His pine time was a wake-up call. A night after foul trouble limited Owin Little’s opportunity to contribute, the Malcolm senior returned in a big way to help lead his team to a third-place finish in the Malcolm Holiday Tournament. Little was just three assists shy of a triple-double as Malcolm pulled away from Oakland-Craig for a 70-50 victory in the Dec. 30 consolation game.
“I knew it was in him from what we see in practice,” Malcolm coach Chris Lewandowski said. “It was huge to have a performance like that.”
After opening the game with a three-pointer, the 6-4 forward went inside and went 5-of-8 the rest of the night to score a season-high 13 points. Little led his team with 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
“I told him we need him to keep bringing it,” Lewandowski said. “We need that kind of production on a consistent basis.”
The Clippers jumped out to an 11-point first quarter lead and held the Knights at arm's length the rest of the way. Maddox Meyer was the game’s leading scorer with 14 points. Luke Schmidt – whose productivity was also limited by foul trouble in the tournament opener – added 12 points.
“After the tough loss the night before, I was concerned we could have a ‘hangover’ and come out flat,” Lewandowski said. “It was good to see our guys show up and battle.”
Ten Clippers earned their way into the scoring column, including three freshmen. Gavin Little, Miles McGill and Preston Kucera combined for 15 points.
“We have a lot of guys on our roster that can contribute,” Lewandowski said. “I’m not afraid to go deep into our bench to find someone that’s ready to step up.”
The win over Oakland-Craig was a nice bounce back after a 53-49 overtime loss to Centennial just 20 hours earlier.
A Sam Ehlers buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Broncos a nice cushion heading into halftime.
“We knew we needed to step up the intensity on defense,” Lewandowski said. “Brixon (Meyer) led the charge for us.”
After trailing by as many as 12 in the third quarter, the Clippers started forcing turnovers and bad shots as they chipped away at the lead.
“Brixon had a hustle play that exemplified the kind of effort we need to see,” Lewandowski said. “He tipped a ball, then dove on the floor for it, then drew a foul. That fired our team up.”
Carson Frank’s 14-point second half helped spark the Malcolm comeback that sent the game to overtime. The junior led all scorers with 25 points.
Devin Slawnyk led the Broncos with 16 while going 7-of-7 from the field. Alex Hirschfeld added 12 points.
“Centennial took advantage of some mismatches inside,” Lewandowski said. “They played the aggressor most of the night and they came out on top.”
Malcolm (7-2) starts 2024 with a Friday night trip to Milford (2-7).
“Records don’t mean a whole lot when we play Milford,” Lewandowski said. “They played a brutal schedule in December and they always play well against us.”
