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.”
The game marked the end of Wells’ tenure as Heights' coach.
“I’m going to be one of the biggest fans of the Shawnee Heights Lady Thunderbirds, that’s for sure,” Wells said. “I’ll be hiding in the corner at a lot of their games, trying not to be seen.
"My wife and I already have some family things planned, including a trip to Disney with some of the grandkids, and my wife’s got a cruise planned for us. We’re going to be living life and taking care of ourselves.”
ANDOVER 71, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 55
Shawnee Heights 13 18 17 7 -- 55
Andover 15 8 26 22 -- 71
Shawnee Heights (22-6) -- Emmot 5-11 15-15 27, Baum 4-7 0-0 9, Vega 2-11 3-4 8, McGlory 1-9 5-5 7, Schmidt 0-1 1-2 1, Hamilton 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 13-40 25-28 55.
Andover (25-2) -- Bouddhara 12-21 4-8 32, Sullivan 7-16 2-3 17, Hand 6-16 1-5 14, Eilert 1-5 0-0 2, Robert 0-1 1-2 1, Pierce 1-1 2-2 5, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Filler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 10-20 71.
3-point goals — Shawnee Heights 4 (Emmot 2, Baum, Vega), Andover 7 (Bouddhara 4, Sullivan, Hand, Pierce). Total Fouls -- Shawnee Heights 16, Andover 20. Fouled out - Vega, Sullivan. Technical fouls - None.
