By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
After losing three straight games to state-ranked teams by a total of 10 points, Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team just wanted to get back on the winning side of the ledger in Friday's Thunderbird Classic consolation game against Shawnee Mission North.
Shawnee Heights seniors Taylor Rottinghaus (1) and Taylor Rantz defend Shawnee Mission North's Lidia Mojica in Thursday's 50-34 T-Bird win in the Thunderbird Classic. Rottinghaus scored a game-high 13 points to lead Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The ninth-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds accomplished that goal in decisive fashion, going wire to wire for a 50-34 win over the Bison on Heights' home floor.
"It was nice to just get out and play and share the load, instead of one person trying to take it all on their back,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "We just wanted to play as a group instead of having individual play now and then.
"That was our thing tonight, 'Let's go out and improve these next two games. Lets not take a step backwards.' ''
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 8-4, never trailed after jumping out to 6-0 and 11-1 leads over the first 5:13 of the opening quarter.
The Bison cut their deficit to 13-6 at the end of the first but the T-Birds used a 6-0 run to open up a 28-15 advantage late in the first half and took a 28-17 advantage to the locker room at the half.
Shawnee Heights forced 16 Bison turnovers in the half and 26 for the game.
After North got within eight on a Haley Wieneke 3-pointer to open the second half Shawnee Heights went up by 16 late in the third on a Riley Showalter 3-pointer before Wieneke canned her fourth 3-pointer of the game to cut North's deficit to 13 (38-25) at the start of the fourth quarter.
Heights led by 16 three times over the final eight minutes, including the final margin.
Senior Taylor Rottinghaus led Shawnee Heights with a game-high 13 points while junior Breezy Canady added 12 points and Showalter nine points on three 3s.
Wieneke, a freshman, was the only double-figure scorer for North with 12 points.
Shawnee Heights will play for fifth place at 10 a.m. Saturday against Wichita Life Prep. The Fire, which dropped a 44-41 overtime decision to Washburn Rural in the first round, received a bye into the fifth-place game.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 50, SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH 34
Shawnee Mission North 6 11 8 9 -- 34
Shawnee Heights 13 15 10 12 -- 50
Shawnee Mission North () -- Wallace 1-2 0-0 2, Garcia 2-3 0-0 5, Mojica 0-2 0-2 0, Doolin 2-10 1-2 5, Brown 1-5 4-4 6, Wieneke 4-6 0-0 12, T. Washington 1-3 0-0 2, Mendez 0-1 0-0 0, Curtis 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, C. Washington 1-2 0-0 2 . Totals 12-34 5-8 34.
Shawnee Heights (8-4) -- Rottinghaus 5-12 2-3 13, Showalter 3-8 0-0 9, Doby 1-10 4-6 6, Canady 4-9 2-2 12, Fleischer 2-2 0-0 4, Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Schulte 0-1 0-0 0, Torrez 0-0 0-0 0, Brees 0-0 0-0 0, Rantz 1-1 2-2 4, Gonzales 1-1 0-0 2, Swift 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 10-13 50.
3-point goals -- Shawnee Mission North 5 (Wieneke 4, Garcia), Shawnee Heights 6 (Showalter 3, Canady 2, Rottinghaus). Total fouls -- Shawnee Mission North 16, Shawnee Heights 7. Fouled out -- T. Washington.
