By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings' all-senior starting lineup scored all 71 of the team’s points Tuesday in a battle with Lansing that was closer than the 14-point margin would indicate.
Senior Landon Wiltz scored 23 points to lead Seaman in Tuesday's 71-57 UKC home win over Lansing. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Vikings followed up an opening-night win over Piper by downing the Lions 71-57 at Seaman. The home team led from start to finish, but saw its margin cut to three points at the end of the third period. Still leading by just five with 2:39 remaining, the Vikings put the pedal down, outscoring the winless Lions 12-3 the rest of the way.
“I told the guys after the game what I was impressed with was our defensive adjustments,” said Seaman coach Craig Cox. “Once they got into a flow and figured out what was working for them, we were able to play some better help-defense and take away some of those post-entries and make it a little bit tougher on them down the stretch.”
The Vikings struggled to contain Lansing junior Deacon Manthe, a 6-foot-7 forward who drove to find open jumpers and sliced on the baseline to get to the rim. Manthe hit six of seven shots in the first half, but was held scoreless in the third period before hitting three shots to fire the Lansing comeback.
“He’s going to rise up and shoot it over the top of you, and he’s got such a soft touch, he’s a tough kid to guard,” Cox said. “He definitely makes them better at every position.”
Seaman didn’t need senior KaeVon Bonner to repeat his 37-point outburst against Piper. The Vikings got 23 points from Landon Wiltz and 15 from Griffin Zuniga. Carter Brian scored all seven of his points in the first period. And Matthew McConnaughey hit five of six free throws for all of his points.
Senior KaeVon Bonner scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists in Seaman's 71-57 UKC win over Lansing. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
That kind of output from the starters takes pressure off Bonner, who dished out 10 assists to go with his 21 points.
“I think that as we progress, that will become more of what we try to develop, not putting it entirely in (KaeVon’s) hands,” Cox said.
Lansing held Seaman scoreless for the final four minutes of the second period, cutting a 14-point deficit to five. But Wiltz received a pass from Bonner and buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to send Seaman to the locker room with an eight-point lead.
“It was a little closer at the end of the second quarter and then I feel like that three at the end really changed that, gave us momentum,” Wiltz said. “When (KaeVon) drives, you’ve always got to be ready because he’s not looking at you half the time (when he passes to you) so you’ve got to be ready and ready to shoot it down.”
The Vikings improved to 2-0 in the United Kansas Conference and will visit Topeka West Friday.
SEAMAN BOYS 71, LANSING 57
Lansing 15 11 19 12 -- 57
Seaman 23 11 14 23 -- 71
Lansing (0-3, 0-1) – Me. Stephens 6-20 4-4 18, Heim 0-1 0-0 0, Mattingly 3-6 2-3 9, Manthe 9-12 2-4 20, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Wilson 2-4 3-4 7, Ma. Stephens 0-0 1-2 1, Boden 0-4 2-3 2, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-49 14-20 57.
Seaman (2-0, 2-0) – Wiltz 7-9 4-4 23, McConnaughey 0-1 5-6 5, Zuniga 7-13 0-0 15, Brian 3-7 1-2 7, Bonner 7-11 6-8 21, Esser 0-1 0-2 0, Becker 0-1 0-0 0, Scholes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-42 16-22 71.
3-point goals – Lansing 3 (Me. Stephens 2, Mattingly 1) Seaman 7 (Wiltz 5, Zuniga 1, Bonner 1). Total fouls – Lansing 16, Seaman 18. Fouled out – Brian. Technical fouls – None.
