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Tonganoxie home debut worth the wait

By Benton Smith - | Jan 6, 2009

After a three-week delay, Tonganoxie High’s basketball home opener proved well worth the wait on Jan. 6.

Originally scheduled for Dec. 16, but postponed due to wintry weather, the Chieftains finally played at home against Perry-Lecompton and pulled off an impressive sweep in the process as the THS girls won, 55-24, and the boys defeated PLHS, 68-53.

The girls game never was in doubt as the Chieftains jumped out to a 14-3 lead that kept increasing throughout the contest.

Tonganoxie went on an 18-0 run at one point in the first half. It began with an Abby Eisman jumper, finished with a Haley Smith layup, and featured buckets from Andie Jeannin, Chrissie Jeannin and Roni Grizzle in between.

Smith, who came in off the bench, emerged as a legit offensive threat for THS in the contest. The freshman guard led Tonganoxie with 16 points, doing the bulk of her damage in the fourth quarter when she scored the Chieftains’ first 12 points.

Junior guard Andie Jeannin hit three treys and passed out four assists for THS, and senior point guard Chrissie Jeannin finished with 10 points, four dimes and five rebounds. Senior forward Roni Grizzle went 4-for-6 from the floor, scored nine points and led THS with six rebounds.

Facing a big and tall Perry-Lecompton front line, the THS boys looked to be in real trouble early on thanks to quick and frequent fouls. Tonganoxie senior center Austin Smith picked up his first foul 1:06 into the contest and was called for a second on the ensuing inbounds play. Senior forward Jamie Everett took a few more minutes to be whistled for his second but ended up getting called for a third with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter.

THS combated through the foul trouble against the Kaws with hustle and determination. A first-quarter layup from junior Keaton Schaffer gave the Chieftains a 7-6 lead, which increased to 9-6 when Everett worked the low to Brandon Yoder’s high in a half-court set and scored a left-handed reverse lay-in. Senior Kaws guard Shane Gimzo tied the game at 11, but Schaffer answered that score with a bucket in the paint to give THS the lead for good.

Without its top two inside players in the second quarter, Tonganoxie still was able to increase its lead. Junior forward Brandon Yoder drained a jumper from the free-throw line to give THS an 18-12 lead. Schaffer outworked everyone on the floor on Tonganoxie’s next score as he missed and grabbed his own rebound twice before finally putting the ball in the basket on his third attempt of the possession. Schaffer scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the second quarter, getting all of the points in the paint, to help give THS a 13-point halftime lead.

The Chieftains went 18-for-26 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Sophomore point guard Jeremy Carlisle hit seven of eight freebies in the fourth and Everett went 6-for-8 from the line.

Tonganoxie girls 55, Perry-Lecompton 24

Score by quarters

Perry-Lecompton 3 8 4 9 — 24

Tonganoxie 14 14 13 14 — 55

PLHS (24)

Abbey Bays 2-7 0-0 5, Emma Gantz 2-6 2-2 6, Katie Hirsch 1-7 0-0 2, Megan Elder 0-4 0-0 0, Katie Volle 3-9 0-0 6, Taylor Akagi 0-2 0-0 0, Natasha Carver 2-6 0-0 5, Sydney Allen 0-0 0-2 0.

THS (55)

Lauren Hall 1-4 0-0 3, Andie Jeannin 4-10 0-0 11, Roni Grizzle 4-6 1-3 9, Abby Eisman 2-3 0-0 4, Chrissie Jeannin 4-10 0-0 10, Haley Smith 7-11 1-2 16, Danielle Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Holroyd 0-1 0-0 0, Tayler Miles 1-2 0-0 2.

Tonganoxie boys 68, Perry-Lecompton 53

Score by quarters

Perry-Lecompton 12 9 16 16 — 53

Tonganoxie 16 18 12 22 — 68

PLHS (53)

Riley Shafer 1-5 2-4 4, Shane Gimzo 8-23 2-4 18, Brad Phillips 4-8 0-0 9, Joel Gantz 3-6 1-4 7, Andy Bowman 4-12 5-12 13, Caleb Wege 0-5 0-1 0, Eric Hastert 0-1 0-0 0, Kameron Hurd 1-3 0-0 2.

THS (68)

Jamie Carlisle 1-2 13-16 15, Jace Waters 1-2 0-0 2, Jamie Everett 4-4 7-10 15, Keaton Schaffer 9-17 4-9 22, Austin Smith 1-4 1-2 3, Brandon Yoder 2-11 0-1 4, Rob Schlicht 1-5 1-2 3, Justin Jacobs 2-3 0-0 4, Dylan Scates 0-1 0-2 0.