By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was Seaman that got to hang a championship banner Friday night, but De Soto did gain a measure of revenge in Friday night's rematch of last season's Class 5A state championship game.
Seaman, which beat the Wildcats 66-47 in the 2022 title game, led for most of the night before De Soto took control in the fourth quarter to take a 57-48 United Kansas Conference victory at Seaman.
Seaman senior Aron Davis, who is coming off a summer knee injury, scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in Friday's 57-48 UKC loss to De Soto. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
Freshman KaeVon Bonner scored 14 points with four 3-pointers in Seaman's 57-48 UKC loss to De Soto Friday night at Seaman. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
"To their credit, they fought back and did what they had to do in terms of hitting some big shots late and they made the plays they needed to to win,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said.
Seaman roared out to a 13-3 first-quarter advantage over the No. 4-ranked Wildcats, but De Soto (5-1 overall, 3-0 in the UKC) answered with a 23-13 second quarter to knot the game at halftime, 25-25.
Seaman, 1-3, 1-3, built its lead back to 40-36 at the start of the fourth quarter but De Soto scored the first six points of the final period to take its first lead since early in the first quarter at 42-40 with 5:33 remaining.
Seaman senior standout Aron Davis, who was making his first appearance of the season, tied the game at 42 with 5:03 left but the Wildcats outscored the Vikings 15-6 the rest of the way.
De Soto was 17 of 23 at the free throw line on the night, with Wildcat junior David Cobin 10 of 10, including 8 of 8 in the fourth quarter, while Seaman was just one of four in the game.
Cobin led De Soto with a game-high 18 points while sophomore Jayden Lang added 15 points and senior Trent Johnson 11.
Davis, who is coming back from a summer knee injury, scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds in limited minutes, playing just two to three minutes at a time.
"With these practices that we have over Christmass break and giving him the opportunity to get back into shape to where we can hopefully count on him for 30-plus minutes a game is really going to make it fun and I think will allow us to improve and be competitive,'' Cox said.
Freshman KaeVon Bonner also scored 14 points for Seaman with four 3-pointers while senior Kaeden Bonner added nine points.
DE SOTO BOYS 57, SEAMAN 48
De Soto 3 23 10 21 -- 57
Seaman 13 13 14 8 -- 48
De Soto (5-1, 3-0) -- Johnson 3-4 4-6 11, Ogden 1-2 0-0 3, Lang 6-9 2-5 15, Cobin 3-8 10-10 18, Miller 1-5 1-2 4, Dow 0-1 0-0 0, Woleben 0-0 0-0 0, Sheppard 0-1 0-0 0, Bell 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 16-33 17-23 57.
Seaman (1-3, 1-3) -- KaeVon Bonner 5-7 0-0 14, Kaeden Bonner4-7 0-0 9, Chapman 1-1 0-0 2, Unruh 1-6 0-0 2, Davis 6-9 1-3 14, Parsel 0-1 0-0 0, Freeman 1-1 0-1 2, Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, B. Finley 1-3 0-0 3, H. Finley 0-0 0-0 0, Bethea 0-0 0-0 0, Phillips 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-38 1-4 48.
3-point goals -- De Soto 8 (Cobin 2, Bell 2, Johnson, Ogden, Lang, Miller), Seaman 7 (KaeVon Bonner 4, Kaeden Bonner, B. Finley, Davis). Total fouls -- De Soto 11, Seaman 22. Fouled out – Kaeden Bonner. Technical foul -- Freeman.
