By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
At full strength Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team was going to face a tough challenge against state-ranked Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night.
Without 6-foot-6 senior standout Carter Olson that hill was too steep for the T-Birds to climb.
Olson, Heights' second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, suffered a knee injury in last Friday's loss to De Soto and the T-Birds got the bad news Tuesday that Olson, who missed his entire junior season with an ACL tear, is likely done for the season.
"It's just awful,'' Shawnee Heights coach Ken Darting said of Olson's injury. "I feel awful for us, but I feel worse for him.''
Even without Olson Shawnee Heights turned in a game effort, particularly on the defensive end, but Basehor-Linwood went wire to wire for a 53-31 United Kansas Conference win at Heights.
"He's done for the year, so we've got to keep working,'' Darting said. "We played zone (defense) for the first time ever probably and did a great job. And we ran some pretty good offense, we just don't have much offense right now. We're offensively challenged.''
Injured Shawnee Heights standout Carter Olson (back left) look on as T-Bird coach Ken Darting talks to his team during Tuesday's 53-31 United Kansas Conference loss to Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Basehor-Linwood, which improved to 13-2 overall and 5-0 in the UKC, scored the first 11 points of the game and led 21-5 and 23-8 before the T-Bird cut their halftime deficit to 27-15.
The Bobcats led 33-21 after a low-scoring third quarter and outscored the T-Birds 20-10 over the final eight minutes although Basehor-Linwood, ranked No. 7 in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, did not eclipse the 50-point mark until late in the contest.
Senior Carter Bergman led Basehor-Linwood with a game-high 17 points while junior Tyson Ruud added 16 points.
Shawnee Heights, which fell to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the UKC, did not have a player in double figures, with sophomore Brennon Dodge leading the T-Birds with nine points.
Dodge was the only Heights player with more than six points.
Shawnee Heights will travel to Lansing on Friday for an UKC game.
BASEHOR-LINWOOD BOYS 53, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 31
Basehor-Linwood 16 11 6 20 -- 53
Shawnee Heights 5 10 6 10 -- 31
Basehor-Linwood (13-2, 5-0) – Bergman 7-11 2-2 17, McBride 2-6 0-0 5, Ruud 8-11 0-1 16, Ford 3-7 0-0 8, Hoffer 1-6 0-0 3, Rothwell 1-1 0-0 2, Blankenship 0-0 0-0 0, Ingram 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-44 2-3 53.
Shawne Heights (10-4, 3-2) – Pewe 2-7 0-0 6, Sanders 0-3 0-0 0, Dodge 4-12 0-0 9, Holly 1-1 0-0 2, Kendrick 1-2 0-2 2, Sanchez 0-5 0-0 0, Pomeroy 0-1 2-2 2, Ginter 2-3 0-0 5, Malcom 0-2 0-0 0, Moore 1-1 2-2 5. Totals 11-37 4-6 31.
3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 5 (Ford 2, Bergman, McBride, Hoffer), Shawnee Heights 5 (Pewe 2, Dodge, Ginter, Moore). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 4, Shawnee Heights 4. Fouled out – none.
