Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports, File Photo
Perry-Lecompton caught fire in the second half of 62-41 win over Jefferson West in the sub-state semifinals on March 3 at Perry-Lecompton High School. Colby Krein, pictured here, finished with a game-high 26 points.
Perry-Lecompton Kaws’ guard Colby Krein took the road less traveled, going from junior varsity mainstay during his sophomore and junior campaigns to varsity stardom as a senior on the hardwood.
Krein’s meteoric rise was on full display during Tuesday’s Class 3A sub-state opener against the visiting Jefferson West Tigers. Krein torched the Tigers’ defense from beyond the arc, knocking down seven 3-pointers to propel Perry-Lecompton to a 62-41 triumph.
Krein said that “playoff energy” was palpable from the moment he stepped onto the court.
“The second the game started, we were all just so fired up,” he said, “and we knew that we had to go and get it.”
The convincing victory moves Perry-Lecompton to the sub-state championship game and a matchup with Silver Lake. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm Friday at Sabetha High School.
Perry-Lecompton (17-7 overall) opened the contest on a 5-2 spurt, sparked by Easton Graves’ fastbreak lay-in. But the outsized Kaws struggled on the glass in the opening frame, while the Tigers fully capitalized on second-chance opportunities.
An Evan Payne 3-pointer, followed by Brody Schwinn’s bucket from the right block, capped an 8-0 blitz to put Jefferson West up 15-8.
Kaws’ forward Houston Habiger, who entered the contest averaging a team-leading 17 points per game, buried a 12-foot pull-up jumper, and followed up by parlaying a steal into points on the other end to trim the deficit to four.
Trailing 20-13 early in the second quarter, Krein began to heat up, sinking a trio of triples as the Kaws led 28-23 while closing the half on a 15-5 run.
Offensively, it was a two-man show for Perry-Lecompton in the third quarter. Both Krein and Habiger dropped in eight points apiece, accounting for the entirety of Perry-Lecompton’s offensive output in the frame.
With the Kaws nursing a 34-33 lead midway through the third, the 5-foot-7 Krein showed off some flashy offensive moves. Weaving around the right side of the perimeter, Krein used a headfake to get his defender in the air, took one step to the left, and drilled a 3-ball to electrify the home crowd.
“We’re a momentum team,” Krein said. “When we get hot, nothing can really slow us down, and I think it showed tonight.”
Habiger connected on a 3 a few possessions later, and the rout was on as the Kaws outscored Jefferson West 34-16 in the second half.
Krein supplied Perry-Lecompton with a game-high 26 points, falling just one 3-pointer shy of tying his own school record set against Holton in December.
“It’s easy to be confident when your guys and the coaches trust you so much,” Krein said. “It’s a great place to be.”
Habiger, who finished with 21 points, added: “Every time I pass Colby the ball, I know it’s going through the bottom of the net.”
When they weren’t sinking threes, the Kaws also did a nice job of attacking the rim and drawing contact, finishing 15 of 21 from the charity stripe.
Perry-Lecompton was also superb defensively, holding Jefferson West to just five points in the final frame. Those efforts were keyed by the gritty play of forward Kayden Baker, who pulled down five rebounds and swatted a pair of shots in the second half.
“We were excellent defensively as a whole in the second half,” Perry-Lecompton head coach Matt Simmons said.
Simmons noted that Jefferson West boasted a size advantage “at pretty much every position,” adding that it was imperative for his squad to crash the glass and box out.
“We did a better job of limiting their second-chance points in the second half,” Simmons said. “And I thought we fought really well down the stretch.”
Perry-Lecompton also deployed a junk defense, meaning a blend of zone and man-to-man. They frequently used a “diamond-and-2” look in an attempt to limit Max Tuck, the Tigers’ top scoring option. That strategy worked to perfection as Tuck was held to just three points on the night.
“With their size advantage, I think man would have been tough for us tonight,” Simmons said.
Simmons said his club is accustomed to adapting to various defensive sets due to its size disadvantage against most opponents. To avoid struggling in pick-and-roll situations against bigger teams, Simmons mostly mixes-and-matches junk defenses with a 2-3 zone.
“And if we have to go ‘man,’ we’ll go ‘man,’” he said. “We’ll do whatever it takes to get a win.”
As for Silver Lake (19-6 overall), the defensive game plan will be squarely centered on star guard Dayne Johnson. Averaging around 25 points per game, Johnson is one of the most prolific scorers in the state.
Johnson recently broke the program’s all-time scoring record — held since 1970 by Lon Kruger, a former K-State star player and later head coach of the Wildcats.
“Dayne Johnson is going to go get 20 points just by walking into the gym,” Simmons said. “So we just have to do our best to limit him, and then not let the other guys pile it on.”
The teams squared off in early December, with Silver Lake earning the 59-45 victory. The rematch will also mark Perry-Lecompton’s third appearance in the sub-state title game over the past four seasons, with the team having last advanced to the Class 3A state tournament in 2023. Last year, the team’s season ended with a 56-53 loss against Bishop Ward in the sub-state finals.
