State-ranked Basehor-Linwood took control early, but a run in the second quarter put THS back in the game.

The Chieftains trailed by just six, but Basehor-Linwood responded in the final minutes of the first half.

THS just couldn’t bounce back.

Basehor-Linwood piled it on in the third quarter and had a large enough lead to invoke the mercy rule of a running clock on the Bobcats’ way to a 71-36 victory.

“This game was decided by an inability to take care of the basketball, and poor shooting,” THS coach Shawn Phillips said. “You cannot start a game going 1-for-10 in the first quarter with eight turnovers. That puts you in a huge hole to get out of.”

Again, THS battled back and was down by six with 1:30 left in the first half. But the Chieftains turned the ball over three times. All of those turnovers turned into points in transition.

The Bobcats went on a 10-0 run at the end of the first half.

“Going into half down 16 is a lot different than six points,” Phillips said.

THS then turned the ball over in four of its first five possessions in the third quarter.

Phillips will look for the team to get better shooting the ball as the season finishes up.

“Poor shooting continues to be an issue,” Phillips said. “We need to take care of the ball and be more patient on the offensive end of the floor. Too many times we try to take difficult shots. If we can be more patient, the looks will get better, and we will start making a higher percentage from the field.”

BSHS 78, THS 59

Tonganoxie stayed with Bonner Springs in the first half of a game Feb. 10 at THS.

But the Braves gained some separation, thanks to a 22-7 advantage in the third quarter.

Bonner Springs used that surge to help seal the 78-59 victory in Tonganoxie.

“We did not do a very good job on the defensive end of the floor,” Phillips said. ” You cannot allow teams to shoot more than 50 percent from the floor and expect to win.

“You have to give Bonner credit. I think they moved the ball very well, and broke us down off the dribble when we had poor closeouts.”

Game results

BLHS 71, THS 36

Score by quarters

BLHS 20 16 22 13 — 71

THS 10 10 7 9 — 36

Individual THS scoring

Keaton Rickard 2, Jared Sommers 8, Carl Hecht 5, Greg DeVeau 2, Tyler Novotney 2, Brady Swedo 8, Dylan Rinne 1, Devan Smith 8.