By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
JaiMarion Cook had a night shooting the basketball he won’t soon forget. The senior connected on all seven three-pointers he attempted Friday against Lansing to lead the T-Birds to a 73-52 win on Shawnee Heights’ Senior Night.
Shawnee Heights senior JaiMarion Cook hit seven 3-pointers in Friday's 73-52 win over Lansing. [File photo/TSN]i
Cook swished the game’s first shot to trigger a 12-0 run to open the game. The T-Birds hit their first five shots, and nine of 11 attempts in the first period to bolt to a 23-5 lead. Cook did most of the damage, hitting four 3-pointers, barely grazing the rim on any of his attempts.
Shawnee Heights stretched that lead to 38-12 at the half, with Cook hitting another 3-pointer.
The senior buried Shawnee Heights’ first two shot attempts of the second half to give him seven 3-pointers in the first 18 minutes of the game. Only late in the third period did he finally miss a shot – a tough reverse on a drive through traffic. The senior finished with 23 points to lead all scorers.
“I felt it before I even walked out of the locker room,” Cook said. “It just felt like, when we embraced each other on the middle of the court before the game…it was like something was in the air.”
Though he kept connecting, Cook didn’t worry about his perfect streak.
“It’s not about a streak,” Cook said. “I just told myself, ‘Keep shooting. You’re on fire right now.’ ”
At times this season, Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting has lamented his team’s offensive limitations. He smiled when discussing the team’s blistering start and Cook’s perfect night from behind the arc.
“When I’m disappointed, I’m usually disappointed with effort, because our margin of error is so that we have to be perfect,” Darting said. “We can’t make mistakes. But we can shoot it, if we take our time to get what we call ‘gold shots.’ That’s a shot you can make.”
Darting has seen good three-point shooters before. His son and current assistant coach Kerry Darting, for one, was one of the state’s best three-point shooters when he played at Silver Lake. The elder Darting was as happy with the T-Birds’ defense as he was their hot shooting. The Lions hit just 19-53 shots from the field. Typically high-scoring junior Deacon Manthe was held to just 1-9 on his shot attempts.
Following Cook’s lead for Shawnee Heights was Cam Ross with 21 points. Freshman Quincy Dixon added 11.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 73, LANSING 52
Lansing 5 7 26 14 -- 52
Shawnee Heights 23 15 18 17 -- 73
Lansing (7-8) – Me. Stephens 2-7 3-4 7, Heim 1-1 0-0 3, Manthe 1-9 1-2 3, Anderson 3-5 0-0 8, Wilson 5-8 2-2 12, Boden 3-9 0-0 7, Ma. Stephens 2-7 1-1 6, Mattingly 1-1 2-2 4, Broadway 1-2 0-0 2, Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Hayes 0-0 0-0 0, Beeman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-52 9-11 52.
Shawnee Heights (11-6) – Alston 3-4 2-6 9, Cook 8-9 0-0 23, Ross 8-16 5-6 21, Scott 3-8 0-0 7, Dixon 3-5 3-3 11, Becker 0-0 2-2 2, Lincoln 0-1 0-0 0, Vega 0-0 0-0 0, Halloran 0-0 0-0 0, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-43 12-17 73.
3-point goals – Lansing 5 (Anderson 2, Heim 1, Boden 1, Ma. Stephens 1), Shawnee Heights 11 (Cook 7, Dixon 2, Alston 1, Scott 1). Total fouls – Lansing 10, Shawnee Heights 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
