By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights girls basketball picked up where it left off at the end of 2023, starting the new year with a 54-26 United Kansas Conference blowout of visiting Lansing Friday.
Shawnee Heights freshman KK Emmot hit three 3-pointers for nine points in the T-Birds' 54-26 UKC win over Lansing Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Rachel Swift takes the ball inside in Friday's 54-26 UKC win over Lansing. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds won four in a row prior to the holidays. Things were going so well, in fact, coach Bob Wells regretted taking a break.
“The kids were really locked in and really working in practice with a common goal in mind,” Wells said. “You could see that they were really playing well, and things were just starting to happen. So, it felt sort of unfortunate that we had to have a break. But that’s just how it is.”
The T-Birds needed eight minutes to shake off the rust. They scuffled to an 8-5 lead after one period. But then the home team reeled off 18 straight points to stretch the lead to 26-5. The T-Birds went to the half up 31-8 and forced a running clock for the fourth period.
“It took us a little while to find our rhythm tonight,” Wells said. “And I think some of that was, on our defensive end, we weren’t able to get defensive rebounds because the ball kept going out of bounds and we couldn’t get in transition. But once we started getting some steals or getting some defensive rebounds and getting in transition, then all of a sudden, things started happening for us.”
A slow start was excusable for a team that hadn’t played in 20 days.
Senior Breezy Canady helped Shawnee Heights improve to 5-1 with a 54-26 UKC win over Lansing Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“It felt like we had practiced 50 times and hadn’t played in like two months, so it felt really good to get back on the court,” said senior guard Breezy Canady. “It was great to get a win coming back.”
The balance of the T-Bird attack was impressive. No one scored more than nine points, but seven different players accounted for at least six points. KK Emmot led the team with nine.
“I feel like we’re deep and balanced,” Wells said. “Game in and game out, we’ve seen that so far. It’s not just one person. Sometimes it is one person who has a good game, but we have a lot of kids who are capable of doing that on any given night. We’ve got to be able to play eight to nine kids and have eight or nine kids contribute. I think that’s where we’re headed.”
Wells has three seniors in his starting lineup, but he shuffles numerous players in and out, including some freshmen and sophomores.
“We came back and said, ‘Let’s just get to work, because there are some teams that we’re just going to have to outwork and be mentally and physically tougher,” Wells said. “That’s what we’re working on, getting tougher mentally and physically.”
The T-Birds improved to 5-1, their only loss coming in the opener against De Soto.
“We are starting to put it together,” Canady said. “We’re not selfish at all. We’ve found our posts a lot better than we have in previous seasons and I think that’s really helping open things up.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 54, LANSING 26
Lansing 5 3 10 8 -- 26
Shawnee Heights 8 23 16 8 -- 54
Lansing (1-5, 1-5) – McNabb 1-5 0-0 3, Koontz 1-2 0-0 2, Anderson 0-1 3-6 3, Wilson 3-10 0-0 7, Garza 1-1 0-2 2, Callaway 0-3 3-8 3, Malm 1-7 4-4 6, Floetke 0-0 0-0 0, Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Frederick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 7-29 10-20 26.
Shawnee Heights (5-1, 5-1) – Emmot 3-9 0-0 9, Schulte 2-3 0-0 6, Canady 2-4 2-2 6, Vega 4-8 0-0 8, Swift 3-4 1-1 7, Brees 0-4 3-4 3, Torrez 2-2 2-2 6, Euwer 3-5 0-0 7, H. Bowers 1-4 0-0 2, Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0, Hanshaw 0-1 0-0 0, E. Bowers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-45 8-9 54.
3-point goals – Lansing 2 (McNabb 1, Wilson 1), Shawnee Heights 6 (Emmot 3, Schulte 2, Euwer 1). Total fouls – Lansing 10, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
