By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
This season's first meeting between Seaman and Shawnee Heights went down to the wire, with the Vikings ecaping with a three-point victory.
For more than a half, Tuesday night's rematch had all the makings of being just as close before Seaman, top-ranked in Class 5A, took control with a 23-1 second-half run on the way to a 50-37 United Kansas Conference win over the T-Birds on Senior Night at Seaman.
Seaman freshman Maddie Gragg (32) goes up for two of her game-high 21 points in Tuesday's 50-37 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Taylin Stallbaumer (21), who had 10 points, drives to the hoop in Tuesday's 50-37 UKC win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Basketball's a simple game,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "You get the ball, they get the ball. You get the ball, they get the ball. Sometimes we complicate it. We got on a run and then we went too much one on one, we went too much not running our offense and kind of going off script and that's when you let another team back in the game.
"By focusing on defense, the offense comes and when we're patient, we're good. We've just got to be patient.''
Seaman, which improved to 18-1 overall and 14-1 in the UKC, jumped out to a 16-11 first-quarter advantage before Shawnee Heights (13-6, 11-4) used a 13-6 second-quarter rally to take a 24-22 lead at the hal.
The T-Birds used a 6-2 start to the second half to take a 30-24 lead at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter before Seaman turned the tables on Heights.
Seaman scored two straight buckets to cut Heights' advantage to two and the T-Birds lost senior standout Taylor Rottinghaus for the remainder of the game with an apparent knee injury with 5:06 left in the third.
"She's a senior, she's a winner,'' Tinsley said. "You hate to see that happen to anybody. Hopefully she heals up OK from that heading into sub-state.''
Seaman outscored Heights 17-1 over the end of the third quarter to take a 41-31 lead and tacked on six more points at the start of the fourth stanza to take a 47-31 lead with 4:48 remaining and cruised the rest of the way.
Freshman Maddie Gragg had a big night for the Vikings, scoring a game-high 21 points while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Junior Taylin Stallbaumer and sophomore Anna Becker added 10 points apiece for the Vikings.
Shawnee Heights senior Emari Doby looks to an official after a foul call in the T-Birds' 50-37 UKC loss to Seaman Tuesday night. Doby led Heights with 20 points and eight rebounds. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Emari Doby led Shawnee Heights with 20 points and eight rebounds while Rottinghaus had six points on three of three shooting before her injury.
Seaman will close out its regular season Thursday at Kansas City-Turner while Shawnee Heights will travel to Piper on Friday.
SEAMAN GIRLS 50, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 37
Shawnee Heights 11 13 7 6 -- 37
Seaman 16 6 19 9 -- 50
Shawnee Heights (13-6, 11-4) -- Rottinghaus 3-3 0-0 6, Showalter 0-4 0-0 0, Doby 8-17 3-3 20, Canady 2-6 1-3 5, Fleischer 2-2 0-0 4, Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Torrez 1-2 0-0 2, Brees 0-1 0-0 0, Rantz 0-1 0-0 0, Swift 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 4-6 37.
Seaman (18-1, 14-1) -- Anderson 0-3 0-0 0, Schumann 1-3 2-2 4, T. Stallbaumer 4-8 0-0 10, Becker 3-6 4-6 10, Gragg 9-21 3-6 21, J. Stallbaumer 0-2 0-0 0, Wilhelm 0-0 0-0 0, Gormley 1-4 3-4 5, E. Stallbaumer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 12-18 50.
3-point goals -- Shawnee Heights 1 (Doby), Seaman 2 (T. Stallbaumer 2), Total fouls -- Shawnee Heights 14, Seaman 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
