By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Ken Darting has seen Ontarius Emmot light up the nets from 3-point range in practice day after day.
And now the 6-foot-2 sophomore is showing that form in games, including seven 3s in a 23-point performance off the bench Friday night as the No. 6-ranked (Class 5A) T-Birds rolled to an 82-45 home United Kansas Conference victory over Kansas City-Turner.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Ontarius Emmot canned seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points in the T-Birds' 82-45 UKC win over KC-Turner Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Emmot's seven treys on Friday followed four 3-pointers in Tuesday's win over Lansing.
"I watch it every day,'' Darting said. "Ja'Marion (Cook) is the same way, Alex (Delgado) is the same way, they shoot the heck out of it in practice and 'O' is now there. He believes he belongs now and is shooting it with confidence.''
Emmot led the way as Shawnee Heights (15-3 overall, 12-2 UKC) hit 15 3-pointers as a team Friday after connecting on 14 in the Lansing win.
Junior Jaret Sanchez backed Emmot with 19 points and four 3s after hitting six shots from outside the arc against Lansing, while junior Deacon Pomeroy also cracked double figures with 11 points, including a 7 of 8 performance at the free throw line.
Turner (3-14, 1-12) hung with the T-Birds early on, including a 22-16 deficit at the end of the opening quarter, but the T-Birds hit the Bears with a 27-8 second quarter to take a 49-24 lead at the halftime break.
The T-Birds outscored Turner 23-10 in the third quarter to open up a 72-34 cushion at the start of the fourth quarter and force a running clock the rest of the way.
"I told them just now, this was what I wanted,'' Darting said. "I didn't care about the score, big score, low score, or whatever, but we wanted to play hard and we did and get ready for next week.''
Sophomores Elliot Berry Jr. and Josiah Harris scored 10 points apiece for the Bears.
Shawnee Heights will be at home next week for two big UKC clashes, hosting Seaman on Tuesday and Piper on Friday with an opportunity to win the conference championship.
Seaman played Shawnee Heights to a three-point loss (54-51) earlier in the season while Piper handed the T-Birds one of their three losses in the second game of the season (66-58).
Darting said he's approaching next week as the beginning of the playoff run.
"The second part of the season's over and now the real one starts Tuesday,'' Darting said. "Seaman's going to go and make an impact in a sub-state in the West and you know what (No. 4-ranked) Piper's all about
"So the way I'm aproaching it is that this is the first two games of the playoffs.''
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 82, KC-TURNER 45
KC-Turner 16 8 10 11 -- 45
Shawnee Heights 22 27 23 10 -- 82
KC-Turner (3-14, 1-12) -- Pittman 1-20-0 2, Hassler1-10-0 3, Seamster 3-5 0-0 8. Berry Jr. 4-13 2-2 10, Josiah Harris 3-7 4-6 10, Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Garrett 0-1 0-0 0, Joseph Harris 1-4 0-0 3, McGee 4-5 1-4 9. Totals 17-39 7-14 45.
Shawnee Heights (15-3, 12-2) -- Pomeroy 2-8 7-8 11, D. Sanchez 3-5 0-0 8, Dodge 4-9 0-0 9, Holly 1-1 0-0 2, J. Sanchez 5-13 5-6 19, Cook 1-2 0-0 2, Alston 1-3 0-1 2, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Delgado 1-1 0-0 3, Lee 1-3 0-0 2, Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Emmot 8-14 0-0 23, Moore 0-2 1-2 1, Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 13-17 82.
3-point goals -- KC-Turner 4 (Seamster 2, Hassler, Joseph Harris), Shawnee Heights 15 (Emmot 7, J. Sanchez 4, D. Sanchez 2, Dodge, Delgado). Total fouls -- KC-Turner 13, Shawnee Heights 18. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
