12-22-06
BY JACK BULLOCK
SPARTA - When Nashville made short work of rival Sparta on Friday night, most in the Hornet fans in the crowd got an early Christmas present courtesy of 6-foot-7 senior Lucas O’Rear.

He scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Hornets relatively yawning 67-42 win.

But at the 2:54 mark in the second quarter, O’Rear broke his school’s all-time scoring record held by former Hornet Roger Stieg.

Taking an interior pass from teammate Ryan Keller, O’Rear banked home a short shot from the left blocks.

O’Rear finished the night with 1,622 points, six over the Stieg mark of 1,616, as the Hornets picked up an important conference road win.

“Knowing Roger and him going to Ole Miss he is an awesome player and it means a lot to me to break the record,” said O’Rear. “I was a little nervous there in the early part of the game because I knew how many I needed. I counted the first two but after that I forgot about it and just tried to score. I didn’t even know that it happened until everyone started getting up and clapping.”

The most important part of the evening to O’Rear and his teammates was the game result; another win to push the 2006-07 mark to 8-0 overall - 3-0 in the SIRR Mississippi - and a first place tie with Pinckneyville.

“We sort of targeted this game as the game he would break the record,” said Coach Lee, when assessing the possibility of O’Rear breaking the scoring record. “Just on what he has done average wise, heading into the season I thought he would be close to the record by this game. “I’m not really sure we discussed it. Individual records are nice but this is a team game and the stats we’re worried about are final records and I think that is something he (O’Rear) understands.”

Blaine Morris was one of four Hornets in double-figures with 12 points. Teammates Keller and Brandon Reckmann added 10 points each for Coach Darin Lee’s club.

Nashville pushed out to a quick advantage and never trailed in the game.

With O’Rear scoring eight of his points in the first quarter, Nashville led 18-6 at the first stop.

Sparta (6-4, 1-2 in the Mississippi) received 13 points from 6-foot-6 junior Caleb Barnett and his rebound of his own missed shot got the Bulldogs within 12-6 with 2:20 left.

However six straight points from O’Rear, Tommy Pelczynski and Keller got the Hornets to the first break with a comfortable lead.

In a game that seemed destined for that record to be broken, Nashville almost let it get in the way of the task at hand. At least they did for a few moments in the second quarter.

After having the game well in hand, Nashville relaxed a bit.

Following a Morris score in transition, Sparta retaliated with a 9-0 run.

Baskets by Travis Thurau and Tyler Thompson, a pair of free throws by Shane Peck and a 3-pointer from Josh Dolmage cut the Nashville lead to 20-15 with 4:33 left before the half.

Unfortunately for Sparta and head coach Donovan McMillian that run represented the lone highlight of the night.

The Hornets pulled away from that point with an 11-2 run, which included the record-breaking shot by O’Rear.

In the run Keller scored from the left baseline while reserve Matt Conner got an offensive rebound basket as all nine of the Hornets who played scored.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight but we went and got some rebounds and got them back,” said Lee.

Pelczynski scored a pair of early third quarter baskets to end any hope of a Sparta comeback.

He rebounded his own miss for the first points of the second half and a few moments later stole an errant Sparta pass that he turned into a fast break basket and a 38-21 Hornets lead.

“Tommy did a nice job tonight, he guarded and played hard,” Lee said. “We came out ready to play and we kind of put them away with our defense. It is hard to score against us, we’ve got some big guys in there.”

O’Rear scored his final four points of the night on an offensive rebound tip-in and a bit later on a spin move in the lane while being fouled by Barnett. Although his missed the free throw, Nashville put the outcome to rest at 47-29 with 2:01 left in the third quarter.

“He (O’Rear) has done a nice job playing within our offense and this year especially passing the ball and scoring when he needs to,” added Lee. “This has been Lucas’ best season, he has done a nice job.”

Getting a lot of added rest in this game, O’Rear spent most of the second half on the bench.

His teammates picked up the slack.

Patrick Weathers and Morris hooked up for a pair of scores early in the final frame and when Keller scored from on the inside with 4:31 remaining, Nashville’s lead reached 58-37.

Nashville was 28-of-57 from the field (49 percent) but just 2-of-13 from long range.

The Hornets held a commanding 32-20 rebounding edge and committed just five turnovers.

Barnett’s 13 points paced Sparta, but eight of those came in the fourth quarter while O’Rear was sitting comfortably on the bench.

Sparta was 17-of-44 (39 percent) from the floor and just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc to go with 11 turnovers.

Nashville is the top seed at the Breese Mater Dei Holiday Tournament coming up next week.

But with a star-studded field staring at them, Coach Lee knows how tough it will be.

“That first day playing Jerseyville and Mater Dei; that’s a bear for us,” added Lee. “Hopefully we can play well enough to get it done.”

Sparta is the fourth seed at the Sesser-Valier Holiday Tournament which starts next Wednesday.

Nashville (67) - Reckman 2 1 3-4 10, Morris 5 0 2-2 12, Weathers 2 0 1-2 5, Engele 1 1 0-0 5, Pelczynski 4 0 0-0 8, Conner 1 0 0-0 2, York 0 0 0-0 0, O'Rear 6 0 3-6 15, Keller 5 0 0-0 10.
2FG-26, 3FG-2, FT-9-14, PF-13.
Sparta (42) - Lesperance 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0 0-0 0, L. Peck 3 0 0-0 6, Walter 1 0 0-0 2, Thompson 2 0 3-6 7, Dolmage 1 1 1-2 6, S. Peck 1 0 2-2 4, Barnett 6 0 1-2 13.
2FG-167, 3FG-1, FT-7-12, PF-12.
Fouled Out - None.
Technical Fouls - None.