Rush Landry's go-ahead 3 captures 'last momentum' for O'Gorman in win over Washington

Michael McCleary, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·3 min read

Washington High School guard Mikele Kambalo had the crowd thinking he had just won the game. The 5-foot-9 scoring guard had gone on a rampage earlier, and with the Warriors down by two, he took the ball in transition, threw the ball behind his back and rose.

Late in the fourth quarter, his 3-pointer gave Washington a two-point lead.

Kambalo nodded his head and skipped to the defensive end, feeling the momentum come, finally, to Washington. But no more than a few seconds later, O’Gorman High School forward Rush Landry caught the ball behind the 3-point line on the left wing, rose and took the momentum all back.

“Just another shot,” said Landry, whose made 3-pointer on the left wing sparked O’Gorman’s final run of the game.

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O'Gorman forward Rush Landry looks back at the ball against Washington on Jan. 10, 2022.
O'Gorman forward Rush Landry looks back at the ball against Washington on Jan. 10, 2022.

In a game O’Gorman boys basketball head coach Derek Robey said the Knights “very easily could have dropped,” the team (7-1) made plays when it mattered most Monday to seal off a victory over Washington (3-3) 62-51 at Washington High School. Landry led O’Gorman with 16 points and seven rebounds, matching David Alpers III’s 16 points. Alpers added six rebounds of his own. Mikele Kambalo had 14 points for the Warriors, followed by Joe Uttecht with 13 and Mandalla Mohamed with 12.

“I was very proud of our guys,” Robey said. “We basically just got the last momentum.”

If the first half was anything, it was physical. Washington and O’Gorman both threw their bodies around, drawing fouls and slamming hard to the floor. The Knights won that battle initially, and at halftime just narrowly trailed Washington 26-23. Mikele Kambalo, who leads the Warriors in scoring, was held scoreless until midway through the second quarter.

Then O’Gorman mishandled a pass and Kambalo leaked out in transition with the steal, finishing a layup with his left hand. That got him going. He hit a 3-pointer. Then another one. And as the second half began, he was fully in a zone. Kambalo, along with Mohamed, broke through in a game with limited scoring.

“It was such a physical game,” Robey said. “It was hard to get going, really, offensively or defensively.”

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Washington guard Joe Uttecht dribbles through traffic on Jan. 10, 2022.
Washington guard Joe Uttecht dribbles through traffic on Jan. 10, 2022.

But eventually, they did. O’Gorman tried multiple ball-handlers throughout the game: starting point guard Radley Mauney, guard Matthew Eng, guard Manny Struck and Landry. In the third quarter, Mauney went down with an apparent leg injury and Landry said it was “next man up.”

The Knights, through a bunch of versatile looks, found their rhythm. Alpers dominated the boards. The 6-foot-5 Landry looked natural at the lead guard position. To start the fourth quarter, O’Gorman exploded, going on a huge run that Washington couldn’t come back from.

And when there was a play to be made, they made it. Landry said on the go-ahead 3-pointer, it just happened to be him.

“Somebody had to knock it down,” Landry said. “Might as well be me.”

Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Rush Landry's go-ahead 3 captures 'last momentum' for O'Gorman in win over Washington