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LAUREL — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Bears opened the 2023-24 basketball season with a couple of resounding home wins over Creighton on Nov. 30 and Crofton on Dec. 1 in Laurel.
The Bears bombarded the Bulldogs 58-19 and then took care of the Warriors 69-49 to post a 2-0 record in the early going.
Against Crofton, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge wasted little time gaining an advantage.
The Bears staked a 20-11 lead after the first eight minutes and increased it to 40-21 by the time the buzzer indicated the halftime break.
The Warriors nibbled back at the lead in the third frame, gaining two points back, but Laurel-Concord-Coleridge finished strong and posted the 20-point win.
Kolby Hansen had the best night of his career. The 6-foot-9-inch senior canned 9-of-11 shots from the field and a couple of free throws to get to 20 points in the game.
Gibson Roberts added 13 points, including a 7-for-7 performance from the charity stripe, and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Kayton Hall had 11 points and hauled in five missed shots.
The Bears used a stifling defense to send the Bulldogs back home with a loss.
In fact, the LCC defense held Creighton to six points or fewer in every quarter. Meanwhile, the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge offense was piling up 15, 16, 16 and 11 points in each frame.
Hansen and Hall each had 10 points to pace the offensive attack.
Roberts and Caleb Erwin each tossed in seven points, Carter Kvols had six and Tyler Olson chipped in five.
Kvols tracked down a dozen rebounds and Erwin, Hansen and Roberts each had three steals.
The Bears were scheduled to have one more home date on Dec. 5 before hitting the road for the first time this season.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge was set to play Homer Dec. 5 before a road trip Dec. 8 to take on Tri County Northeast.
The Bears will return home Dec. 12 to take on Ponca.
Crofton 11 10 17 11 - 49 LCC 20 20 15 14 - 69 LAUREL-CONCORD-COLERIDGE: Bradyn Urwiler 0-1 0-0 0; Landen Leonard 2-4 1-2 5; Kolby Hansen 9-11 2-6 20; Gibson Roberts 3-8 7-7 13; Eli Haisch 2-3 0-0 6; Connor Korth 0-3 0-0 0; Tyler Olson 3-9 0-0 9; Carter Kvols 2-6 0-0 5; Kayton Hall 5-8 1-2 11. Creighton 4 6 4 5 - 19 LCC 15 16 16 11 - 58 LAUREL-CONCORD-COLERIDGE: Urwiler 1-2 0-0 3; Caleb Erwin 3-9 0-1 7; Leonard 1-3 0-0 3; Hansen 5-9 0-2 10; Brock Koranda 0-2 0-0 0; Roberts 3-10 0-0 7; Haisch 1-5 0-0 3; Korth 1-4 0-0 3; Tanner Thompson 0-2 1-2 1; Olson 2-6 0-0 5; Kvols 3-7 0-0 6; Hall 2-4 6-7 10; Cade Johnson 0-1 0-0 0.
