By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

After a commanding first-round victory at the Webster Groves Invitational last week, the Lindbergh High boys’ basketball team lost a “heartbreaker” that may have been the team’s best performance, Flyer head coach Jason Wol-fard said.

The Flyers defeated Sumner 88-70 in the first round last Friday but lost to Hillcrest of Springfield 73-71 in the second round on Saturday.

“I’m pleased with where we are,” Wolfard told the Call. “We wanted to go past the first round of the Webster Groves tournament, which we did. We just didn’t go as far as we wanted.”

The Flyers (2-2) held a 49-22 advantage at halftime against Sumner before the Bulldogs trimmed Lindbergh’s lead to 63-46 after three quarters of play.

“We had a 27-point lead at halftime and they (Sumner) began chipping away at it,” Wolfard said. “Our guys had put it on cruise control and we started making mistakes and Sumner took advantage of that.”

Lindbergh senior Richard Williams recorded 28 points and five assists for the Flyers as he nailed five of seven shots from three-point range.

Three other Lindbergh players scored in double figures against Sumner, significantly contributing to the lopsided victory. Sophomore Robby Meeh tallied 15 points and six rebounds while junior Kevin Gremmelsbacher had 12 points and three rebounds, and sophomore Ben Harmon had 10 points.

The Flyers found themselves in a dogfight the following day against Hillcrest as they held a tight 32-27 lead at halftime. But Hillcrest took a 51-47 lead after three quarters of play and managed to quash a late Lindbergh rally to hold on to the win.

“The Hillcrest game was probably our best game offensively and defensively,” Wolfard said. “It was really a heartbreaker for us.”

Williams lead the Flyers with 37 points and three re-bounds, nailing seven of 11 shots from three-point range.

“Besides the SLUH game, Richard’s shooting 80 percent from three-point range,” Wolfard said. “He’s just so good at creating shots.”

Sophomore Tyler Kiel also scored in double figures with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.

“As a freshman, Tyler was really quiet,” Wolfard said. “This year he’s learned how to take some leadership and take the shot when he gets the ball.”

The Flyers will enter Suburban West Conference competition this Friday as they play host to a hungry Mehlville squad with a 3-1 record.

The Panthers are led by the hot shooting of senior guards Ronald Roberts, who averages 16.5 points per game and Nick DuBuque, who averages 15.8 points per game.

“Mehlville is very athletic and we’ve got to come out and have a team effort against them,” Wolfard said. “We’ve got to keep them off the boards and have a solid half-court defense.”

Lindbergh’s conference match against Mehlville starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday.