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By JUSTIN BURKHARDT

TopSports.news

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Class 5A No. 3 girls seed Shawnee Heights faced No. 6 seed Basehor-Linwood for the third time this season Wednesday at Kansas City Kansas Community College, but this time the stakes were much higher, with the United Kansas Conference rivals squaring off in the state tournament.

Junior KK Emmot led Shawnee Heights with 18 points in Wednesday's 61-47 Class 5A quarterfinal win over Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN] 

Shawnee Heights, making its first state appearance since 2011, faced adversity almost immediately, but overcame the loss of a key player to advance to Friday's 5A semifinal with a 61-47 quarterfinal win over the Bobcats.

Just 49 seconds into the game, junior starter Pearmella Carter drove to the basket, was fouled, and went down hard. Carter had to be helped off the court by trainers and did not return to the game.

Losing their top rebounder and second-leading scorer forced the T-Birds to quickly adjust.

“For us to overcome adversity that happens 49 seconds into the game with Mella going out — and she’s been our top rebounder and our second-leading scorer all year long — for the girls to come through that was huge,” Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. “That’s what we told them. We led for most of the first half, and they just had to believe in themselves and believe they could do it.

"Everybody just kind of pulled together and got the job done.”

Senior Reianna Vega scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Wednesday's 61-47 Shawnee Heights win over Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN]

Senior Reianna Vega said the team leaned on each other after the early injury.

“Coach kept telling us to play together as a team,” Vega said. “We’ve been through adversity a lot of times, and we’ve gotten this far. We can’t give up now, so we had to keep fighting.”

Late in the first quarter, Shawnee Heights knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining to take a 15-12 lead.

Basehor-Linwood responded by drawing a foul at the buzzer and hitting both free throws to trim the lead to 15-14 after one quarter.

Scoring slowed early in the second quarter, but senior Imani McGlory eventually broke through with her first basket to make it 17-14.

The T-Birds followed with a 6-0 run while Basehor-Linwood struggled to finish at the rim.

However, the Bobcats answered by closing the half on a 7-0 run to take a 25-21 lead into the locker room at the half Shawnee Heights shot just 3 of 16 from the field in the quarter.

Vega came alive in the second half, scoring all 16 of her points after halftime.

Shawnee Heights repeatedly tried to regain the lead, but Basehor-Linwood continued to answer.

With 2:10 left in the third quarter, junior KK Emmot scored to tie the game at 36.

Emmot then knocked down a 3-pointer to give the T-Birds a brief lead, but Basehor-Linwood finished the quarter on a 5-0 run to go up 41-39 heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter belonged to Shawnee Heights.

The T-Birds opened the period on a 7–0 run. Vega tied the game at 41 with a basket, Emmot followed with a 3-pointer, and Vega scored again to make it 46-41.

Emmot and Vega added four more points before McGlory scored five straight to extend the lead to 57-45 with 1:05 remaining.

Freshman Bijoy Schmidt sealed the victory with two free throws with 37 seconds left as Shawnee Heights secured the 14-point win and advanced to the state semifinals on Friday at Wichita's Koch Arena.

The T-Birds shot 7 of 9 from the field in the fourth quarter and outscored Basehor-Linwood 22-6 in the final period.

“We tried to get things slowed down a little bit offensively so we could run some sets and be more under control,” Wells said about the fourth-quarter turnaround.

“Then we started getting shots that we’re capable of hitting instead of trying to run so much and taking shots that weren’t our best looks.”

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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

SALINA -- Silver Lake boys basketball coach Shannnn Kruger said a couple of times after Tuesday's game that the Eagles' performance was not a pretty one by any stretch and described it as a grind it out type of game.

 

And the Eagles did just that, knocking off Holcomb 47-37 at the Tony's Pizza Event Center to advance to the Class 3A semifinal.

Silver Lake senior Dayne Johnson scored a game-high 16 points in Tuesday's 47-37 win over Holcomb. [File photo/TSN]

“I prefer the ball to go into the basket,” Kruger said with a smile. “What we can control is our defensive effort and attention to detail and we talk about let’s not hope they miss, let's try to make a miss.

 

"Obviously I'd love to see great defense for us and us play a little more fluid offensively, but a game like that it was sure it was ugly, but we're okay with that.''

“I don’t think we played our best offensive game by far, but we always make our main focus defense and I thought we worked our butts off on defense, on the boards,'' said Silver Lake senior standout Dayne Johnson, who led all scorers with 16 points. "That means when you have a bad offensive game you still stay in the game and win.”

The Longhorns began the game on a quick 5-0 run but Silver Lake went on its own 10-2 run thanks to senior Drew Womack converted two and-one opportunities as the Eagles led by three (10-7).

