By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Two months ago, Max Schnelle and Lane Dunlap were sharing the same huddle.
On Saturday night they were heated rivals.
The Lockwood and and Golden City seniors – teammates during football season – squared off in the championship game of the 65th Annual Golden City Basketball Tournament and combined for a whopping 57 points as the Eagles pulled away in the second half for a 61-48 victory.
“All four years I’ve been the quarterback, he’s been the fullback,” Lockwood’s Schnelle said. “He’s played with me every year since we were in third grade. Obviously great friends on the football field, we get along real good. He’s my brother when we’re out there but when we’re on the court things change. It’s us versus them.”
Schnelle versus Dunlap wasn’t the only good storyline on Saturday.
Lockwood entered the night a perfect 12-0 and ranked second in Class 1. Golden City came in with a 12-3 record and a Class 1 No. 5 ranking. And the teams were meeting for the second time after the Tigers won 49-45 on December 4.
Round two lived up to the hype.
The teams combined for 18 lead changes, including 11 in a first quarter that ended with Lockwood ahead 17-16. Both teams led by as many as three points in the second quarter and the Tigers took a 30-27 lead into the half.
The game was tied at 34 and 36 in the third, but from there the Eagles started to pull away.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
A 15-0 run did most of the damage, with Dunlap chipping in eight points, and Lockwood was scoreless on 11-straight possessions. Golden City managed to holt Schnelle to just two points in the third quarter.
When Schnelle finally went to the free throw line with 3:18 remaining in the game, Golden City led 51-36. He made both shots, and scored six points in the fourth, but the Tigers could never get closer than 11 in the final minutes.
“Defensively they played us really well,” Lockwood coach Ethan Baker said. “It was that way in the first half, we just managed. Max was able to attack some when they were overplaying our guards on the wings and that allowed us to score. In the second half I don’t think he had as much success in that third quarter. I know we scored six there and we didn’t have any points for about the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. You can’t go that long of a stretch without scoring against a team that has as much firepower offensively as Golden City. If we don’t score, if we can’t hold them under 60, it’s going to be hard for us to beat them.”
“You’ve got to give it to Lockwood, they hit some shots in that first half,” Golden City coach Michael Reeves said. “Normally I don’t think they usually hit those shots, that’s what we were trying to force them into but their kids were ready to play tonight just as well and they hit open shots they got. Second half we made an adjustment and we tried to force those shots but also get a hand in their face this time and that’s what ended up leading to our run right there.”
Baker said the key difference between Saturday’s Lockwood loss and the December win was Dunlap’s outside shooting. He didn’t make any outside shots in the first meeting, but made three three-pointers in the first half Saturday.
“It’s really difficult to guard him, specifically if he’s able to do that,” Baker said. “He’s somebody that I know over Christmas break scored 30 and 40 points in games in the Weaubleau tournament. He’s a tremendous driver, has great body control and if he hits the outside shot he’s a tremendous player to guard.”
Dunlap finished with 39 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Senior Chain Parrill added 15.
“Last time we played them Lane Dunlap had only had 10 practices under his belt because he was playing football with them,” Reeves said.
Schnelle scored 18 for Lockwood and senior Blaine Garer scored 13.
“We’re trying to focus one game at a time and we really hope to bounce back,” Baker said. “This is one game of the season but we’ve had great success so far and we hope to continue going forward.”
It was Golden City’s fifth-straight win since falling 64-61 to unbeaten Lakeland on January 2.
“We lost to Class 2 Number 1 Lakeland by three points at the end of the game, came back and had a fight right from the beginning with Marionville and ended up winning in overtime,” Reeves said. “We beat a Rich Hill team that has a chance to win their conference and district and then we come into this tournament and got to play a Liberal team that’s tough-nosed and really scrappy and then we got to play Class 1 Number 2 Lockwood tonight. It’s been a real good schedule for us.”
All-tournament team
MVP: Lane Dunlap, Golden City
1st: Max Schnelle, Lockwood
1st: Chain Parrill, Golden City
1st: Kane Cooper, Lockwood
1st: Josh Reeves, Golden City
1st: Carter Lakey, Dadeville
2nd: Caleb Sushnitk, Liberal
2nd: Jared Tidball, Jasper
2nd: Connor Lewandowski, Greenfield
2nd: Luke Bushey, Dadeville
2nd: Payton Morrow, Liberal
