By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There were times Saturday when Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team appeared to be on the verge of taking control against Piper, with the host T-Birds opening up 11-point leads in both halves.
But there were also times when Heights appeared on the verge of losing control, with Piper going in front by five points midway through the fourth quarter.
But in a game that included five ties and five lead changes, Shawnee Heights found a way to stay in the hunt and close out a 58-55 non-league win with clutch free throw shooting over the final 1:32.
"We hung in, hung in,'' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said. "We never let them get away, five or six (behind) but not get away.''
Shawnee Heights sophomore Brennon Dodge tied for game-high honors with 13 points in the T-Birds' 58-55 win over Piper on Saturday. [File photo/TSN
Ken Darting's Shawnee Heights T-Birds improved to 12-5 with a 58-55 win over Piper on Saturday. [File photo/TSN]
Piper (10-7), coached by former Shawnee Heights state championship coach Steve Wallace, took a 51-46 lead with 4:22 remaining but Shawnee Heights outscored the Pirates 12-4 the rest of the way to improve to 12-5 on the season.
Senior point guard Jarin Sanders hit two free throws with 1:32 remaining to put the T-Birds ahead to stay at 54-33 and sophomore Jacob Malcom hit two charies with 35.2 seconds left for a 56-53 lead and with Heights nursing a 56-55 edge freshman Jaret Sanchez hit what proved to be the two clinchers with 8.6 seconds on the clock.
Sanchez hit five of six free throws in the game and three of four over the final 2:07, including the final points of the game.
"The thing I like and dislike about Sanchez is he aint afraid to make a mistake,'' Darting said. "He's good to be in a game like that because he'll throw the ball out of bounds trying to make a hell of a pass but he'll knock down a 3 when you need it, he'll make free throws when you need it so he's got that inners that he's going to be a really good player with time.''
Piper missed a 3-point attempt with time running down and the Pirates grabbed the rebound but were unable to get a shot off.
Sophomores Brennon Dodge and Jayden Holly led the T-Birds with 13 points apiece while Sanders added 12 points.
Sophomore Devin Kerr led Piper with a game-high 20 points.
With Saturday's win Shawnee Heights kept itself in position to host a first-round Class 5A postseason playoff game.
"This was huge,'' Darting said.
The T-Birds play three games this week to close out the regular season, sandwiching road games against state-ranked De Soto and Basehor-Linwood around a home makeup game against Turner on Wednesday.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 58, PIPER 55
Piper 17 10 14 14 -- 55
Shawnee Heights 18 14 11 15 -- 58
Piper () -- Burgess 1-2 0-0 3, Moore 3-11 1-2 9, Briggs 1-10 7-11 9, Porter 0-1 1-2 1, Roth 1-6 0-1 2, Simmons 3-5 0-0 6, Martin 1-1 0-0 3, Kerr 10-14 0-1 10, Vigil 1-4 0-0 2, Walton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 9-17 55.
Shawnee Heights (12-5) -- Pewe 4-7 0-0 9, Sanders 4-4 3-3 12, Dodge 5-14 2-2 13, Holly 6-9 1-3 13, Kendrick 0-3 0-2 0, Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Ginter 0-1 0-0 0, Sanchez 0-0 5-6 5, Pomeroy 1-2 2-3 4, Malcom 0-0 2-2 2, Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 15-21 58.
3-point goals -- Piper 4 (Moore 2, Burgess, Martine), Shawnee Heights 3 (Pewe, Sanders, Dodge). Total fouls -- Piper 18, Shawnee Heights 18. Fouled out – none.
