By KYLE MANTHE
Special to TopSports.news
Hours after becoming ranked for the first time all season, the No. 9-ranked (Class 5A) Shawnee Heights girls (6-1 overall, 6-1 United Kansas Conference) held Kansas City-Turner (0-7, 0-6) scoreless for the first 15 minutes of action and won 43-7.
“That’s something that we have been stressing,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “There were definite goals to accomplish on defense and we told them it didn’t matter who was in the game ... we said ‘Do it on defense,’ and I’m really proud of their effort tonight.”
Bob Wells' Shawnee Heights girls basketball team improved to 6-1 on the season with a 43-7 UKC win over KC-Turner Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
The Thunderbirds' win was a true team effort, with all 15 available players logging minutes in the first three quarters. Twelve players scored with the high mark being just seven points.
“That’s something I really appreciated, they are sharing the ball and they are moving without the ball. It really was once we got into a little rhythm shooting the basket got a little bit bigger for us and everybody started knocking them down,” Wells said.
Low minute totals were important for Shawnee Heights, who play two more games in the week. The busy schedule comes at a good time for the T-Birds, as they are winners of six straight after breezing to the 36-point win Tuesday evening.
“It was part of our plan to establish a tempo with the main group and then get them out of the game,” Wells said. “They have worked hard enough since Christmas, their conditioning base should be ready.”
Shawnee Height’s offense got a slow start early on, with junior Breezy Canady taking the lid off the basket nearly three minutes in. Turnovers sparked the rest of Heights’ first-quarter offense.
Early baskets in the second quarter quickly put the Thunderbirds up 22-0 before the offense slowed down. The Golden Bears' first point came from the free throw line with 15 seconds left in the half.
In the third quarter alone all 15 players played for Shawnee Heights, combining for 14 points in the quarter. Senior Haydin Hill knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 32-1 before Turner scored its only two points of the quarter on free throws.
Sophomore Jerzey Hanna scored the only field goal for the Golden Bears, a 3-pointer, in the final minutes of the game.
Senior Taylor Rottinghaus led the T-Birds with seven points, while Canady and Riley Showalter each had six.
Shawnee Heights will continue its busy week, heading to De Soto on Thursday before returning home to take on Seaman on Friday night.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 43, TURNER 7
Shawnee Heights 11 11 14 7 -- 43
KC Turner 0 1 2 4 -- 7
Shawnee Heights (6-1 6-1) – Rottinghaus 3-5 1-2 7, Showalter 3-6 0-0 6, Euwer 0-1 3-4 3, Hill 1-2 0-0 3, Bowers 0-3 1-2 1, Doby 1-4 1-3 3, Schulte 1-4 0-0 3, Torrez 1-3 0-0 2, Brees 0-1 0-0 0, Rantz 0-0 0-0 0, Canady 3-4 0-0 6, Fleischer 2-3 1-2 5, Gonzales 1-3 0-0 2, Vega 1-3 0-0 2, Swift 0-2 0-2 0. Totals: 17-44 7-13 43.
KC-Turner (0-7, 0-6) – Ja. Hanna 0-0 0-0 0, Navidad 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 1-2 1, Carrillo 0-2 2-4 2, Je. Hanna 1-9 0-0 3, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Stephenson 0-1 0-0 0, Nieto 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 1-15 4-8 7.
3-point goals – Shawnee Heights 2 (Hill, Schulte), Turner 1 (Je. Hanna). Total fouls – Shawnee Heights 8, Turner 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
