ShawneeDispatch.com

Shawnee Mission Northwest’s girls basketball showdown with rival Shawnee Mission North shaped up to be a typical hard-fought battle for the first 16 minutes. Once the Cougars stepped on the gas in the second half, however, they motored away and never looked back in a 57-35 victory Thursday night at Cougar Gymnasium.

“They just came out and gave it to us in the second half,” North coach Kelly Dennis said. “As far as physically taking it to us, they were just more aggressive than we were.

“We played the way we needed to play in the first half. We didn’t really shoot the ball well, but we played the way we needed to play to make it the game we thought it was going to be.”

The Indians didn’t make life easy for the Coguars early.

Northwest opened the game on a 5-0 run as Katie Biggers buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the first possession of the game off of an assist from Jessica Johnson, and Kristina Purinton dished to Amanda Hoelting for a turnaround jumper the next time down the court.

North answered with a 12-foot jumper by Courtney Hughes. Biggers found Mia Woodward for a backdoor layup that gave SMNW a 7-2 lead, but the Indians countered with a free throw by Darian Dozier and a jump hook by India Johnson to close within 7-5 before a Biggers free throw gave Northwest an 8-5 lead with 1:07 to go in the first quarter.

The teams traded turnovers throughout the final minute of the opening quarter, and then North tied the game at 8-8 early in the second quarter as Cassie Ledgerwood sank a free throw and then scored on a lay-in off of a drive-and-dish by India Johnson.

“We knew we were going to have our hands full,” SMNW coach Jeff Dickson said. “It was exactly what you expect from a North-Northwest game. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be everybody diving on the floor for the ball and all of those sorts of things.”

After the surge by North, Northwest countered with a 3-pointer by Biggers, and the Cougars were back in control. Their full-court, man-to-man defense gave North trouble the rest of the quarter as the Indians turned the ball over seven times. Meanwhile, the Cougars received four points from McKayla Ross en route to an eight-point advantage before ultimately taking a 20-14 lead at halftime.

Northwest seized control early in the second half. Biggers found Jessica Johnson for a 3-pointer on the right wing on the first possession. North answered with a layup by Shayna Thomas and a 3-pointer by Hughes to close within four. Another trey by Johnson ignited the Cougars on an 11-2 run, however, and they surged to a 13-point lead. Two steals by Ross led to points during that span, and the Cougars led by double-digits the rest of the way.

“In the second half McKayla Ross took over and beat us off the dribble,” Dennis said. “We knew they were going to try to get to the rim more, and we didn’t respond.”

Ross scored nine third-quarter points and Sarah Schmidt added six as Northwest carried a 46-27 lead into the final period.

A 3-pointer by Thomas and a free throw by Maddy Wood briefly pulled the Indians within 15 early in the fourth quarter before the Cougars motored away to a 22-point victory.

Northwest finished with 17 turnovers, but the Cougars forced North to cough up the ball 27 times and turned them into 22 points.

Thomas led North with a game-high 15 points and Dozier added six.

Biggers had a team-high 14 points for Northwest, Ross had 13, Jessica Johnson scored nine and Schmidt added eight.

North (1-2) next plays at 7 p.m. Monday at Wyandotte. Northwest (3-0) returns to action at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Washington.

For a closer look at the Cougars, pick up the Dec. 14 issue of The Dispatch.

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