Tonganoxie (14-9) trailed by 13 entering the fourth quarter but showed resolve, cutting the deficit under double digits halfway through the period before Basehor-Linwood (19-4) pulled away.

THS junior Keaton Schaffer started the fourth by hitting a runner with 7:48 to go.

The next few minutes featured a back-and-forth contest of three-point marksmanship between BLHS senior Tanner Bowers and Chieftains sophomore Jeremy Carlisle. Bowers drained a three at 7:22 and Carlisle responded at the 7:00 mark. Then Bowers answered with a three and Carlisle matched him again. Bowers cashed his fourth and final trey of the game with 5:52 to go, putting the Bobcats up 14.

Tonganoxie then made a push to keep things interesting. Senior Austin Smith scored on a drop-step in the paint with 5:40 to play. A Schaffer drive just inside five minutes cut the hole to 10. Junior Brandon Yoder then sank a free throw with 4:01 remaining but 56-47 was as close as the Chieftains got.

The Bobcats hit 10 of 13 free throws down the stretch to earn a state tournament berth.

Smith led Tonganoxie with 16 points in his THS finale. Schaffer added 14. Bowers’ 17 led all scorers.

For more on Tonganoxie’s sub-state final, pick up the March 11 print edition of The Mirror.

Score by quarters

Tonganoxie 11 11 12 16 — 50

Basehor-Linwood 17 14 16 21 — 68

Tonganoxie scoring:

Jamie Everett 2, Keaton Schaffer 14, Jeremy Carlisle 9, Brandon Yoder 4, Austin Smith 16, Dylan Scates 1, Jace Waters 4.

Basehor-Linwood scoring:

Chandler Schaake 15, Colin Murphy 4, Mark Vaca 2, Richie O’Donnell 8, Ryan Murphy 7, Tanner Bowers 17, Clint Schierbaum 5, Justin Gripka 5, Anthony Pierce 5.