By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Barring a huge upset, the No. 3 state-ranked Shawnee Heights boys basketball team was going to win Tuesday night's home United Kansas Conference game against winless Lansing.
But after relinquishing a 14-point lead in a three-point loss to Piper its last time out, Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting wanted a lot more out of his team than just a victory.
Senior Jaret Sanchez scored a game-high 15 points in Shawnee Heights' 66-24 win over Lansing Tuesday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And Darting got exactly what he was looking for, with Shawnee Heights improving to 2-1 overall and in the UKC with a 66-24 romp past the Lions.
"Believe me, they were challenged to have energy tonight, and that's what I enjoyed,'' Darting said. "The thing you wanted to do tonight was play yourself. Play the game right, don't make turnovers, go to the boards, shoot free throws and we did that I think.
"I always worry about playing up, playing down to the competition and just want to play us every night and I thought we did that.''
Shawnee Heights missed some shots early and actually trailed 5-2 and 7-6 but the T-Birds scored the final seven points of the opening quarter to take a 13-7 lead and never looked back.
The T-Birds hit the Lions with a 23-9 second quarter to take a 36-16 advantage to the locker room at halftime and then limited Lansing to just eight second-half points as Shawnee Heights pulled away for the 42-point win.
Eight players cracked the scoring column for Shawnee Heights, led by senior Jaret Sanchez with a game-high 15 points.
Junior Da'Quan Lee (24) scored 12 points in Shawnee Heights' 66-24 UKC win over Lansing. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Tyren Parker (12) came off the bench to score 10 points in Tuesday's 66-24 Shawnee Heights win over Lansing. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Sanchez was one of six T-Birds to score at least seven points and one of three double-figure scorers for Shawnee Heights, which got 12 points from junior Da'Quan Lee and 10 off the bench from Tyren Parker.
Junior JaiMarion Cook added eight points for the T-Birds while senior Deacon Pomeroy had seven points and eight rebounds and junior Ontarius scored seven points.
Sophomore Mehki Stephens led Lansing (0-3, 0-2) with 11 points, the only Lion with more than six points.
Shawnee Heights will be back in action on Friday, traveling to Topeka West for a UKC Contest. West is also 2-1 after a 59-58 road win at Piper Tuesday night.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 66, LANSING 24
Lansing 7 9 6 2 -- 24
Shawnee Heights 13 23 22 8 -- 66
Lansing (0-3, 0-2) -- Stephens 4-11 1-2 11, Heim 0-3 2-2 2, Zimmerman 2-7 1-2 6, Mattingly 1-5 0-0 2, Wilson 0-2 1-4 1, Boden 1-3 0-0 2, Broadway 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, Wade 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Kannaday 0-0 0-0 0, Beeman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 8-36 5-10 24.
Shawnee Heights (2-1, 2-1) -- Cook 3-5 0-0 8, Pomeroy 3-9 0-0 7, Sanchez 6-12 1-1 15, Ross 2-5 0-2 4, Lee 6-8 0-0 12, Parker 5-6 0-0 10, Alston 1-3 1-2 3, Emmot 3-8 0-0 7, Ledell 0-3 0-0 0, Campbell 0-2 0-0 0, Doby 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 2-5 66.
3-point goals -- Lansing 3 (Stephens 2, Zimmerman), Shawnee Heights 6 (Cook 2, Sanchez 2, Emmot, Pomeroy). Total fouls -- Lansing 4, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
