ARGYLE - Ryan Geissbuhler certainly looked like he belonged on the court Monday.
The Argyle sophomore, playing in his first full-time varsity game, scored 12 points to help power the Orioles to a 54-37 win over Madison Abundant Life.
"We have been looking for someone to step up and thank God, he did it," Argyle coach Travis Erickson said.
Geissbuhler, who has split time on the junior-varsity and varsity this year, delivered right before halftime. He drilled a 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer to give the Orioles their first field goal in the second quarter and a 17-12 lead.
"I was waiting for an open 3 all year," Geissbuhler said. "I got it and I made it. It felt really good right before halftime. It gave us a lot of momentum."
The Challengers used a mixed bag of defenses to shut down Argyle's 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore big man Nate Thomas, including a 1-3-1 zone in the second quarter. Argyle struggled to crack the 1-3-1 zone and went without a field goal for almost eight minutes. With a 14-12 lead, the Orioles held the ball for almost 2 minutes, 40 seconds before Abundant Life freshman Brent Helmholdt came up with a steal, but he stepped on the sideline. The 3-pointer by Geissbuhler and a stingy defense helped turn the tide.
"It feels good because I usually don't get many open shots," Geissbuhler said. "Tonight, I got some open shots and they went down."
Erickson said he didn't even think about calling for a standstill offense until one of his assistant coaches made the recommendation with seniors Kevin Berg and Taylor Saalsaa on the bench.
"If you come out of that empty handed, they would wonder what we are doing," Erickson said about his players. "They (Abundant Life) chose to stay in it (1-3-1 zone) and that worked good for us. That was a big shot."
Argyle (7-12, 4-7 Six Rivers East) used a 15-6 third-quarter run to build momentum and took a 28-18 lead at 2:06 in the third quarter on two Berg free throws. Berg scored eight points in the third quarter. Geissbuhler drove to the basket for a layup and hit a jumper at the end of the period to give the Orioles a 32-18 lead.
Argyle took control of the game in the fourth quarter when Berg put back a Geissbuhler miss to give the Orioles an insurmountable 36-20 lead. The Orioles led by as many as 18 points and the lead was never in jeopardy.
Argyle made just 11 of 16 free throws in the final 4:37. Argyle senior Andy Bohlman, who scored a team-high 14 points, was clutch from the foul line down the stretch, making 6 of 8 free throws.
"We didn't shoot free throws as well as we would have liked," Erickson said. "We got the ball in Andy's hands."
Early on, it looked like the Orioles would blow out the Challengers. The Orioles jumped out to a 10-4 lead highlighted by Saalsaa, who scored the first three of his 11 points in the period. Argyle senior Chris Shambrook capped the 10-4 run by scoring down low on a play he was fouled on. Shambrook converted the conventional three-point play at the foul line.
"We needed a win like that," Erickson said.
The Argyle sophomore, playing in his first full-time varsity game, scored 12 points to help power the Orioles to a 54-37 win over Madison Abundant Life.
"We have been looking for someone to step up and thank God, he did it," Argyle coach Travis Erickson said.
Geissbuhler, who has split time on the junior-varsity and varsity this year, delivered right before halftime. He drilled a 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer to give the Orioles their first field goal in the second quarter and a 17-12 lead.
"I was waiting for an open 3 all year," Geissbuhler said. "I got it and I made it. It felt really good right before halftime. It gave us a lot of momentum."
The Challengers used a mixed bag of defenses to shut down Argyle's 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore big man Nate Thomas, including a 1-3-1 zone in the second quarter. Argyle struggled to crack the 1-3-1 zone and went without a field goal for almost eight minutes. With a 14-12 lead, the Orioles held the ball for almost 2 minutes, 40 seconds before Abundant Life freshman Brent Helmholdt came up with a steal, but he stepped on the sideline. The 3-pointer by Geissbuhler and a stingy defense helped turn the tide.
"It feels good because I usually don't get many open shots," Geissbuhler said. "Tonight, I got some open shots and they went down."
Erickson said he didn't even think about calling for a standstill offense until one of his assistant coaches made the recommendation with seniors Kevin Berg and Taylor Saalsaa on the bench.
"If you come out of that empty handed, they would wonder what we are doing," Erickson said about his players. "They (Abundant Life) chose to stay in it (1-3-1 zone) and that worked good for us. That was a big shot."
Argyle (7-12, 4-7 Six Rivers East) used a 15-6 third-quarter run to build momentum and took a 28-18 lead at 2:06 in the third quarter on two Berg free throws. Berg scored eight points in the third quarter. Geissbuhler drove to the basket for a layup and hit a jumper at the end of the period to give the Orioles a 32-18 lead.
Argyle took control of the game in the fourth quarter when Berg put back a Geissbuhler miss to give the Orioles an insurmountable 36-20 lead. The Orioles led by as many as 18 points and the lead was never in jeopardy.
Argyle made just 11 of 16 free throws in the final 4:37. Argyle senior Andy Bohlman, who scored a team-high 14 points, was clutch from the foul line down the stretch, making 6 of 8 free throws.
"We didn't shoot free throws as well as we would have liked," Erickson said. "We got the ball in Andy's hands."
Early on, it looked like the Orioles would blow out the Challengers. The Orioles jumped out to a 10-4 lead highlighted by Saalsaa, who scored the first three of his 11 points in the period. Argyle senior Chris Shambrook capped the 10-4 run by scoring down low on a play he was fouled on. Shambrook converted the conventional three-point play at the foul line.
"We needed a win like that," Erickson said.
