By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights boys had to dig deep after they let a 15-point lead slip away in their season opener Friday night. They relied upon the efforts of a freshman and knocked down clutch free throws to hold off United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood, 61-55.
JaiMarion Cook led Shawnee Heights with 14 points in Friday's 61-55 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Having graduated senior leaders from last year’s squad, the T-Birds may have a few things to learn about holding a lead. They raced to a 35-20 advantage midway through the second quarter and were still holding on 42-28 early in the third. But the Bobcats began clawing their way back into it.
With 2:49 remaining, the T-Birds’ lead was down to five, 55-50, when Bobcat Isaiah Calvert was fouled attempting a 3-pointer. He knocked down all three of his foul shots. Twenty seconds later, he went back to the line when the T-Birds were whistled for a technical foul. He drained two more free throws to knot the game at 55-55.
T-Bird coach Ken Darting felt, once the tide turned, some players attempted to do too much on their own.
“Selfishness. That’s what was going on,” Darting said. “We played hard the whole game. We played well for two-thirds of the game. But we were totally selfish at the end.”
Notably, the T-Birds were playing their first game without Jaret Sanchez and Deacon Pomeroy, a couple of graduates who hit big shots and played clutch minutes throughout their careers.
“We don’t have any of those 20-point scorers,” Darting said. “So, if we’re not near perfect defensively, rebounding and on our execution on offense, we’re not going to shoot a very high percentage. I don’t get mad when (these players) miss their shots because they’re going to miss most of the time they shoot. But if you’re taking some shot that a star can’t make, now I’m mad.
“But it’s a learning process. We’re playing an offense that’s a read-oriented offense and you’ve got to read everything to play it. So that’s going to take a while.”
Freshman Quincy Dixon (22), who had 11 points in his varsity debut for Shawnee Heights, celebrates a basket with teammate Cam Ross. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Giving the T-Birds a lift in the second half was freshman Quincy Dixon. Playing in his first varsity game, Dixon led the T-Birds with nine points in the second half, when the rest of the team was in a rut. He finished with 11.
Leading the T-Birds was JaiMarion Cook with 14. Cam Ross added 12.
“It was important to get this win,” said senior Ontarius Emmot, one of the T-Birds’ returning starters from a year ago. “(A lot of us) have been playing for eight or nine years together. So, it’s the first game back, but it’s not our first time playing with each other. Our chemistry is there.
“Down the stretch we didn’t handle the ball very well, but you know, crunch time, when it got down under a minute, I think we handled that pretty well.”
Emmot said he encouraged his teammates to feel comfortable in the moment.
“I just told the guys ‘This is nothing new from what you’ve been playing all your life,” Emmot said. “I said ‘You’ve played in close games before. Yeah, there might be a couple more people here now. But the ball is still the same. The size of the rim is still the same. There’s the same amount of players on the court.’”
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 61, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 55
Basehor-Linwood 10 16 13 16 -- 55
Shawnee Heights 19 20 10 12 -- 61
Basehor-Linwood (0-1, 0-1) – Brown 2-11 5-6 10, Morrison 5-8 1-3 13, Hofer 0-2 0-0 0, Young 2-8 2-2 6, Calvert 5-10 8-9 19 Hutchinson 0-1 2-2 2, Elliott 2-3 0-0 5, Nixon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 18-22 55.
Shawnee Heights (1-0, 1-0) – Alston 1-8 1-4 4, Cook 4-12 4-4 14, Ross 4-13 4-6 12, Scott 1-4 4-4 7, Emmot 3-9 0-0 7, Doby 1-2 0-0 2, Dixon 4-6 3-3 11, Lee 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 20-57 16-21 61.
3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 5 (Morrison 2, Brown 1, Calvert 1, Elliott 1) Shawnee Heights 5 (Cook 2, Alston 1, Scott 1, Emmot 1). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 18, Shawnee Heights 21. Fouled out – Ross. Technical fouls – Ross.
