Once again, Monte Harrison’s show-stealing dunking prowess provided the most electrifying and memorable moments for Lee’s Summit West.
In a way, those throwdowns also told the story of the Titans’ 75-61 win Thursday against Washington the Hy-Vee Shootout presented by Metro Sports at Avila’s Mabee Center.
Basically, LS West, 4-1, scored at will in transition as Washington, 3-2, suffered its second straight loss.
“They’re quick, but for the most part we did a pretty good job of keeping them in front of us and making them earn plays, and they made some plays,” Titans coach Michael Schieber said. “But the transition buckets when we were able to get stops really helped us.”
Midway through the second quarter, the Wildcats surged to a 26-24 lead, but the Titans’ pressure defense powered an 11-4 run to close the half.
LS West built on its five-point lead with more gifts in transition, building a 56-45 entering the fourth quarter then keeping Washington at arm’s length.
“The key was boxing out, because they’re a team that loves to crash the boards,” said Harrison, who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. “They send four guys and leave one back. Our coaches tells us to run, when we get the ball to run. That’s what we did and it led to some easy buckets.”
The Wildcats know what went wrong and vow to become a better team as a result.
“We’re OK,” Wildcats coach Eric King said. “We’ve played a tough schedule and we’re 3-2, but we have three league games in a row coming up. Win those, and we’re 6-2.”
Senior Kyndall Powell added 17 points for LS West.
Washington senior DeAndre King led all scorers with 20 points.
LS North boys 65, Sumner Academy 46
Lee’s Summit North senior Chris Robinson’s family decided last weekend to move back to Colorado to care for his ailing grandmother, who is battling Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
That meant a 65-46 win against Sumner Academy was Robinson’s final game as a Bronco.
At least Robinson made it a good one, scoring 12 points with six rebounds and three steals before exchanging emotional embraces with several teammates as he walked off the floor.
Fittingly, it was senior guard Andy Spellman’s behind-the-back assist in transition to Robinson early in the third quarter that ignited a decisive 9-2 run.
With that spurt, the Broncos, 5-2, turned an eight-point game into a 15-point runaway.
From that point, Sumner, 1-4, which was led by senior Jowell Daniels’ 18 points and seven rebounds, never drew closer than 12 points.
“Words can’t even describe how emotional this was,” Robinson said. “I’ve been with these guys, most of them, since sixth grade. We’ve been a brotherhood ever since, but now I’m moving away. It’s indescribable. I’m glad we won. That was a relief.”
Senior Richard Chapman led LS North with 18 points.
Liberty boys 59, Olathe Northwest 40
Liberty opened the game with a 9-0 run and barely had to check its rearview mirror.
The Blue Jays, 6-1, went on to lead 26-16 at halftime despite a buzzer-beater from Ravens senior Trey Bales and salted the game away with a strong start to the third quarter.
Junior Sam Griffin led Liberty with 12 points and six rebounds.
Bales led all scorers with 16.
