By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
In the first meeting between the Shawnee Heights girls and Basehor-Linwood, the game went down to the final second before Audrey Schulte hit a game-winning 3-pointer to give the T-Birds a one-point United Kansas Conference victory.
Shawnee Heights freshman KK Emmot (1) scored 17 points to lead the way in the T-Birds' 55-51 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The finish of Tuesday's rematch wasn't quite as dramatic, but it was still a nailbiter all the way, with the T-Birds pulling out a 55-51 win at Heights.
"During the first game, we lost our composure in the first half,'' Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells said. "(The Bobcats) like to play a really physical style of game and really get out and defend and deny and I don't think our girls were believers at the time of how hard they were going to play on defense so we were down like 14 at halftime.
"This game our girls kind of bought in to, 'Hey, this is going to be a battle and we better have our composure ready.' We lost our composure a few times but we got it right back and I'm really proud of them.''
Shawnee Heights, 8-5 overall, 6-3 UKC, led 13-11 at the end of the opening quarter after senior Rachel Swift scored the final five points of the quarter, including a stickback at the buzzer.
The T-Birds led by a slight margin throughout the second quarter before taking a 22-20 lead to the locker room at the break.
Basehor-Linwood (7-6, 6-4) led twice and there was a 26-26 tie early in the third quarter befoe Heights freshman KK Emmot scored six straight points to put the T-Birds in front 30-26 at the 4:47 mark of the quarter.
Heights led 39-37 at the start of the fourth stanza but the Bobcats rallied to lead at 45-44 and 48-47 before Schulte nailed a 3-pointer to put the T-Birds ahead to stay at 50-48 with 4:43 remaining.
Basehor-Linwood got within a point (51-50) with 1:53 remaining and was within two points (53-51) with 20.4 seconds left before sophomore Reianna Vega hit two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to clinch Shawnee Heights' third straight victory.
The T-Birds' current win streak came after Heights dropped four straight games to state stalwarts Seaman, Hayden, De Soto and Blue Valley.
After losing by 11 to Blue Valley in the first round of the Glacier's Edge Tournament, Heights bounced back to win its final two tournament games before adding Tuesday's win.
"Not only were we playing really good teams in that little stretch, but we were playing really good teams without being able to practice,'' Wells said. "It's helped getting the girls back and getting their attitudes straight.
"I thought we played well against Blue Valley and I think that kind of turned the corner for us and hopefully we can stay together as a group and keep turning the corner.''
Shawnee Heights senior Breezy Canady scored 14 points in the T-Birds' home 55-51 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Rachel Swift scored 10 points, including seven in the first quarter, in Shawnee Heights' home 55-51 UKC win over Basehor-Linwood. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Emmot led Shawnee Heights with 17 points while senior Breezy Canady added 14 points and Swift 10.
Sophomore Kinley Christopher led Basehor-Linwood with 17 points while senior Kodi Greer added 11 points and senior Harley Baker 10.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 55, BASEHOR-LINWOOD 51
Basehor-Linwood 11 9 17 14 -- 51
Shawnee Heights 13 9 17 16 -- 55
Basehor-Linwood (7-6, 6-4) -- Fisher 1 1-3 3, Greer 3 2-2 11, Schwisow 1 2-3 5, Baker 2 6-8 10, Christopher 7 3-4 17, McKnight 1 2-2 5, Unruh 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-22 51.
Shawnee Heights (8-5, 6-3)-- Emmot 7 2-4 17, Schulte 3 0-2 8, Torrez 0 0-0 0, Canady 4 6-12 14, Vega 0 2-2 2, Brees 2 0-0 4, Euwer 0 0-0 4, H. Bowers 0 0-0 0, Swift 4 2-5 10. Totals 20 12-25 55.
3-point goals -- Basehor-Linwood 5 (Greer 3, Schwisow, McKnight), Shawnee Heights 3 (Schulte 2, Emmot). Total fouls -- Basehor-Linwood 19, Shawnee Heights 17. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
