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LAPEL - Lapel coach Kevin Cherry knew Blackford guard Amarian Leggett would be a big problem when the Bulldogs squared off against the Bruins on Saturday for the Class 2A regional championship. The 6-foot-5 sophomore surpassed 1,000 career points just two weeks ago, and guarding him would be a hefty challenge. But Cherry also knew that Blackford had weaknesses elsewhere, and the No.

9 Bruins exploited them as they emerged victorious in a 67-55 win. “We talked about coming to this game that, you know, Leggett may score 30, but our path to success was those other four guys couldn't get going,” Cherry said. “But I thought, really, for the most part, when we went to that two-three zone, which we haven't played a lot of this year, it was a little bit more effective of making (Leggett) be a little bit more of a catch-and-react player versus just being able to get it and get downhill.

So, I’m really proud of our guys. ” Early momentum was heavily in Blackford’s favor as they opened the game with a 9-2 run, including four points from Leggett who led the Bruins with 23 points. Cherry called an early timeout to remind his team they were playing at home.

“Just stay the course,” he said of his message to the team during those tense opening minutes. “Just calm down, you know, we're fine. We're not playing to our standard.