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Hays girls roll to 66-41 Class 5A semifinal win over short-handed T-Birds
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- The Shawnee Heights Lady T-Birds faced off against the Hays Indians in a Class 5A girls semifinal matchup Friday at Koch Arena, but playing without junior starter Pearmella Carter proved to be a major challenge.
Junior Sami Baum led Shawnee Heights with 21 points in Friday's 66-41 Class 5A semifinal loss to Hays. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
The T-Birds struggled to get anything going offensively or defensively and were out-rebounded 40-22 in a 66-41 loss.
Carter’s absence was felt throughout the night, particularly in the post.
“Her being out was definitely a factor,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “She’s been one of our post defenders all year, and we had girls playing post that hadn’t played much post defense throughout the season. They had a couple really good post players, and we knew that coming in.
"We tried to give them some help and do some things for them, but obviously it wasn’t enough with the way they were scoring inside and outside. It was a tall task for us tonight.”
The T-Birds also could not find their rhythm from beyond the arc, finishing just 1 for-17 from 3-point range. Their lone three came in the third quarter from Sami Baum.
“It was just one of those nights where we had a couple misses early and it kind of got in our heads,” Wells said. “Then we just kept missing and couldn’t get it going from the perimeter.
"Even some of our layups and point-blank shots were missing. It was just a struggle for us all the way around.”
Shawnee Heights dug itself into an early hole when Hays opened the game on a 9 0 run. The T-Birds didn’t record their first points until the four-minute mark of the first quarter when Imani McGlory made a free throw.
Heights was outscored 9-6 the rest of the quarter and trailed 18-7 after one. The second quarter followed a similar script. Hays began the period with another 8-0 run before Baum finally scored for the T-Birds.
The struggles continued as Hays’ Jenna Schmeidler scored nine straight points, helping the Indians take a commanding 35-13 lead into halftime.
Hays never let up in the second half.
Baum tried to spark Shawnee Heights with 11 of her team-high 21 points in the third quarter, but the T-Birds couldn’t string together the defensive stops needed to close the gap.
Hays led 49-24 after three quarters and remained firmly in control.
Andover pulls away late for 71-55 win over T-Birds in Wells’ final game
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- The Shawnee Heights Lady T-Birds took the court against No. 1 seed Andover early Saturday morning in the Class 5A girls third-place game, marking the final game of Heights' coach Bob Wells’ long career.
After falling to Hays 66-41 in the semifinal, Heights looked to turn the page and finish the season with a win and a third-place trophy, but the Trojans didn't let that happen, taking control down the stretch for a 71-55 win.
Shawnee Heights junior KK Emmot scored 27 points in Saturday's 71-55 loss to Andover in the Class 5A third-place game. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
For three quarters, the T-Birds showed the fight that had defined their season -- rebounding, hustling and scoring their way into a tight contest.
Heights led at halftime and trailed by just one point heading into the fourth quarter.
Shawnee Heights got the game off to a strong start when senior Reianna Vega scored the game’s first basket. Andover answered quickly, but the T-Birds kept pace.
T-Bird junior guard KK Emmot had a big first quarter, scoring her eighth point before knocking down a three pointer at the buzzer to cut Heights' deficit to 15-13 at the end of the opening period.
Andover struck first in the second quarter, but Heights responded.
Senior Imani McGlory attacked the rim, drew a foul, and knocked down both free throws to tie the game at 20.
Junior Sami Baum followed with a basket to give Heights the lead, and Vega added a three to push the T-Birds ahead, 25-20.
Andover’s Bella Bouddhara stopped the run with a basket, but Baum answered with a three at the buzzer, sending Shawnee Heights into halftime with a 31-23 lead.
The Trojans came out firing in the third quarter, opening with back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 31 and forcing Heights to call a timeout.
Emmot responded out of the break, driving to the rim for an and-one to put Heights back in front 34-31. Andover continued to battle back.
Grier Hand scored inside and, after a turnover, Bouddhara knocked down a three to give the Trojans the lead.
Emmot answered with another three to make it 41-39. Bouddhara then split a pair of free throws, and Emmot followed by hitting two of her own to cut the deficit to one.
McGlory later drove to the basket for a three-point play, tying the game at 44 and keeping the T-Birds within striking distance.
Emmot added two more free throws with 23 seconds left in the quarter to give Heights a 48-47 lead.
But Bouddhara answered again, hitting a shot to send Andover into the fourth quarter with a 49-48 advantage.
The final quarter belonged to Bouddhara and the Trojans.
Bouddhara scored 14 of her game-high 32 points in the fourth as Andover pulled away.
The Trojans outscored Shawnee Heights 22-7 in the period and forced 11 T-Bird turnovers to secure the 71-55 victory.
Despite the loss, Heights received a standout performance from Emmot, who scored a team-high 27 points and was perfect from the free-throw line, going 15 for 15.
As a team, Shawnee Heights shot an impressive 25 of 28 from the line, good for 89 percent.
“I told the girls all season long I never ever questioned their effort, and that's something I'm really, really proud of,” Wells said. “They play their hardest, and they give their best effort. They did the things that we asked them to do. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Silver Lake boys bounce back to finish third in Class 3A with 61-45 win
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
HUTCHINSON -- For the second year in a row, the Silver Lake boys basketball team rebounded from a disappointing semifinal defeat to bring home the third-place trophy from the Class 3A state tournament.
As he has so many times in his career, senior Dayne Johnson took over the game in the third period, leading the Eagles to a 61-45 win over defending 3A champion Hesston Friday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Silver Lake boys basketball poses for a team picture after finishing third in Class 3A Friday in Hutchinson. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Silver Lake coach Shannon Kruger was proud of the way his team overcame a 57-43 loss to top-seeded Wichita Collegiate on Thursday.
“We knew we had a chance to be here and to finish in Hutch somewhere,” Kruger said. “Obviously, we wanted to be playing for the championship. We got beat by a really good Collegiate team. I thought last night we were right in there in the third quarter. They just made more plays than we did, and all credit to them.
“So, to be able to regroup less than 24 hours later, it’s a credit to the guys that we always talk about next play, one play at a time, one day at a time, and they epitomize it.”
Hesston, winners of four of the previous five 3A titles, had to put aside the devastation of a triple-overtime loss to Burlington in the semifinal round. They had to do so quickly, playing in the early afternoon on Friday after being on the court until after 10:30 p.m. the previous night.
Silver Lake jumped on the sleep-deprived Swathers early, but the Eagles’ lead quickly disappeared when they went to sleep for nearly six minutes in the second period. Silver Lake was fortunate that Hesston scored just five points during that interval.
Johnson closed the first half with highly contested bucket in the lane at the buzzer, putting Silver Lake back on top 25-24. Johnson would then score all of the Eagles’ next 12 points as they increased their lead to 37-28 over a five-minute stretch.
Silver Lake senior star Dayne Johnson hoists the Class 3A third-place trophy after Friday's win over Hesston. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Johnson finished with 29 points, six rebounds and three assists. It was a fitting end to a brilliant career.
“He could have scored zero points and got zero rebounds, and he would still be obviously the best player statistically to ever come through Silver Lake,” Kruger said of the senior. “But for him to finish his career with an epic Dayne-type of performance, he just carried us. Everybody looks at the offense, but defensively he just does everything right.
“I don’t want to think about not having Dayne yet. I want to enjoy it one more day. Everybody knows how great of a player he is. But people that know him understand what a great kid he is. We’re just grateful he was with us for a while.”
