By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights' boys basketball team isn't scheduled to practice on Saturday and, depending on how much inclement weather the Topeka area gets over the weekend, Heights might not even be able to practice on Monday.
Shawnee Heights senior Jaret Sanchez (3), pressuring Hayden senior Cooper Zwiesler (30), scored a game-high 27 points in Friday's 61-52 win at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights senior Deacon Pomeroy (1) scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Friday's 61-52 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
That break away from veteran coach Ken Darting could be good news for the T-Birds, because even though Shawnee Heights survived a gutsy effort from short-handed Hayden Friday to improve to 4-1 with a 61-52 non-league road win, Darting was far from pleased with his No. 3-ranked (Class 5A) team's performance against the Wildcats.
"We played offensively and defensively as selfish as hell,'' Darting said. "It's that simple. Everybody wanted steals. We're going to play Hayden and beat them by 40, so I don't have to guard somebody, I've got to run around and see if I can get a steal.
"After a game I like to go home and, good or bad, look at a film, but I didn't see anything good tonight that I can think of. What I'm saying is that if you're getting all your points on freelance, fall-aways, step-aways, double-clutches you're not going to win against good teams. You're playing St. Thomas Aquinas tonight we lose by 25. You aint winning when it matters when we play like we did tonight on either end.
"I'm not going to say we don't play hard, we play hard. We're just selfish both ways. Both sides of the ball we're just selfish.''
Shawnee Heights actually went wire to wire for its third straight win, but Hayden, which played without injured sophomore guard Mason Becker, was still within four points twice in the final period before the T-Birds were finally able to put the Wildcats away.
Seniors Jaret Sanchez and Deacon Pomeroy combined for 50 points -- 27 for Sanchez, 23 for Pomeroy -- but the rest of Shawnee Heights' team combined for just 11 points.
Shawnee Heights doubled up Hayden 16-8 in the opening quarter, but the T-Birds scored just seven points in the second stanza and the Wildcats clawed their way within two points (18-16) with 2:38 left in the half before Heights scored the final five points to take a 23-16 advantage at the break.
The T-Birds looked to be on the verge of turning the game into a blowout when Pomeroy opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run that put Heights up 33-16 at the 4:55 mark of the third quarter.
Hayden sophomore Carter Compton (22) scored 15 points on five 3-pointers in Friday's 61-52 loss to Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But Hayden fought back behind sophomore Carter Compton, who drained three 3-pointers in the quarter, as the Wildcats got within seven points (43-36) at the start of the fourth quarter after senior James Kuta ended the third with a 3-pointer.
Hayden cut its deficit to four points twice, 47-43 after back-to-back treys from Compton and 49-45 after a Kuta bucket, but could get no closer as Sanchez and Pomeroy combined for 10 points down the stretch.
Senior James Kuta led Hayden with 17 points in Friday's 61-52 loss to No. 3-ranked Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Kuta paced Hayden with 17 points while Compton had 15 on his five 3-pointers and senior Cooper Zwiesler added 11 with a pair of 3s.
Hayden will return to action Tuesday with a Centennial League game at Emporia while Shawnee Heights will travel to De Soto on Tuesday for a United Kansas Conference clash.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 61, HAYDEN 52
Shawnee Heights 16 7 20 18 -- 61
Hayden 8 8 20 16 -- 52
Shawnee Heights (4-1) -- Cook 0-2 0-0 0, Pomeroy 8-12 4-4 23, Sanchez 9-16 6-8 27, Ross 1-7 0-0 2, Lee 3-7 0-0 6, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Alston 0-3 1-2 1, Emmot 1-5 0-0 2, Scott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 11-14 61.
Hayden (3-3) -- Kuta 8-14 0-0 17, Deister 1-8 0-0 3, Hanika 0-6 1-2 1, Mitchell 0-7 1-2 1, Zwiesler 4-7 1-1 11, Banks 0-0 0-0 0, Heinen 0-1 0-0 0, Tourtillot 1-6 2-2 4, Wolff 0-0 0-0 0, Power 0-1 0-0 0, Compton 5-8 0-0 15. Totals 16 7-12 45.
3-point goals -- Shawnee Heights 6 (Sanchez 3, Pomeroy 3), Hayden 9 (Compton 5, Zwiesler 2, Kuta, Deister). Total fouls -- Shawnee Heights 9, Hayden 13. Fouled out -- Deister. Technical foul -- none.
