Leo 71, Marshall 33, nonconference game
at Leo on Wednesday, February 19.
In late summer 2022, Leo’s basketball program hit rock bottom.
A popular and successful coach resigned, and the nucleus of a Catholic League championship team that had reached a Class 2-A Supersectional followed him out the door.
Rock bottom.
Anyone who suggested the Lions would be a 20-win team within 30 months of that low point would not have been taken seriously. But by dismantling Marshall 71-33 in a Senior Night nonconference game at the Lions Den Wednesday night, Leo improved to 20-10 in Year 3 of a from-the-rivets rebuild.
With a victory over Hyde Park (15-15) in Friday night’s regular-season finale, or by beating the U-High-Hansberry winner in next week’s Class 2-A Regional at Harlan, the Lions will equal their win total (21) for the last two seasons.
“I’d say we’re a little ahead of schedule, but these guys have put in the work and made the commitment, and I’m proud of them,” Coach Jimalle Ridley said.
“But we’re not done. Not even close.”
Seniors Dontae Bell, Stephen Barze Jr., Kam’ron Dove and Emanuel Walker were feted in the pre-game ceremony, and they kept the party going when the game started.
Bell scored a game-high 21 points with six assists and six rebounds, too strong and too clever for any and all Marshall defenders. Barze had 10 points and 12 rebounds despite conceding considerable size to Marshall’s front line. Dove, enjoying a Senior Night start, had a three-pointer among his five points and also took down five rebounds.
Junior Ethan Jackson scoffed 16 for Leo. The running-clock fourth quarter was a sad reminder of Marshall’s decline from Public League royalty to less than mediocre (10-14).
The Lions are 14-4 since the first of the year.
“We didn’t play that well and we still won by 38,” Ridley said. “You can accomplish a lot when people buy in.”
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