By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
There was no letdown for the Shawnee Heights boys Tuesday night.
Jaret Sanchez led the way with 21 points as Shawnee Heights improved to 9-2 with an 82-30 UKC win over Leavenworth Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds followed up their thrilling Shawnee Mission West Viking Classic championship with a blowout of Leavenworth 82-30 at Shawnee Heights.
The T-Birds picked up where they left off last weekend, drilling their first seven shots Tuesday. But it was the Shawnee Heights defense that was the catalyst. The T-Birds made such a routine of turning over the Pioneers, they only permitted the visitors 29 shot attempts in the game.
The turnovers converted to fast break attempts at the other end, which senior Jaret Sanchez said is precisely the plan.
“Coach (Ken Darting) said at the beginning of the season that he wants like 65 to 70 percent of our points to be in transition on turnovers,” Sanchez said. “All of us are just buying in, knowing that if we go for a passing lane and miss, we have our teammates behind us to back us up and they’re going to get a stop.”
The T-Birds bolted to a 27-9 first quarter lead and continued to pile on. They held the Pioneers to just three points in the second period and led 44-12 at intermission. Darting substituted liberally in the second half, which was quickened by a running clock in the fourth period.
Deacon Pomeroy scored 13 points in Shawnee Heights' 82-30 win over Leavenworth Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Ontarius Emmot scored 10 points in Tuesday's 82-30 UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Nine T-Birds scored in the game. Sanchez led Shawnee Heights with 21 points. Deacon Pomeroy contributed 13, while Da’Quan Lee and Ontarius Emmot each scored 10. Players off the bench got in the act, including senior Andrew Ledell, who drilled three shots for eight points.
“It’s the best feeling seeing your friends that you grew up with go out there and get buckets and make plays,” Sanchez said. “We put hard work in every day at practice and then just see everybody shine.”
Sanchez said the win over Leavenworth showcased the T-Birds’ depth.
“It really started last year,” the senior said. “We had a deep team last year and then we brought basically everybody back, with more experience. And after more skill work over the summer, I feel like we have the best team we could possibly have.”
The T-Birds defeated Ozark from Missouri as well Blue Valley North at the Shawnee Mission West, two teams Darting said are highly ranked in their respective states.
“Not only was the tournament great, but it came at the perfect time,” Darting said. “We’ve been building. We’ve been cresting. And we’d done just about everything but knock off a power. And we got two powers.”
Darting likened the effect of the two victories to a high jumper who isn’t able to clear a particular height. Once he clears it for the first time, he becomes able to do it regularly.
“Before that, we were going into games kind of like, ‘Let’s wait and see.’ Now we’re going in with the confidence we can do it.”
“It’s like a snowball effect,” Sanchez said about the confidence gained at the tournament. “We’re just gonna keep going and stay hot. All of us knew we could be good. We just needed a big win to start that snowball effect.”
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 82, LEAVENWORTH 30
Leavenworth 9 3 10 8 -- 30
Shawnee Heights 27 17 23 15 -- 82
Leavenworth (1-7, 1-5 ) – Tolbert 0-1 1-2 1, Cheatham 1-3 1-2 3, Thomas 2-5 2-2 8, Brantley 3-7 0-0 9, Alonzo 2-4 0-2 4, Carter 0-1 1-2 1, Clark 1-2 0-1 2, Gadwood 0-3 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, RedCloud 0-0 0-0 0, Short 1-2 0-0 2, Redding 0-0 0-0 0, Giamalva 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 10-29 5-11 30.
Shawnee Heights (9-2, 5-2) – Cook 2-3 0-0 5, Pomeroy 5-7 2-2 13, Sanchez 9-15 3-4 21, Ross 3-6 1-2 7, Lee 4-7 2-2 10, Emmot 3-5 2-2 10, Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Alston 2-2 2-2 6, Ledell 3-3 0-0 8, Doby 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 32-49 12-14 82.
3-point goals – Leavenworth 5 (Brantley 3, Thomas 2), Shawnee Heights 6 (Emmot 2, Ledell 2, Cook 1, Pomeroy 1). Total fouls – Leavenworth 11, Shawnee Heights 10. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
