By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In its previous two games Shawnee Heights girls basketball dug itself a first-half hole en route to United Kansas Conference losses to state-ranked Seaman and De Soto.
Shawnee Heights sophomore KK Emmot (1) led the way with 22 points in Wednesday's 53-48 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds flipped the script Wednesday night, dominating the opening half before holding off Basehor-Linwood for a 53-48 home UKC win.
"The biggest part of it was just finding a way to grind it out and win,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "After having this week of no practice, and then coming out and playing, you never know what you're going to get, but this is what we needed to kind of get over the hump and get through the week with this crazy weather.
"We had a tough week last week playing Seaman and De Soto, which I thought we competed well in those games, but we could never get over the hump, so this is big.''
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 12-6 overall and 9-5 in the UKC, led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but Basehor-Linwood (9-8, 8-5) scored the final eight points of the half and opened the third quarter with a 13-2 run to briefly take a one-point advantage and set the stage for a nail-biter the rest of the way.
The T-Birds led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and built a 34-16 cushion with 2:18 left in the half on a KK Emmot hoop, but Heights was held scoreless the remainder of the half as the Bobcats cut their deficit to 34-24.
Basehor-Linwood continued to rally in the third quarter, holding the T-Birds to just two points over the first five minutes-plus en route to taking a brief 37-36 lead at the 3:10 mark on a 3-pointer from junior Alaina Schwisow.
Shawnee Heights fought right back, however, with senior Haley Bowers connecting on a 3-pointer with 2:18 left in the third to put Heights back in front before both teams were held scoreless over the remainder of the stanza.
Basehor-Linwood regained the lead two more times in the fourth quarter, the last time at 47-45 with 2:06 remaining after a Kinley Christopher 3-pointer, but Emmot answered with a trey 14 seconds later to put Heights ahead to stay.
Shawnee Heights senior Haley Bowers (10) hit a big late-game 3-pointer to put the T-Birds up by four points in Wednesday's 53-48 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN] '
Emmot's 3-pointer began a 8-0 run, which also included a Bowers 3 and two Emmot free throws before Basehor-Linwood hit a free throw with 5.9 seconds remaining to account for the final score.
Junior Reianna Vega scored 11 points for Shawnee Heights in Wednesday's 53-48 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Emmot led all scorers with 22 points while Bowers and junior Reianna Vega added 11 points apiece and senior Kaydence Torrez grabbed 12 rebounds.
Christopher led Basehor-Linwood with 18 points.
Wednesday's win gave Shawnee Heights a regular-season sweep over Basehor-Linwood, with the T-Birds taking a 48-33 win over the Bobcats in their season-opener.
Heights will be back at home Friday to host Kansas City-Turner in a UKC contest.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 53, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 48
Basehor-Linwood 13 11 13 11 -- 48
Shawnee Heights 17 17 5 14 -- 53
Basehor-Linwood (9-8, 8-5) – Schwisow 3-8 0-0 9, McKnight 2-8 0-0 4, Wittkop 2-10 6-8 10, Christopher 6-15 5-10 18, VanDonge 1-4 0-0 2, Jackson 1-2 0-2 3, Deters 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 16-49 11-19 48.
Shawnee Heights (12-6, 9-5) – Emmot 8-15 3-5 22, Brees 0-5 0-0 0, Bowers 4-9 1-2 11, Torrez 2-5 0-2 4, Vega 5-14 0-0 11, Euwer 0-1 0-0 0, Hanshaw 1-2 0-0 3, Hamilton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-52 4-9 53.
3-point goals – Basehor-Linwood 5 (Schwisow 3, Jackson, Christopher), Shawnee Heights 7 (Emmot 3, Bowers 2, Vega, Hanshaw). Total fouls – Basehor-Linwood 14, Shawnee Heights 14. Fouled out – Vega. Technical fouls – Emmot.
