LVHS girls fall short, boys win big on the road
After an unbeaten start after six games, the Lansing Lions’ girls’ basketball team took one on the chin Friday night, but not before making a 28-minute statement.
Too bad a game is 32 minutes.
Lansing was undone by a big, Piper run in the late stages of the second quarter and that little jolt was enough to carry the host Pirates to a 56-43 win over the Lions in a Kaw Valley League contest.
Lansing (6-1, 2-1) was led by Taylor Lang’s 18-point performance and the 14-point output of Gerenda Smith.
Lansing trailed 16-14 midway through the second quarter and then the Pirates went on a bender to pull ahead by the final margin heading into the half, 27-14.
The game played out evenly from that point on.
“You could feel the momentum going (away) when it was a two-point game and then you look up and it’s a 12-point game,” Lansing head coach KC Simmons said. “From there we played them evenly the rest of the way.
“Basketball is such a game of momentum and once one team gets going it’s hard to get your train back on the track. We preach to not let one mistake into two and that is definitely easier said than done. It was a learning experience and if you can learn from wins, you can learn from losses. I would just rather win, that’s for sure. We are being more coachable and doing a better job and running our offense.”
Olathe East 40, LEAVENWORTH 34
Two lessons were learned Friday by the Leavenworth High girls’ basketball team.
Within a span of less than an hour, head coach Derek Bissett learned his young squad still has much to learn, but in another breath, he realizes he has a tough crew to work with as LVHS battled in a 40-34 defeat at unbeaten, 6A juggernaut, Olathe East.
Leavenworth (4-3, 1-2) was led by Aleshia Jones as the freshman scored 19 of the Pioneers’ points.
“We took their best shot and we are going to get peoples’ best shot,” Bissett said. “When someone punches us, we have to punch back and that’s part of that growth process. We rallied at the end and there were just little things we have to get better at. It’s not the big stuff, it’s just understanding the little things. They win or lose tight ballgames.”
Leavenworth led 6-3 after the first quarter in a defensive struggle, but were hurt by a tremendous East run in the next eight minutes to lead 21-11 at halftime.
The Pioneers outscored East in three of the four quarters, but that was not enough.
“Second quarter they really got after us defensively and we really backed down,” Bissett said. “Being a young team, we kind of got back on our heels a little bit and backed down offensively and struggled. It was mostly, half-court pressure man-to-man.”
Leavenworth got to within three late in the game and then East was able to hold them off from the free throw line.
BLHS 55, Tonganoxie 24
Despite its struggles out of KVL play, the Basehor-Linwood Bobcats have made sure that their league foes know what’s what so far in the 2017-18 season.
Friday night, the Bobcats (3-4, 3-0) took control early and used a dominant defensive performance to pull away for an easy, 55-24 win at Tonganoxie.
Riley Tinder led the Bobcats with 14 points while Katie Yankovich added 12 points in the win for the Bobcats.
BLHS and Lansing meet up Tuesday on the Bobcat’s home court.
Bobcat head coach Jason Tatkenhorst emphasized the team’s defensive effort carrying the day until the team’s offense got into gear as the game wore on.
It was a good win with the Lions coming to town in a few days.
“Now we have to get ready for a big game against a good Lansing team,” Tatkenhorst said.
PLEASANT RIDGE 57, Horton 48
The Rams from Pleasant Ridge got a 23-point performance by Lindsey Heim and a lot of other key showings by a number of her teammates to hold on for a 57-48 win over Horton.
Pleasant Ridge evened its season and league marks to 3-3 on the year as Julie Miller added seven points and three other Rams scored six points apiece.
“We had a lot of contributions from a lot of girls tonight,” Pleasant Ridge head coach Mike Koontz said. “We played an overall, well-rounded game. We are making strides in the right direction. We may have not have got the win the other night at JCN, but we played a great game, just did not finish. Tonight, we were able to get up and finish the game.”
BOYS
The Leavenworth High boys' team won its first game on its last Sunflower League journey, taking a 48-36 win at Olathe East on Friday night.
Tah-Ji Pinch had 22 points and Reece Williams added 13 rebounds for the Pioneers (2-6, 1-2) who used a tough defensive effort to lead 19-14 at the break and pull away.
Olathe East entered the contest with four, double-figure scorers, but none scored more than nine on the night.
Piper 86, LANSING 47
BASEHOR LINWOOD 36, Tonganoxie 24
PLEASANT RIDGE 56, Horton 52 in overtime