By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
After an 11-0 start things looked promising for the Washburn Rural boys (2-2) on Tuesday night against Shawnee Mission Northwest (2-1), but a stagnant offense the rest of the way cost the Junior Blues late, with Rural losing 58-51 to the Cougars.
“I thought we got pretty good looks, for the most part, most of the night but we hit some early and didn’t hit as many as the game went on,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins after his first home game. “Credit to them, they do a good job of pressuring, I think their ball pressure affected us and sped us up.”
Senior Jack Bachelor led Washburn Rural with 17 points in Tuesday's 58-51 non-league loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After scoring 19 points in the third quarter Rural was outscored 17-9 in the final period to lose at home. The Junior Blues were also without second-leading scorer, senior Wyatt Conklin, as well as sophomore Max Bettis, leading to only seven players seeing action.
Seniors Jack Bachelor and Jacob Hirschi scored nine of the 11 points in Rural’s 11-0 run to open the game. Three 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the quarter by Northwest sophomore Aiven Riley helped spur a 10-0 run and make it 17-13 after one.
Back-to-back layups by junior JC Heim had the Junior Blues ahead late in the second quarter. The Cougars again ended strong, on a 4-0 run to take a 24-23 lead at the half.
The third quarter featured seven lead changes, with the offenses of both teams working as well as they would the whole game. Sophomore Kaden Ballard scored seven straight points for Rural late in the third quarter to bring the Junior Blues from down one to up by three.
After beginning the fourth quarter with a 42-41 lead Washburn Rural quickly fell behind, with four straight points to open for the Cougars. Bachelor connected on a 3-pointer with 5:28 to go, bringing the Junior Blues within one but that is as close as they would come.
Turnovers late hurt Rural’s comeback attempt and helped give Northwest the cushion they needed as they were able to claim a road victory, 58-51.
“It kind of felt like we were a victim of playing at their tempo, a little sped up like we were uncomfortable on offense most of the night and didn’t really settle in and grind for what we wanted,” Hutchins said. “We got to take control of the situation and there’s no blaming and pointing fingers or anything, we just got to fix some things, watch the film, work and continue to improve.”
Thirty-four points in the second half for the Cougars spoiled the home opener for Rural, and snapped a two-game win streak.
Bachelor led the Junior Blues in scoring, finishing with 17 points. JC Heim was in double figures, scoring 10, and Hirschi added nine.
Aiven Riley had 21 including five 5-pointers to lead Northwest. Van Collins finished with 14 points.
Washburn Rural will be back on the road Saturday, taking on Wichita Heights in the final game before the holiday break.
SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST 58, WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 51
SM Northwest 13 11 17 17 -- 58
Washburn Rural 17 6 19 9 - - 51
Shawnee Northwest (2-1) – Bennett 1-3 1-2 3, Bolton 1-3 0-0 3, Collins 5-13 4-6 14, Moses 0-1 0-0 0, O’Atis 4-12 1-2 9, Habben 0-2 0-0 0, Wagler 2-6 1-1 5, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Riley 8-11 0-0 21, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 7-11 58.
Washburn Rural (2-2) – Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Morris 1-7 0-0 2, Hirschi 4-10 0-0 9, Bachelor 7-13 2-4 17, Ballard 2-6 3-3 7, Durst 1-5 2-3 4, JC Heim 4-6 2-2 10. Total 20-49 9-12 51.
3-point goals – Washburn Rural 2 (Bachelor 1, Hirschi 1), Shawnee Northwest 6 (Riley 5, Bolton 1). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 11, Shawnee Northwest 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – Washburn Rural (Jones), Shawnee Northwest (O’Atis).
