and the Eagle fans were roaring. Then, Rode did one of the few things wrong he did all night. With a chance to cut the lead to two at the free throw line, Rode missed two free throws, and the game abruptly turned.
In fact, after Rode missed the free throws, LCA did not score again. Madisonville roared off on an 11-0 run to close out the game and seal the win.
Kenny White paced the Maroons with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Ksuan Casey added 12 points, while Cade Cunningham chipped in with 10.
Kyle Rode had more than 50 percent of his team’s points with 18.
Madisonville improves to 7-3 and will play in the 5th place game of the KOB Sunday afternoon at 4:30 EST.