If there was a little extra in Dexton Hoelting’s celebration with his teammates and the Olpe fans following the Eagle boys’ 57-34 romp past Burlingame in the championship game of the Lyon County League Tournament, well it was for good reason.
 
And not just because the Eagle senior finished his career undefeated at the league tournament with Olpe capturing its fourth straight tournament championship – the program’s 13th since 1980.
 
Instead, it had more to do with not really feeling as big of a part of Olpe’s title a year ago. A late-season football injury completely wiped out his junior basketball season, relegating Heolting to little more than a cheerleader from the bench.
 
“This means a lot, being back out here,” he said. “It sucked sitting out last year and not being able to do anything. I felt like I was just there to spectate. I like to be out there and make a difference and help my team win.”
 
While Hoelting only scored six points in the championship game, he did grab 12 rebounds from his point guard position while also dishing out 4 assists. Perhaps just as important as his stats was his leadership.
 
As one of only two seniors on the Eagle roster he helped keep the Eagles composed despite sluggish start to the championship game on both ends of the floor. Burlingame got out to a quick start with Brock Moon scoring seven points while Olpe struggled to hit shots.
 
When Dane Winters buried a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer it gave the Bearcats a 14-10 lead at the end of the period. But a defensive switch that was out of character for veteran Eagle coach Chris Schmidt jump-started Olpe on both ends of the court and the rest of the game belonged to Olpe.
 
The Eagles outscored Burlingame 16-4 in the second quarter and 14-5 in the third to blow it open, cruising to the 23-point win.
 
“We went to a zone, which I don’t do very much,” Schmidt said. “It was pretty good for us and as I look down the road, that’s something we’re going to have to do because we’re not very big. When we run into some of those bigger kids, it’s going to be tough in man-to-man. And we’ve got some guards who are pretty active with their hands out front. I thought from the second quarter on, we did a pretty good job defensively.”
 
The defensive switch enabled Olpe to somewhat neutralize Burlingame’s 6-foot-7 standout post Drake Skirvin, holding him to 11 points. At the same time, it forced the Bearcats to hit perimeter shots and the Bearcats were 0-fer from distance in the second and third quarters before Timmy Roberts hit two in the fourth.
 
Olpe’s primary offensive weapons, meanwhile, got going. Leading scorer Brecken McGuire 16 of his game-high 22 points in the final three quarters and second-leading scorer Abbott Bailey added 17 of his 19 points in the final three periods, including 7 in the second quarter.
 

 
McGuire finished the tournament averaging 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 3 assists per game at the tourney, while Abbott averaged 12.3 points in the three games and Hoelting added 12 points and 3 assists per game. The sophomore duo of McGuire and Bailey stepped into starting roles last year as freshmen and helped lead the Eagles to a fourth straight Class 1A Division I state tournament appearance and a third-place finish.
 
Their return as well as the return of Hoelting after missing last season gave Olpe three big pieces to build around as they looked to fill the void left by multi-year starters Blake Skalsky and Ethan Redeker with Skalsky second on the team in scoring and tops in rebounding last year.
 
But just as it had the year before, late football injuries struck again. Bailey had surgery on his MCL right at the end of the football season and missed Olpe’s first six games before returning after the Christmas break. McGuire, meanwhile, suffered a broken collarbone with three weeks left in the football season and missed the season-opener against St. Marys.
 
In their absence, Schmidt leaned hard on Hoelting to stabilize his young team, which Hoelting relished.
 
“He was hungry coming back missing last year,” Schmidt said. “He sat on this bench last year supporting these kids and really was a good leader. He’s been tremendous for us, a good leader in practice and a vocal kid in the locker room and keeps the guys going the right way.”
 

 
“It was just a matter of telling them, ‘Be patient, we’re all going to mesh eventually,’ and I think we’re starting to get there now,” Hoelting said. “It’s great to see us getting better each day and we should be a tough team down the road.”
 
They have been pretty much since the start, even missing key pieces at points. A 55-37 loss to St. Marys, which is 11-1, is the lone blemish on Olpe’s schedule and the Eagles have now reeled off 13 straight victories.
 
“Right now, we’re finally rounding into shape,” Schmidt said. “We had those injuries and then all those snow days. But the kids that came off the bench tonight, they’re the ones that took those minutes when those two were out and they proved tonight in critical situations that they can handle things because they got that time and that’s going to help us down the road.”
 
During its 13-game winning streak, Olpe has had only one win by less than double digits, a 44-36 win over Madison the preceded a 47-35 win over Burlingame the next night the wrapped up a fourth straight league regular-season championship as well.

Olpe's four-peat at the league tourney was the first since Waverly won four straight from 1989-92.
 
Extra-motivated after missing last year, Hoelting has some additional fuel for his final season as well. He was a freshman on Olpe’s 2022 Class 1A Division I state championship team and watched his older brother, Derek, cap his career with a state title that season. He’d love to finish his senior season off in the same way.
 
“I learned a lot that year on how to lead a team,” Hoelting said. “My older brother showed me how to come in and be a leader and a guy that can get the team to come together and be great. And that’s what I’m trying to pass along and do.”
 

 
OTHER BOYS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Burlingame’s Drake Skirvin found some consolation in the Lyon County League Tournament title game loss to Olpe. The junior recorded his 800th career point and 600th career rebound in the contest and finished the tourney averaging 18 points, 16.7 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in the three game.
• Anderson County’s Noah Porter threw down four dunks in the first quarter and finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds in an overtime win over Humboldt.
• After losing to Bishop Ward in the semifinals of the McLouth Invitational the previous week, Maur Hill pulled out an 81-74 double-overtime win over the Cyclones last Friday. Daric Eubanks scored a career-high 39 points in the win. He’s averaging 19 points per game for the Ravens, who are 10-2.
• Valley Falls' Trenton VanHoutan surpassed the 1,000 career point mark during a 25-point outing against Horton last week. VanHoutan added 22 against Pleasant Ridge later in the week. Dragon coach Caleb Gatzemeyer picked up his 250th career win on Jan. 17 against Jefferson County North.