By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After spotting No. 2-ranked Piper a 15-point lead out of the gate and trailing by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, the No. 8 Seaman boys put together a spirited second-half comeback in Wednesday's United Kansas Conference makeup game.
Seaman junior KaeVon Bonner (facing) scored 32 points in Wednesday's 70-69 UKC loss to Piper. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But the Vikings (13-6 overall, 10-5 in the UKC) could never quite get over the hump, dropping a 70-69 decision at Seaman.
"Nobody likes to lose, but I expect them to walk out of here with their head up and understand that people appreciate the effort,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "And for us to battle a team of that quality and get ourselves back into it when we were on the brink a number of times to going the other way, from that standpoint it is a positive.
"But if we make a few more plays maybe it goes the other way.''
Piper (16-3, 13-2), last season's Class 5A runnerup, opened up a 20-5 lead with 30 seconds left in the opening quarter and went in front 33-17 late in the first half before taking a 35-23 advantage at the break.
But Seaman turned the tables on the Pirates in the second half, getting as close as two twice late in the third quarter before Piper junior Derrick Johnson was fouled on a 3-point shot with 1.1 seconds left in the quarter and canned three free throws to push the Pirates' advantage back to 48-43 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Piper pushed its lead back to 11 twice in the fourth, but Seaman clawed its way back to within two (68-66) with 9.0 seconds left before junior Johnny Vogel canned a pair of free throws to clinch the Pirates' win.
Seaman sophomore Conner Scholes banked in a 3-pointer as time ran out to account for the final score.
Jackson and senior PJ Moore scored 14 points apiece to lead Piper while junior Cooper Crawford added 13 points, senior Lantz Walton 12 points and junior Alamar Brooks 11.
Seaman junior KaeVon Bonner led all scorers with 32 points, going 13 of 16 at the free throw line, while senior Bryer Finley added 15 points and junior Cameron Brian 11 off the bench.
Finley, Brian and junior Matthew McConnaughey all fouled out for the Vikings.
Seaman will close out its regular season at Shawnee Heights Friday night.
PIPER BOYS 70, SEAMAN 69
Piper 20 15 13 22 -- 70
Seaman 8 15 20 26 -- 69
Piper (16-3, 13-2) – Moore 5-9 3-8 14, Vogel 0-3 2-2 2, Brooks 4-8 3-7 11, Jackson 3-8 8-11 14, Sayles 1-2 0-0 2, Walton 4-7 1-2 12, Crawford 4-6 5-8 13, Labat III 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-45 22-38 70.
Seaman (13-6, 10-5) – Finley 6-16 2-2 15, Bonner 9-18 13-16 32, Wiltz 1-6 2-2 4, Smith 2-6 0-1 4, McConnaughey 0-1 0-0 0, Toyne 0-0 0-0 0, Zuniga 0-0 0-0 0, Brian 4-7 3-4 11, Scholes 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-55 20-25 69.
3-point goals – Piper 4 (Walton 3, Moore), Seaman 3 (Finley, Bonner, Scholes). Total fouls – Piper 24, Seaman 28. Fouled out – Finley, McConnaughey, Brian. Technical fouls – Piper bench.
