By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Defending Class 5A state-champion Seaman is off on the right foot in 2023 after taking a 60-45 United Kansas Conference win over Leavenworth Thursday night at Seaman.
The Vikings, who started the season 1-3, rode big nights from veterans Kaeden Bonner and Aron Davis to the win over the Pioneers.
Seaman senior Kaeden Bonner scored 25 points to lead the Vikings in Thursday's 60-45 UKC win over Leavenworth. [File photo/TSN]
Seaman senior Aron Davis scored 15 points in Thursday's 60-45 UKC win over Leavenworth. [File photo/TSN]
Bonner finished with a game-high 25 points, while Davis contributed 15 points.
“When I started the game my shots weren’t flowing, but I was able to work around that,” Bonner said. “I started driving the ball inside more, which helped me get me back to my game. Aron and I like to feed off of each other. I thought the way we were able to control the game helped us get the win.”
With Davis, sidelined at the beginning of the season with a knee injury, recently returning to action the Vikings are feeling more optimistic about the trajectory of this season.
With the recent winter break, Davis was able to get conditioned physically. Getting David back into shape with no injuries is a terrific sign for Seaman.
“The Christmas break practices helped Aron’s conditioning to where he’s going to be able to play a lot of minutes,” Seaman coach Craig Cox said. “A kid with his talent, we need him on the floor so we can ride those two (Bonner and Davis) and have other guys get better because of them.”
Bonner and Davis accounted for 100 percent of the Viking offense in the first quarter. The shots were falling for the duo at a high rate early and Bonner and Davis were the catalysts for a 14-6 run. Bonner had 10 points, and Davis had 4.
To close out the quarter, Leavenworth tallied four points to gain momentum in concluding the first quarter.
The offense outside of Davis and Bonner was non-existant in the second quarter as well as the first. Leavenworth’s zone defense presented the Seaman offense with some problems. Seaman had superb shot selection; they were just unlucky.
The athletic gift and natural scoring ability, combined with stellar shot selection, allowed Bonner to lead the team when others were struggling.
While Bonner’s shots weren’t all converting, most of them did. The attention that he commanded also set up Davis with good looks in the paint.
Leavenworth outscored Seaman in the second quarter, 11-7. By the time the halftime break arrived, Bonner had a game-high 15 points, and Davis had six points. Bonner and Davis provided the entire offense.
Seaman shot the ball 0 of 11 from the 3-point line, but the game was tied at halftime, 21-21.
The Viking defense kept them in contention in the conference matchup in the first half.
“I really liked the way we started the game,” Cox said. “They switched defenses, and we got flat-footed from that. We weren’t attacking their zone. I can’t complain about any of those shots that we missed before half. They were all good looks that all of our guys are capable of making. I know we can make shots.”
The Vikings shot the ball much better in the third quarter and were able to take the load off of Bonner and Davis. Six different Vikings scored throughout the quarter, and the ball movement from everyone on the court was rhythmic with good timing.
“We attacked the zone and had more confidence in ourselves as shooters,” Cox said. “You can’t let bad shooting carry over and have an effect in the second half. If that does carry over and it’s just not our night to hit shots, we need to know how to respond. We need to know how to get the ball in the paint, get good shots and get to the free throw line. I liked the way we attacked, shared the ball and responded.”
The ball movement carried over into the fourth quarter smoothly. Seaman was able to put the game away with its 23-point fourth quarter.
Seaman gained its first double-digit lead of the game with 5:36 remaining in the fourth quarter forcing Leavenworth to take a timeout. After the timeout, Leavenworth would hit three consecutive shots, but the Vikings answered right back.
Leavenworth was forced to foul the Vikings and send them to the charity stripe. Seaman would go six of six from the free throw line and closed out the game with two transition buckets.
On Tuesday Seaman (2-3, 2-3) will hit the road to take on Basehor-Linwood in a United Kansas Conference matchup.
SEAMAN BOYS 60, LEAVENWORTH 45
Leavenworth 10 11 8 16 – 45
Seaman 14 7 16 23 – 60
Leavenworth (1-5, 0-4) – Miller 0 0-0 0, Bethea 2 0-0 4, Lewis 5 3-4 16, McLaughlin 7 4-5 20, Strickland 1 1-2 3, Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 8-11 45.
Seaman (2-3, 2-3) – KaeVon Bonner 1 2-2 5, Kaeden Bonner 10 5-5 25, Chapman 1 0-1 2, Unruh 1 0-0 3, Davis 7 0-0 15, B. Finley 2 2-2 7, Thompson 1 0-0 3, H. Finley 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 9-10 60.
3-point goals -- Leavenworth 5 (Lewis 3, McLaughlin 2), Seaman 5 (KaeVon Bonner, Unruh, Davis, B. Finley, Thompson). Total fouls – Leavenworth 15, Seaman 12. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
