Leopards Bring Home NBC!
Originally Published In: THE SPOTLIGHT Volume 83, Issue 6 (March 2007)
By Jared Heller
The Louisville Leopards boys basketball team had an amazing season. They earned the rank of co-NBC Champions and finished with a record of 16-6.
After starting the season off with a 11-4 record, the Leopards defeated the West Branch Warriors on the road 60-50. The Leps jumped out to a 19-8 first quarter lead and later led 47-29 at the end of the third quarter. Justin Linstead led Louisville with 19 points, while Pearson Devaul scored 15 and Dan Boudler added 14.
Next the Leopards routed the Carrollton Warriors 71-42. Boulder scored 23 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and had 3 swats. Linstead poured in 22 points, grabbed 5 boards, and blocked 2 shots. Finally, Devaul had 7 steals and 4 assists in the win.
The Leps then defeated the Marlington Dukes 77-52. After battled to a 14-14 tie at the end of the first quarter, Louisville pulled way out in front in the next two quarters to cruise to victory. Linstead dropped in 20 points, while Boudler dominated underneath the hoop with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Matt Schooley also scored 16 points, while Devaul added 13.
Next, the Leopards played their archrivals, the Minerva Lions, to clinch the NBC Championship. Boudler scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Ben Schmucker scored 15 points, Schooley put in 13 points, and Linstead added 12 points. The Leps won the game 69-48, but Alliance also beat Carrollton forcing an NBC Co-Championship between the Aviators and Leopards. Both teams finished 12-2 in the conference.
The Leps final regular season game was against the Federal League Champion GlenOak Golden Eagles. Not only were both teams champions of their perspective leagues, but both were also the number one seeds in their respective district tournament brackets. The 7-foot-1 Ohio State recruit Kosta Koufos was too much for the Leopards. He dropped in 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds leading the Eagles to a 69-41 win. However, Boudler out-rebounded Koufos 17-13 as well as added 11 points for the Leps. Linstead led the team in scoring 13 points as the Leopards finished the regular season 15-5.
The Leps first tournament game was against the Northwest Indians. Northwest and Louisville split the regular season series, which cost the Leps an outright NBC Championship. However, the Leopards got revenge with a 53-46 win over the Indians. Boudler paced the Leopards with 17 points and 13 rebounds, Linstead scored 14 points, and Schmucker also added 11 points.
The Leopards season finally ended in the District Semifinals with a crushing 61-48 loss to the Triway Titans. Triway jumped out to a 6-0 start and never looked back. Louisville was down as much as 22-10 in the second quarter and were down 36-26 with 2:54 left in the third quarter. The Leopards eventually to tied the score 42-42 with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. The Leps and Titans went back and forth, before Louisville desperately fouled to stop the clock, and Triway finished the game on a 9-0 run to win. Boudler and Schooley each scored 11 points and Linstead also added 10 points. Boudler also had 13 rebounds and Linstead grabbed 7. Despite their loss to Triway in the semifinals, the Leopards had a great season.
