Chieftains defeat Wellsville for first win

Archive for Friday, December 12, 2008

Austin Smith and his Tonganoxie High teammates defend in the half court against Wellsville on Friday afternoon at the Paola Invitational. The Chieftains defeated the Eagles, 52-37.

By Benton Smith

December 12, 2008

Photo by Benton Smith

Jeremy Carlisle attempts a reverse layup against Wellsville during the fourth quarter of Tonganoxie's 52-37 victory on Friday afternoon.

Paola — Trailing by three in the middle of a stagnant second quarter, the Tonganoxie High boys basketball team, led by junior forward Keaton Schaffer, shot out of the doldrums for its first victory of the season, a 52-37 win against Wellsville in the seventh-place game at the Paola Invitational.

Schaffer went on a personal 8-1 run against the Eagles to end the second quarter and give the Chieftains a four-point halftime lead and momentum on Friday afternoon by scoring a layup in traffic, hitting a technical free throw, draining a three from the right wing and slicing to the rim for another lay-in just before time expired in the first half.

That burst gave Tonganoxie a boost heading into the game-changing third quarter when the Chieftains (1-2) outscored the Eagles, 21-7.

The second half started the way the previous one ended — with Schaffer (21 points, five rebounds, four assists) attacking the paint. He drew a foul and converted two free throws on the first THS possession and scored a layup the next time down the floor.

A Jamie Everett jumper from the right elbow gave Tonganoxie a 26-19 lead, which expanded to an 11-point advantage once Schaffer and Jeremy Carlisle scored transition layups off passes from one another on the next few trips up the floor.

After getting one of his three third-quarter blocked shots, Brandon Yoder ran the floor, received a no-look pass from Carlisle (seven assists) and converted a finger roll to make the score 32-21. Senior pivot Austin Smith, who finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds, scored in the paint, drew a foul and hit his free throw to give THS a 14-point lead.

Tonganoxie will play host to Perry-Lecompton on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Score by quarters

Tonganoxie 10 10 21 11 — 52

Wellsville 11 5 7 14 — 37

Tonganoxie scoring:

Jeremy Carlisle 1-2 2-2 4, Jace Waters 0-0 2-3 2, Jamie Everett 3-7 0-1 6, Keaton Schaffer 8-14 4-6 21, Austin Smith6-8 1-1 13, Dylan Scates 0-4 0-0 0, Brandon Yoder 1-6 1-3 3, Rob Schlicht 1-3 0-0 3.