By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Despite the De Soto Lady Wildcats converting 12 3-point shots on Friday night, Shawnee Heights hung tight in a narrow 54-50 United Kansas Conference defeat at home.
Shawnee Heights saw a lot of positives in the season-opening loss but the T-Birds were out-rebounded by a large margin and sent De Soto to the free throw line 30 times although the Wildcats were only able to convert 40 percent of their charity opportunities.
Emari Doby
"It's a learning experience and a process," Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "I didn't anticipate us sending De Soto to the line 30 times. But I knew after the first few minutes of the game that we had to do some different things on defense. Usually, when a team hits 12 three (point shots), you get beat by 30. They made all of those threes, and we were still in it because we were fighting and scratching."
Heights enior Emari Doby played a big part in why Shawnee Heights played De Soto so closely, racking up 24 points. Doby was 8 of 12 from the free-throw line and was a force to be reckoned with..
"It's always a good thing to get her going," Wells said. "She's great on the offensive end and stepping up on the defensive end as well as other areas."
In the first quarter, Shawnee Heights was in complete control early. The Lady Thunderbirds did a stellar job of crashing De Soto's passing lane and forced the Lady Wildcats to take contested shots on the perimeter.
Doby was the main priority for De Soto's defense. Doby's presence opened up opportunities for Breezy Canady, Abby Fleischer and Haydin Hill in the first quarter, helping Shawnee Heights take a 16-11 lead.
In the second quarter, the stars were the brightest for both teams as Doby and De Soto's Makenzie Farmer couldn't seem to miss.
Farmer's red-hot shooting from the 3-point line and Doby's scoring from inside the paint presented problems for both defenses. However, De Soto would edge Shawnee Heights in the quarter.
Farmer shot and converted four 3-point shots, and that was four of the Lady Wildcats' seven 3-point conversions of the half.
Farmer's shotmaking gave De Soto a one-point lead over Shawnee Heights heading at the half.
Out of the halftime break, shots were falling effortlessly for both teams. De Soto maintained that one-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
With 1:53 left to go, Canady tied the game after finishing her three-point play with a successful free throw.
Shawnee Heights would trail 53-50 with 1:07 to go when Doby crashed in the middle of the lane and was met by Violet Conley. Doby made the shot, but Conley took the hit and drew a charge on Doby, sucking the life out of the Thunderbird faithful.
De Soto would still hold a 53-50 lead with 23.9 left in the contest. Doby would make the same move. She crashed the paint and made the shot, but De Soto greeted her down low and drew another charge.
Those two charges would end the game, and De Soto would win it 54-50.
DE SOTO GIRLS 54, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 50
De Soto 11 15 15 13 – 54
Shawnee Heights 16 9 15 10 – 50
De Soto (1-0, 1-0) – Ad. Tower 5 0-5 13, Tuttle 0 1-2 1, Farmer 6 2-3 19, Carpenter 0 1-2 1, Am. Tower 4 0-0 12, Conley 0 5-10 5, O’Brien 0 3-8 3.
Shawnee Heights (0-1, 0-1) – Rottinghaus 0 2-4 2, Showalter 0 2-4 2, Hill 2 0-0 5, Doby 7 8-12 24, Rantz 0 0-1 0, Canady 4 1-1 9, Fleischer 3 2-2 8.