After Silver Lake went up five (12-7), Holcomb called a timeout with 1:27 left in the quarter. The Longhorns then scored five straight and ended the quarter tied, 12-12.

The second quarter featured both teams struggling to get baskets, combining for just 10 points.

Johnson was quiet in the first half, scoring six points, four in the second quarter and Womack had eight and ended with that total.

Silver Lake took the lead at the half in the low scoring affair, 18-16.

The third quarter was much the same as the first half.

Johnson, who sank 8-10 free throws, helped the Eagles to a 20-19 lead and then Johnson ended an eight-minute field goal drought for Silver Lake with 3:42 left in the third quarter, putting the Eagles up, 22-19.

The Eagles took a seven point lead (29-22) heading into the fourth quarter, thanks to a Camden Kruger buzzer beating jumper in the paint.

Silver Lake scored seven straight to go up 12 (36-24) looking to be in the driver seat until the Longhorns went on a 7-2 run, and Silver Lake called a timeout with 4:02 left in the game.

After that, the Eagles went on another field goal drought but their clutch free throws kept them ahead and took home the victory. Silver Lake went 20-26 from the charity stripe in the game. 

“(Free throws) and rebounding were huge for sure,” Shannon Kruger said.

 

“We always attack the bucket,'' Johnson said. "We’re not afraid of contact and when they call the calls we get to the line and knock them down.''

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By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

SALINA -- Rossville's girls had No. 1 Ellinwood on the ropes down the stretch, almost erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half, but the Eagles held off the Bulldawgs for a 55-48 victory.

 

Rossville senior Rylee Dick scored 31 points in Tuesday's 55-48 loss to Ellinwood in a Class 2A state quarterfinal. [File photo/TSN]

 “I knew me being a leader on the court, I had to step up and show my girls that I believed in us and I was going to put in my full effort,'' said Rossville senior standout Rylee Dick. "I try to lead by example every game for all the other girls and I hope that throughout my four years they can take that away from me.”

Rossville jumped out to an early 7-2 lead thanks to a couple of 3-pointers from Dick and freshman Bristol Miller. 

The Eagles brought it to within one as sophomore Brynn Widener converted a four-point play, banking in a three off the left wing to make it 7-6.

 

Ellinwood went on an 8-0 run to lead 10-7 but then Rossville scored four straight to lead 11-10. It was knotted at 13 after Miller kissed one off the glass before the first-quarter buzzer.

“Honestly, that was one of my fears coming in was nerves and being tight, even at sub-state too,'' Rossville coach Derek Dick said. "It was nice to see the ball go through the net early after not scoring much as of late. I was really happy to see that kind of got us going to calm our nerves a little bit. We knew they were going to make a run and we had to make adjustments defensively to negate what they were good at but they were going to make shots.

 

“I’m proud of the girls because when we struggled this season, every game we showed flashes of being really good and teams would make a run like they did and we wouldn’t respond and we did that tonight and we got it down to what two or three? They answered the bell. We had great seniors that all of them played their roles and that’s what I’m proud of.''

 

The back and forth continued for both teams. Junior Nora Burdiek finished off an and-one opportunity to tie it at 16. She ended with nine points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. It would be a 20-20 deadlock after Rossville called a timeout with 2:18 left in the half.

 

After that, the Eagles ripped off a quick 8-0 run, forcing the Bulldawgs to call another timeout. Widener knocked down two quick threes to help spark the run.

 

Ellinwood took an 11-point lead (32-21) at halftime as Widener had 16 points in the first 16 minutes.

 

In that first half however, Derek Dick was pleased to see Miller (who finished with seven points) step up into that third scorer for the program with Rylee Dick and Burdiek and pick things up quickly.

 

“Her doing that really helped us because with both Rylee and Nora, we saw some exotic defenses this year and they weren’t able to handle that third option (Miller) and that was big,'' Derek Dick said. "The younger girls, I tell them my quote is, ‘Hard work always wins,’ and I hope they see her (Rylee’s) hard work and how that paid off. I know they showed that a lot and they know what it takes to get back here.''

 

To begin the second half, RHS dug itself a 15-point deficit (36-21), but Rylee Dick came to the rescue to get the Bulldawgs back in the hunt.

 

“Ironically, enough for us to get back in the game, it was forcing it to her and got us back in the game,” Derek Dick said.

 

Rylee Dick knocked down two more threes, trimming the game to a nine-point deficit (38-29). She nailed five 3s in the game and made all eight of her free throws.

After the Eagles extend the lead back to double digits, Dick scored four straight to make it a 41-34 game. The Bulldawgs kept hanging around, trailing be seven heading into the fourth (46-39).

 

The fourth quarter was Rylee’s show, helping Rossville get within three (46-43) off a fastbreak steal and then two after another triple (50-48). She finished with a game-high 31 points.

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