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Slow start costs THS boys in loss to Eudora

By Justin Nutter - | Jan 24, 2014

Saturday schedule

Justin Nutter

Jack Dale had a team-high 17 points in Tonganoxie's 56-46 loss to Eudora in the Tonganoxie Invitational. THS will play Atchison in the fifth-place game at noon Saturday.

Girls 7th place game

Eudora vs. Jeff West, 9 a.m.

Girls 5th place game

Atchison vs. De Soto, 10:30 a.m.

Boys 5th place game

Tonganoxie vs. Atchison, noon

Girls 3rd place game

Tonganoxie vs. Lansing, 1:30 p.m.

Boys 3rd place game

BVSW vs. Jeff West, 3 p.m.

Girls championship

Silver Lake vs. Chanute, 4:30 p.m.

Boys championship

Eudora vs. De Soto, 6 p.m.

Another slow start Friday against Eudora left the Tonganoxie High boys still searching for their first win in their home tournament.

THS boys couldn’t rebound from a 13-point first half, as they dropped a 56-46 decision to Eudora in the final game of pool play.

The Chieftains (4-5) fell behind by seven points after one quarter, and the Cardinals continued to gain separation before the break. EHS took advantage of nine first-half turnovers and went into the locker room with a 28-13 advantage.

“The first half, we were awful,” coach Shawn Phillips said. “The ball was stuck in our hands and we tried to force the issue too much, which led to turnovers. They’re very good in transition, so that led to easy buckets for them.”

Phillips’ squad cut the deficit to 10 multiple times in the second half, but was never able to get within single digits. The Cardinals stretched their lead to as many as 18 in the third quarter, but THS did enough on defense to stay within striking distance late. Eudora shot just 37.5 percent from the field after halftime, but the Chieftains weren’t able to capitalize on the other end of the court.

“When we actually made them run offense in the half court, I thought we did a pretty decent job, but we’ve got to do a better job of executing,” Phillips said. ” If you’re going to beat good teams, you’ve got to value every possession, especially when you dig yourself into a hole.”

Eudora freshman Mitchell Ballock led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double. Andrew Ballock and Austin Downing joined Mitchell Ballock in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively. With the win, EHS advances to the title game, where it will face De Soto in a battle of Frontier League schools.

Jack Dale led Tonganoxie with 17 points and Tyler Ford added 11 in the loss. THS will face Atchison in the tournament’s fifth-place game at noon Saturday. AHS defeated Holton in a consolation semifinal on Friday, 65-54.

“If we’re going to bounce back, it’s got to be as a group,” Phillips said. “We haven’t been playing that well, but if we’re going to get over the hump, it’s going to take a joint effort.”

Score by quarters

Eudora 14 14 16 12 — 56

Tonganoxie 7 6 17 16 — 46

Individual scoring

EUDORA — Mitchell Ballock 6-19 7-9 19, Andrew Ballock 5-11 4-6 16, Austin Downing 6-11 2-6 14, Grant Elston 1-2 0-0 3, Laken Straub 1-1 0-0 2, Skyler Shockley 1-5 0-0 2.

TONGANOXIE — Jack Dale 5-12 6-8 17, Tyler Ford 4-6 1-3 11, Carl Hecht 3-5 1-2 7, James Grizzle 2-5 1-1 5, Ben Johnson 2-4 0-2 4, Eric McPherson 0-2 1-2 1, Jared Sommers 0-4 1-2 1.

Friday’s other scores (all boys)

Atchison 65, Holton 54

De Soto 48, Blue Valley Southwest 43