By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
A collection of transfers and a freshman helped lead the Shawnee Heights girls past United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood 69-49 in the T-Birds’ home opener Friday.
Junior KK Emmot led Shawnee Heights with 18 points in Friday's 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Pearmella Carter, a junior transfer from Highland Park, and Imani McGlory, a senior transfer from Topeka West, combined for 29 points in their T-Bird home debuts.
Senior Imani McGlory scored 13 points in her home debut for Shawnee Heights Friday, a 69-49 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sami Baum, a home school student, scored four points in her first home game at Shawnee Heights and freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to provide 11 points.
Freshman Bijou Schmidt came off the bench to score 11 points in Shawnee Heights' 69-49 win over Basehor-Linwood Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells has worked this fall to mold the new additions into a cohesive unit. The group had its eyes opened in a first-game loss to Shawnee Mission South and they showed Friday the collaboration is coming together.
“It was hard at first, but they’re learning,” Wells said. “Any time you’re learning a new system and learning how we do things in practice, everything is completely different for them. They have had to buy into what we’re doing. So they’ve been doing great. And the girls who have been in our program have been doing great helping them with everything.”
Shawnee Heights blasted out of the gate with 24 points in the first period with 10 from Carter and seven from junior KK Emmot, who led the T-Birds with 18 points.
The game was halted at the 4:40 mark of the third period when T-Bird sophomore Lauryn Brees fell awkwardly and lay on her back when the officials stopped the action. She remained down for more than 25 minutes before she was placed on a backboard and taken from the gym by first responders. After allowing for a brief warmup period, the game resumed after nearly 35 minutes.
“I just came back to the huddle and told (the team) what I knew,” Wells said about Brees’ injury. “I said, ‘We can all say a little prayer for her, and then the best thing we can do is go and play. Just go out there and play hard for her.’ And they did. I felt like they came out really focused. I was concerned that their minds were going to be someplace else because my mind was for a long time.”
The T-Birds outscored Basehor-Linwood 16-3 the rest of the period to expand their lead to 56-31.
Shawnee Heights finished 14-8 last year. The T-Birds’ final win of last season was a narrow victory over Basehor-Linwood, who played many of the same players on Friday. To win by 20 was an encouraging sign to Emmot, a three-year starter. She said she had a connection with the newcomers prior to their arrival.
I played with Pearmella and Sam in elementary school. I already knew them, so I guess our chemistry just came back,” Emmot said. “And Imani, because we had played against her, I kind of knew how she played and how she would fit. I’ve known Bijou since I was a kid also, so I’ve watched her. She’s a hustler. We’ve only been together in practice for about two weeks, but it’s been amazing.”
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 69, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 49
Basehor-Linwood 11 10 10 18 -- 49
Shawnee Heights 24 10 22 13 -- 69
Basehor-Linwood (1-1, 0-1) – Fitzgerald 2-4 2-2 6, Schwisow 5-12 0-0 10, McKnight 3-6 0-0 7, Wittkop 5-20 7-8 20, VanDonge 0-5 0-2 0, Jackson 1-3 0-2 3, Deters 0-0 0-0 0, Super 0-0 1-2 1, Unruh 1-1 0-0 2, Spellman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 17-53 10-16 49.
Shawnee Heights (1-1, 1-0) – Emmot 6-13 4-4 18, McGlory 4-8 2-2 13, Carter 8-12 0-1 16, Baum 2-7 0-0 4, Vega 2-5 0-0 5, Hamilton 1-1 0-0 2, Brees 0-1 0-0 0, Schmidt 4-7 3-4 11, Karlyle 0-1 0-0 0, Moeder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-55 9-11 69.
3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 5 (Wittkop 3, McKnight 1, Jackson 1) Shawnee Heights 6 (McGlory 3, Emmot 2, Vega 1). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 15, Shawnee Heights 20. Fouled out – VanDonge. Technical fouls – none.
