You throw the records out the window in a rivalry like this, and with the doors open on an unseasonably warm Friday in January, 4-9 Shawnee Mission East almost threw 11-6 Rockhurst out of its own gym.

Almost.

Rockhurst blew most of a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter only to watch the Lancers piddle away three straight possessions with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute.

With 2.8 seconds remaining, Rockhurst sophomore Kyle Wolf, who was fouled after making a steal, made his second attempt from the free-throw line to put the Hawklets up four. That tiny little freebie proved gigantic when SM East’s Vance Wentz swished a 45-foot heave at the buzzer to make the final margin 42-41.

“Taking the lead from three to four … that was huge, obviously,” Rockhurst head coach Mark Nusbaum said. “Hitting free throws and taking care of the basketball is the way it should be. We’ve played in overtime, played in double overtime, and we’ve played a couple games that went down to the last possession, so we’re comfortable in a game like this.

“We were working on some of these situations yesterday in practice, and it paid off.”

Rockhurst shot just 33 percent from the floor — 16 of 49 — while SM East was just slightly better at 36 percent — 14 of 39. The Lancers did shoot seven of 17 from the three-point line, but ultimately they took themselves out of it with 13 turnovers.

Chase Hanna beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 30-foot bull’s-eye to give Shawnee Mission East its first lead at 8-6, and Zach Nass canned another three to keep the Lancers in front midway through the second quarter. Rockhurst point guard Matt Lampo answered by dashing coast-to-coast for a three-point play at the other end, and his backup — Chris Bohannon — finished the first half with a long three-pointer to put the Hawklets up 17-15 at the half.

“That’s the way this game works,” Nusbaum said. “We knew it was going to be a game of runs, and both teams know each other so well they’re not letting the other do what they want to do.”

Rockhurst opened the second half with a 7-1 spurt but Hanna reappeared off the Shawnee Mission East bench to tie the game at 28.

Rockhurst, which used its full-court press to make offense out of defense the entire second half, returned fire with nine straight points to start the fourth quarter, but the Lancers simply would not leave. East got a three-point play from Andy Hiett and another three-point shot from Hanna to launch a 9-1 run that cut the lead to two with 1:44 to play.

After an intentional foul on Shawnee Mission East and a technical foul on Rockhurst in retaliation, the Lancers looked to Hanna off an inbound play for a game-tying three with 25 seconds left, but the shot rattled in and out. Rockhurst doubled Hanna on the final sequence when Wolf made the big steal.

Lampo led all scorers with 15.

“Our kids have a tremendous amount of heart and they played very hard tonight against a great club in a great high school atmosphere,” Lancers coach Shawn Hair said.

submitted by BO ALLEGRUCCI – 2011-01-28 23:25:01

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