By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In his heart, veteran Shawnee Heights boys basketball coach Ken Darting believes his T-Birds could be undefeated right now.
But after dropping a pair of single-digit games to open the season, Heights has bounced back with a vengeance, reeling off three straight United Kansas Conference wins, including an 85-37 home rout over Leavenworth Friday night.
Shawnee Heights senior Dylan Sanchez, applying defensive pressure Friday night, scored a game-high 14 points with four 3-pointers in the T-Birds' 85-37 UKC rout over Leavenworth Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Sophomore Da'Quan Lee (15) goes up for a shot in Shawnee Heights' 85-37 UKC win over Leavenworth Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"The big thing of it is we didn't get down,'' Darting said of the early losses. "That's what you worry about with a young team, 'Oh, we've already lost two, we're done.' But we won two really tough games against (Topeka) West and at Basehor and I'm proud of them because we did stay the course.''
Shawnee Heights dominated Friday's game from start to finish, scoring the first 13 points and steadily adding to its advantage throughout the game.
The T-Birds led 25-9 at the end of the quarter and took a huge 51-22 lead to the locker room at the half.
Shawnee Heights boosted its advantage to 67-32 by the end of the third quarter, forcing a running clock throughout the fourth quarter, and ended the game with an 18-5 edge over the final eight minutes.
Twelve players scored for the T-Birds, including three in double figures, while seven Heights players combined to can 13 3-pointers on the night.
Senior Dylan Sanchez led the T-Birds with a game-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers, while junior Jaret Sanchez scored 12 points with a pair of treys, and junior Deacon Pomeroy added 10 points as Heights shot 54.8 percent from the field.
"What happened tonight is what I watch every afternoon,'' Darting said. "The Leavenworth coach (Dru Linebach) said, 'Man, you shoot it like that and not very many people can beat you,' and that's the truth.
"I've been telling these guys, 'We don't have to do more than we're doing or everybody get better, we've just got to do what we can do.' ''
Defensively, Shawnee Heights forced 30 Leavenworth turnovers and limited the Pioneers to single-digit scoring in two of four quarters.
Sophomore Abram Clements led Leavenworth with 13 points.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 85, LEAVENWORTH 37
Leavenworth 9 13 10 5 -- 37
Shawnee Heights 25 26 16 18 -- 85
Leavenworth -- Tolbert 0-3 0-0 0, Johnson 3-4 0-0 8, Thomas 3-5 0-0 9, Clements 5-11 0-0 13, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Carter 2-2 0-0 4, Gadwood 0-1 2-2 2, Morgan 0-1 0-0 0, Wake 0-1 1-2 1, Alonzo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-31 3-4 37.
Shawnee Heights (3-2, 3-2) -- Pomeroy 4-7 2-2 10, D. Sanchez 5-6 0-0 14, Dodge 4-9 0-0 8, Emmot 3-9 0-0 7, J. Sanchez 5-8 0-1 12, Lee 2-3 1-2 5, Delgado 1-1 0-0 3, Ross 3-6 1-1 7, Moore 2-6 0-0 6, Cook 1-2 0-0 3, Alston 3-3 0-2 8, Parker 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 34-62 4-8 85.
3-point goals -- Leavenworth 8 (Thomas 3, Clements 3, Johnson 2, ), Shawnee Heights 13 (D. Sanchez 4, J. Sanchez 2, Moore 2, Alston 2, Cook, Delgado, Emmot). Total fouls -- Leavenworth 9, Shawnee Heights 13. Fouled out – none.
