Tonganoxie fell into an early hole and trailed, 13-3, after the first quarter. THS couldn’t make up the difference and Ottawa eventually prevailed, 53-35.

“We struggled to score a little bit,” THS coach Shawn Phillips said. “They played a switching man-to-man defense that was a little hard for us to adjust to.”

The Chieftains did have a bright spot with Tyler Novotney scoring a team-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers. But it just wasn’t enough to slow down the Cyclones (1-1). Chandler Caldwell was Tonganoxie’s No. 2 scorer with 8 points.

In the season-opener against Baldwin, the team rushed some shots, so Friday’s focus was to slow that process down a bit for better shot selection.

“We tried to stress a lot more patience,” Phillips said. “At times, we may have been a little too overly patient.”

In the first half, THS also turned the ball over 11 times.

“Those 11 turnovers led to some easy opportunities for them,” Phillips said.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Tonganoxie boys team.

Bonner Springs came to town for the home opener Tuesday after The Mirror’s print deadline. Basehor-Linwood then visits on Friday.

Bonner Springs won the Eudora tournament last week. Meanwhile, BLHS handily defeated Bonner Springs earlier this season.

“We open the home slate with two quality teams,” Phillips said. “It’s going to be a good challenge. We’re going to have to execute well, play solid defense and take care of the basketball.”

Score by quarters

THS 3 10 5 17 — 35

OHS 13 13 9 18 — 53

Individual scoring

THS — Novotney 14, Caldwell 8, Williams 3, Beach 3, Johnson 3, Staatz 2, Trimble 2.

OHS — Carroll 18, McCollough 17, Bones 8, Diel 4, Boeh 3, Jackson 3.