ShawneeDispatch.com

EMPORIA — Someday soon, maybe a week from now, the members of the Shawnee Mission Northwest boys basketball team will have a chance to reflect on what a remarkable season they had.

A 19-6 season record; a sub-state championship; a berth in the state tournament; playing on the final Saturday of the season. All of those are accomplishments in which to take pride.

For now, however, the sting of a loss Saturday to Shawnee Mission East in the third-place game of the Class 6A state tournament is too fresh.

In a gritty, hard-fought, down-to-the wire contest reminiscent of so many Friday nights in the Sunflower League, East capitalized on a last-second put-back rebound to outlast the Cougars, 53-51, at White Auditorium in Emporia.

It was a tough loss for all of the Cougars, in particular the seniors — Ryan Arel, Connor Chmielewski, and Pat Daly — who had fought for four long years to earn their first trip to state. After the game, an emotional Northwest coach Ben Meseke tried to put into words the feelings encompassing his seniors.

“The kids just worked and worked and worked,” Meseke said outside a somber Cougar locker room. “I’m just thinking about those seniors right now and that they’ve meant so much to this ball club.”

Unfortunately for Meseke and the rest of the Cougar faithful, the Northwest seniors didn’t get to make much of an impact for most of the third-place game. Foul trouble kept starters Arel and Chmielewski on the bench for much of the game. Both guards collected three fouls by halftime, forcing Meseke to field a young lineup for most of the game.

Even with only one senior, Daly, on the court most of the game, Northwest never seemed aimless. A pregame strategy of pounding the ball inside to junior post Steve Carver and sophomore forward A.J. Spencer kept the Cougar offense rolling while the Northwest defense kept the Lancers from ever going on an extended run.

The Cougars started the game with an offensive rebound and put-back and extended their lead to 8-3 three and a half minutes in the first quarter on another board and stick-back — this one by Spencer.

East edged back into the game despite not connecting on a field goal for almost seven minutes. Three consecutive foul calls on Northwest players, including the Cougars’ seventh with 2:35 still left in the first quarter, helped send the Lancers to the free throw line where they tied the game at 8-8. Northwest responded by outscoring the Lancers 6-3 through the last two minutes with two baskets in the lane by Spencer. The Cougars led 14-11 at the end of one quarter.

Northwest looked to establish control in the second frame and began emphasizing the inside game even more. Carver and Spencer provided all the points on a 5-0 mini-run to start the period and, when Carver connected on a drive from the right side, the Cougars were up 19-11 with 6:30 left in the half.

Yet East was not going to be dismissed easily. The Lancers went on a 6-0 run of their own, pulling to within four – 21-17 – on a layup by senior Winn Clark off an assist from senior John Delgado with five minutes left in the quarter. After Northwest again extended its lead to eight at 25-17, East came back to narrow the halftime deficit to two on a layup by senior Marcus Webb off a feed from junior Scott Kennedy, making the score 29-27 SMNW at the break.

Lancer buckets by Webb and senior guard Charlie Ludington quickly brought East back even with the Cougars at 31-31 before a pair of Spencer free throws gave Northwest back a 33-31 lead with 5:28 left in the third quarter. That’s when the Lancers went on an 8-1 run to claim their biggest lead of the game at 39-34 when Ludington splashed a 3-pointer from the right side off a Clark assist with two and a half minutes left in the third. Both teams’ defenses stiffened after that and East went into the final frame with a 41-36 advantage.

Coming off the bench because of foul difficulties, Chmielewski looked to take things into his own hands for the Cougars and went on a personal 4-0 run with a layup and a pair of free throws to start the final quarter to bring the Cougars within 41-40. After East extended the lead back to three, the Northwest big men reclaimed the lead for the Cougars. First, Spencer connected on both ends of a one-and-one with 5:33 left. On the next trip down, Carver found the offensive board on a missed Cougar shot and stuck the put-back to put Northwest up 44-43. Clark then hit a jumper for East that gave the Lancers back a 45-44 lead. However, Northwest countered with a Carver trey from the top of the key and then an Arel fast break layup to go up 49-45 with under four minutes remaining.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, the foul troubles of the first quarter resurfaced in the fourth. During the final 3:29 of the contest, the Cougars were whistled for four consecutive fouls, allowing East to pull even from the free throw line with 1:44 remaining. After a series of timeouts, the Cougars narrowly missed a pair of shots from underneath the basket, giving East the ball back with a minute left. As the clock wound down to under 10 seconds, the Lancers cleared out to give Webb a final drive at the basket. Webb drove to the lane and put up a contested shot that bounced off the right side of the rim into the arms of Lancer senior forward Curran Darling who stuck in the put-back as the clock wound down to zero, giving East the 53-51 victory.

Carver led the Cougars with a tremendous double-double effort of 21 points and 12 rebounds to go with two assists. Spencer followed Carver with a big day of his own — 17 points, six boards, three assists and three blocked shots.

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