By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural girls basketball coach Kevin Bordewick didn't really have any complaints with his team's defensive performance in Friday night's Thunderbird Classic semifinal.
It was on offense where the No. 3-ranked (Class 6A) Junior Blues struggled, shooting 24.3 percent from the field and turning the ball over 23 times in a 47-37 loss to undefeated and top-ranked (6A) Shawnee Mission South at Shawnee Heights.
Brooklyn DeLeye (middle) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Washburn Rural's 47-37 loss to top-ranked Shawnee Mission South Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior MaRyah Lutz (5), who scored nine points, drives to the basket in Friday's 47-37 Washburn Rural loss to No. 1-ranked Shawnee Mission South. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We were turning the ball over at a remarkable rate,'' Bordewick said. "I thought our defense was really good and we worked so hard to get the ball and then would just give it back.
"Some of their turnovers were because of their pressure but some were just self-inflicted.''
Washburn Rural, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, held Shawnee Mission South to 17 first-half points and didn't allow the Raiders to get out of the 30s until there was just 1:25 left to play.
But the 8-3 Junior Blues managed just nine field goals on the night, including zero in the second quarter, and struggled against the South press most of the night.
Shawnee Mission South and Rural were tied at 9 at the end of the first quarter and the Raiders allowed just three Rural free throws in the second quarter while going up 17-12.
South led by 10 early in the third quarter but Rural cut its deficit to six points (27-21) by the start of the fourth quarter.
The Raiders built their advantage to 13 three times in the fourth staza.
Brooklyn DeLeye, Rural's 6-foot-2 senior post player, scored a game-high 20 points and also grabbed eight rebounds and senior MaRyah Lutz added nine points for the Junior Blues, but no other Rural player had more than three points.
Bordewick admitted that the defending state-champion Junior Blues are still adjusting to playing without standout junior point guard Zoe Canfield, out for the year with a knee injury (ACL), but he said Rural has to move on and continue to improve.
"That's what we talked about (in the locker room),'' Bordewick said. "Zoe's out. That's a fact and she's not coming back, so we've got to have people step up and that includes in practice.
"Everything's a process. This loss isn't going to make or break our season but we've got to learn from it and have got to go to practice and put the hard hat on and work. We think we're working hard, but I don't think we are. We've got another level that we have to get to if we're going to compete with teams like that.''
Junior Azailah Funches led Shawnee Mission South with 16 points while junior Camryn Smith added 14 points and junior Joyceln Moore nine.
Washburn Rural will face Hutchinson in Saturday's 11:30 a.m. third-place game while Shawnee Mission South will take on Wichita South in the 1 p.m. championship game.
SHAWNEE MISSION SOUTH GIRLS 47, WASHBURN RURAL 37
Washburn Rural 9 3 9 16 -- 37
Shawnee Mission South 9 8 10 20 -- 47
Washburn Rural (8-3) -- Lutz 2-8 3-4 9, Hinck 1-7 1-3 3, Carlgren 0-5 2-2 2, Bunck 0-1 0-0 1, DeLeye 5-10 8-11 20, Ochs 1-6 1-2 3, Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-37 15-22 37.
Shawnee Mission South (10-0) -- Moore 3-11 3-4 9, Staines 1-2 0-0 2, Funches 5-8 6-7 16, Smith 3-14 8-11 14, VanElders 2-7 0-0 6, Bagby 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Berndt 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-45 17-22 47.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 4 (DeLeye 2, Lutz 2), Shawnee Mission South 2 (VanElders 2). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 17, Shawnee Mission South 20. Fouled out -- Hinck, Funches.
