Northern Lebanon's scoring depth too much for Catholic

They say that there is no "I" in team. Even though it is still the early stages of the 2016-2017 season, it appears as though Northern Lebanon is taking that saying to heart.

When you look down the scoring summaries of the first five games for Northern Lebanon’s boys basketball team, you will notice that the Vikings have had three different leading scorers. It’s that kind of balance that often leads to success, but that success hasn’t translated into many wins ... yet.

Entering Monday night’s Section 3 victory against Lebanon Catholic, 68-40, Caleb Light, Cameron Gensler and Alex Yeager all led George’s squad in scoring at least once.

“We’ve had different leading scorers in almost every game, so we’re a well-rounded team,” NL coach Chris George said. “It shows that anybody can score on any given night.”

On Monday, George got several of his players going offensively, as Light (19), Yeager (17), and Michigan Daub (13) all hit double digits against the Beavers.

“We have nine juniors. It’s a deep class and they’re unselfish, they share the ball, they play together,” George said. “When we really play together and we really focus on the defensive end, and work together to get each other great shots, we’re going to be hard to beat. So it’s nice to see that. We’re starting to come together five games in, about 25 percent of the way through, and it’s nice to see that.”

Lebanon Catholic, which suited up only nine players, fought a valiant fight, but the Beavers were unable to overcome the depth and balance of the Vikings despite a game-high 29 points from Kyle Kauffman.

“He plays hard and he has basketball IQ and a nice skill set,” said Scott Clentimack of Kauffman. “Having limited numbers, we’re lucky to have him. He can do a little bit of everything.”

The Beavers who are now 2-3, 0-2 in Section 3, will look to get some other players going offensively as they host Elco on Wednesday. Northern Lebanon (2-3, 1-1 Section 3) will host Columbia.