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6A state tournament catch-all

By BRYAN HOLMGREN
Eye Witness Sports

6A BOYS SEMIFINALS:

Joe Mitchell took two dribbles, sized up the rim and let it fly...from 70 feet out ... and found nothing but net.

It was that type of night for the Southeast senior. Mitchell made 14 of 21 shots on his way to 32 points, but it was his first quarter buzzer-beater that stole the show in Southeast's 80-63 semifinal win over Shawnee Mission East on Friday.

"He's our leading scorer. He led the league in scoring. He can do that," said Southeast coach Carl Taylor, who never once cracked a smile while talking to reporters after the game. But even the stone-faced Taylor couldn't help but laugh when Mitchell's shot went down.

The heave came just four seconds after SM East's Winn Clark drilled a triple on the other end to briefly pull them with two. Instead, Southeast took a 21-16 edge into the second and seemed to seize back the momentum.

Mitchell continued his surge with 10 second quarter points. The last four came off back-to-back steals. On the first he swiped a pass and dribbled the length of the floor for a bucket. Seconds later he flashed out of nowhere to steal a short SM East inbound pass, flipping it through the hoop before the Lancers even knew it was gone.

The mini-flurry pushed Southeast's lead from two out to six heading into halftime. SM East never closed within four the rest of the way.

Ahead 45-41 with just over five minutes to go in the third, Mitchell hit a three and then scored on a lay-up some thirty seconds later to make it a nine point game.

The Buffaloes ran it out to an even dozen into the fourth. After SM East closed within six in the final two minutes, Southeast ran off the final nine points to pad the end margin.

Marcus Webb led SM East with 22 points. Cecil Shaw scored 15 for Southeast, which shot 52.5% as a team.

The defending 6A champions will renew ties with Wichita Heights on Saturday at 6:15.

The City League has placed a team in the final in 10 of the last 14 years, but this is the first time since 1994 (when South beat Northwest) that two teams for the GWAL will square off in the title game.

"I think it's special," said Taylor. "I'm very happy that happened. Tomorrow ought to be a heck of a game."

Heights is responsible for two of Southeast's four losses - both of them by single digits. The Falcons won at Southeast last month 63-60 in last meeting between the two teams.

WICHITA HEIGHTS 65, SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST 60

Heights' veterans spent an entire year thinking about their 2008 semifinal loss. Friday they made the most of their second chance, downing Shawnee Mission Northwest to secure the schools' first trip to the title game since 1998.

"We were in the locker room in tears last year after a heartbreaking loss," said Heights coach Joe Auer. "For our kids to hang in there and work for a year and give ourselves a chance. It's a remarkable group of kids and I'm just ecstatic for them."

Truth be told, it was the youngsters who carried the day. Sophomore Dreamius Smith scored 19 points off the bench to fuel the Falcons. Freshman Perry Ellis didn't touch the ball much but made the most of his limited opportunities, sinking all five of his shots from the field on a 13 points, eight-rebound night.

"They box-and-oned us tonight, trying to take Perry out of the flow," said Auer. "We just shared the basketball and took good shots and stayed aggressive."

More importantly, the Falcons knocked those shots down, hitting 58% as a team. They never trailed but also never fully put the Cougars away.

They led by as many as 11 in the second quarter before settling for a two point halftime lead.

The Falcons led 44-41 late in the third but scored the next six points to open up some breathing room. The last came when Ellis picked the ball from Conner Chmielewski as he was preparing to drive the lane. Ellis dribbled across midcourt before hitting a cutting Smith in stride for a lay-up.

SM Northwest crawled back within three with 22 second remaining. Heights' Austin Bahner made one of two free throws on the other end to push it out to a two-possession game. Ellis rebounded Bahner's miss on the second free throw. SM Northwest fouled Bahner again and the senior added another free throw for the final margin.

6A GIRLS SEMIFINALS:

OLATHE SOUTH 60, WICHITA HEIGHTS GIRLS 54

For the second straight year the Heights girls made a semifinal exit. But this time there's a little silver lining.

The 2008 group - a veteran team that had carried a national ranking for parts of the season - was a heavy favorite coming into State before losing to Goddard.

The much more youthful  '09 version sees its tournament run as a learning experience going forward.

That being said, Heights had every opportunity to win. The Falcons made just 2 of 24 three-point attempts, going 1 for 16 in the second half.

Still Heights held its ground. They outrebounded Olathe South 37-30 and put up 28 more shots.

Heights trailed by two at the half and by five heading into the third but pulled back within 55-52 on Allegria Chisholm's three-pointer. But they missed nine straight treys over the final four minutes, allowing Olathe South to close it out.

Olathe South hit 6 of 11 threes for the night, going 55% from the field.

TOPEKA WASHBURN RURAL 55, SHAWNEE MISSION WEST 45

After trailing by two at the half, Washburn Rural outscored SM West 32-20 down the stretch to reach the 6A final. Taylor Zordel and Lasharra Riley each had a dozen for Rural (22-1). Riley added 13 rebounds.