By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' girls basketball team made getting up early pay off Saturday morning, rolling to a 55-30 home non-league victory over Piper in a game that was postponed by inclement weather Thursday night.
The T-Birds, who climbed above the .500 mark at 9-8, took control of the 10 a.m. makeup game in the opening quarter, taking a commanding 15-4 advantage over the 3-14 Pirates.
Shawnee Heights increased its lead to 28-11 at the half and finished off the rout with a 27-19 scoring advantage in the second half.
Bob Wells' Shawnee Heights girls basketball team improved to 9-8 on the season with a 55-30 non-league win over Piper Saturday morning. [File photo/TSN]
"I think our girls came out with a great attitude and having a little pep in their step,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "I think that's what kind of fueled us a little bit.
"We came out defensively and really worked hard and moved the ball well on offense to begin with. We started just like we would like to. I was really proud of our girls.''
Junior Riley Showalter came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers while junior Taylor Rottinghaus added 12 points and sophomore Breezy Canady eight.
Shawnee Heights junior Taylor Rottinghaus scored 12 points in the T-Birds' 55-30 Saturday morning win over Piper. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights helped itself position for postseason seeding with Saturday's win and is still in position to host a first-round Class 5A game.
"Every win gets us a better seed and the possibility of maybe staying away from some of the teams in the second round that you definitely want to stay away from,'' Wells said.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 55, PIPER 30
Piper 4 7 10 9 -- 30
Shawnee Heights 15 13 12 15 -- 55
Piper (3-14) -- A. Vallego 0 0-0 0, T. Vallejo 2 0-0 6, Roth 3 0-0 7, Grann 2 0-0 4, Covington 4 0-0 8, Arwine 0 0-0 0, Patterson 1 0-0 3, Collins 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 0-0 30.
Shawnee Heights (9-8) -- Rottinghaus 4 3-5 12, Doby 2 1-2 5, Abby Schulte 2 0-0 4, Fleischer 0 0-0 0, Oczko 2 2-2 6, Showalter 6 0-0 14, Hill 1 0-0 2, Audrey Schulte 0 0-0 0, Rantz 1 0-0 3, Canady 4 0-0 8, Blair 0 0-0 0, Swift 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 7-11 55.
3-point goals -- Piper 4 (T. Vallejo 2, Roth, Patterson), Shawnee Heights 4 (Showalter 2, Rottinghaus, Rantz). Total fouls -- Piper 7, Shawnee Heights 7. Fouled out – none.
