Luther High School's entry at last weekend's Onalaska High School Boys Basketball Booster Club John Shelton Memorial Summer Classic finished 2-2 in their four games.
Luther opened with a 12-point win over West Salem Coulee Region Christian School. Luther was missing 2007-08 high school starters Joey Leibl and Jordan Podella in their second game, falling by 10 points to Spring Valley.
Luther completed its pool with a 15-point win over Brookwood. Luther fell to small-school champion Hillsboro in a Sunday semifinal.
“We had a minimum of 20 guys every game,” incoming Luther head coach Brad Schaper, who used his final summer contact day Saturday, said. “It was a good chance to evaluate players. We played with a lot of intensity.”
The number of players was its largest against Brookwood, with 23 players in attendace. Schaper said Luther was able to use its players in waves of five at a time.
Luther led at halftime against Hillsboro, but fell by 10 points. Schaper said his club had problems handling Hillsboro's post duo.
“Joey's going to have to be a leader and carry us at times this coming year,” Schaper said. “Jordan rebounded well this weekend.”
Among the top players among Luther's non 07-08 starters, Schaper said, was Cody Krueger. Krueger played off-guard with Leibl, and point guard in the games Leibl missed.
“I was most impressed in the Hillsboro game with the pace we played,” Schaper said. “We played the way we wanted to play in the second game, but we needed to make some adjustments to our point defense.”

