Boys basketball defeats Blue Valley Southwest 67-41
The boys improved their record to 5-10 after win on Tuesday, Jan. 30
January 31, 2018
The boys basketball team defeated the Blue Valley Southwest Timberwolves 67-41 in the EKL matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at home.
Senior Cooper Kaifes led the first quarter with seven points individually, and through fast-paced runs down the court, the team scored 13 points against BVSouthwest’s nine. Freshman Keeshawn Mason also scored six points.
The second quarter had a more diverse group of scorers, introducing seniors Sammy Rebeck and Ben Weigel and junior Matty Wittenauer. The Timberwolves only gained a lead for less than a minute, with help from a buzzer-beater three-pointer by Kaifes to end the half 32-22 Jaguars.
After cheer, dance and band performed at halftime, junior Logan Talley began to score in the third quarter. A foul against BVSouthwest gave Kaifes the ball, in which Talley fell into the bleachers, but then proceeded to sink a three, putting the score at 50-33 Jaguars by the end of the quarter.
The beginning of the fourth began similarly, with a minor injury for senior Brody Flaming after falling into the bleachers. Flaming said he will be back at practice tomorrow.
“I tweaked my knee a little bit,” Flaming said. “I felt it kind of buckle on me. It’s still a little bit sore, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Senior Mason Little made two trips to the free throw line, scoring one point each. A dunk by [Keeshawn] Mason gave the Jaguars another two points, but a technical foul was called on Mason. Still, the crowd applauded as he walked to the bench. The game ended with a three from Kaifes and a two from Wittenauer, leaving the final score 67-41 Jaguars.
Kaifes said that since BVSouthwest’s offense is mainly down screening, the team worked on that in practice, along with setting other goals.
“Tonight, we did a really good job defending the ball,” Kaifes said. “Our keys for the game were basically boxing out and no made threes, so that’s when we really did well.”
Flaming attributed the win to general cohesion and teamwork.
“We did good on all cylinders,” Flaming said. “We played really good defense, we played really good offense [and] we executed when we needed to. We made some corrections in the second half, and it really helped us get the win tonight.”
With only a handful of regular season games left, Kaifes looks to improve scoring.
“Our offense can definitely use some work,” Kaifes said. “I mean we played really well tonight, but I just feel like we can do a better job of getting everyone involved.”
Nevertheless, Flaming is optimistic about the team’s ability to get better over the next few weeks.
“I feel pretty good,” Flaming said. “We are making strides day to day, and I think if we just keep working our butts off in practice and working hard, we’ll set ourselves in the right position at the end of the season to go to state.”
The Jaguars will play St. James Academy away on Friday, Feb. 2.
