BonnerSprings.com

Basehor-Linwood got off to a quick start, but it was Piper that scored when it counted most as the Pirates clawed their way to a 59-49 victory on the BLHS court last Friday night.

This was one game the Bobcats definitely let get away from them as Basehor-Linwood led by as many as seven points in the early going, only to see Piper use a big fourth quarter push to take the win.

"I'm extremely disappointed," said B-L head coach Dan Miller. "It just seemed like when it started getting tough, we didn't make the plays and they did. We got pounded on the offensive glass, and we had a definite size advantage."

The Bobcats biggest lead came with 2:30 left in the first quarter when Mike Horn slammed down an alley-oop pass from Travis Fouts on a fast-break.

The dunk sent the Basehor-Linwood crowd into a frenzy, but the Pirates responded 15 seconds later with a three-pointer, starting a 13-4 run to take a 19-17 lead moments into the second quarter.

"They answered in a very good way by hitting a three," Miller said. "That's a pretty good answer for something like that."

The game stayed close the rest of the half and the third period with neither team getting more than a four point advantage.

Piper took the lead for good late in the third quarter, but not before some controversy.

B-L's Jackie Kimlin grabbed a missed Piper shot as time was winding down and sprinted uncontested down the court for a lay-up. Kimlin appeared to have released the ball just prior to the buzzer, but the trail official waved off the basket.

"I was yelling that he had time to get there," said Miller. "That lay-up was good, I think. I really didn't think there was any question. It was a close play, but I think it was good. It would have been nice to seize the lead back and it might have helped a little because they came out and boom-boom-boom they scored two quick baskets."

Those two baskets, in the first 25 seconds of the final quarter, boosted the Pirate lead to 41-36. Kimlin cut the deficit himself with four straight free throws, but Piper scored the next eight points for a 49-40 advantage.

BLHS got within six with 1:40 left on a Brandon Fisher three-pointer, but the Pirates scored two easy baskets down the stretch while the Bobcats went cold.

The second half belonged to Piper's Lorenzo Lasley who scored 16 of his 18 points in the final two quarters, mostly on cuts to the basket for easy points.

"He's an impressive player. We did a good job on him in the first half, but in the second half we just lost track of him," said Miller.

"We defended the shuffle cut very well in the first half, but late in the game it was like we had never seen it before. It was disappointing we couldn't get it done at the defensive end, and that's basically what it came down to."

Kimlin paced the Bobcats with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Fisher added 15 points and seven boards.

"We show spurts of being a really fine team and I think eventually we'll get there. I have no doubts about that," Miller said.

Score by quarters:

Piper 17 10 10 22 59

Basehor-Linwood 17 8 11 13 49

(Basehor-Linwood (1-2): Jackie Kimlin 5-12 6-7 0 16, Colby Kooser 2-10 0-0 1 6, Brandon Fisher 6-11 1-2 2 15, Mike Horn 1-4 2-3 3 4, Travis Fouts 3-11 2-2 3 8, Jake Hills 0-0 0-0 2 0, Brandon Dye 0-1 0-0 1 0. Totals: 17-49 11-14 12 49. Piper totals: 26-65 5-6 15 59.

Three-point goals (4-16): Fisher 2-6, Kooser 2-8, Dye 0-1, Kimlin 0-1; Piper 2-10. Rebounds (37): Kimlin 10, Fouts 9, Fisher 7, Horn 5, Dye, Kooser, Team 4; Piper 35. Assists (7): Kimlin 3, Kooser 3, Fisher, Fouts; Piper 13. Steals (5): Kimlin 3, Dye, Fisher; Piper 13. Blocked shots (5): Fouts 3, Kimlin, Kooser; Piper 3.

In the junior varsity contest, the Bobcats made five three-pointers in the first quarter, helping Basehor-Linwood defeat Piper, 58-47.

Brian Gripka and Bronson Schaake made two treys each and Eric Laffere added another as BLHS jumped out to a 19-12 first quarter lead, one they would not relinquish.

Gripka paced the Bobcats with 12 points and Eric Peeler added 10 more.

Basehor-Linwood scoring: Eric Laffere 5, Brian Gripka 12, Jake Hills 0, Charles Millison 8, Nick Verbenec 0, Brandon Dye 6, John Grube 0, Jake Brown 3, Bronson Schaake 6, Eric Peeler 10, Ron Gray 8.

Billy Hashman banked in a three-pointer with four seconds left in the game, lifting the Basehor-Linwood freshman squad to a 54-53 win over the Pirates.

The game was nip-and-tuck the entire way as the teams ended the first half tied at 30-30 before the Bobcats took a 40-38 lead entering the final eight minutes, leading to Hashman's heroics.

The game was marred by the officials whistling 54 fouls, including 33 on BLHS. The two teams combined to make just 24 of 61 free throws.

The Bobcats were led by John Shumaker and Adam Smith with nine points each.

Basehor-Linwood scoring: Brett Dowdall 6, Josh Kimlin 7, Joey Brown 0, Garyn Gorup 8, Billy Hashman 7, Robby Paterson 0, Cameron Freeman 0, Cody Herbster 2, Adam Smith 9, John Shumaker 9, Tim Ward 6.

Bobcat Notes...

With his eight points against the Pirates, Travis Fouts passed Jamie Wittkop (1994-97) for 10th place in career scoring at BLHS.

Fouts, now with 482 points, could travel up the chart in a hurry. He needs just 26 more to pass Chuck McMillen (1989-91, 483 points), Joe Sifford (1993-96, 491) and Todd Johnson (1988-89, 507) for seventh place.

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• The Bobcats will host Lansing on Friday night in the BLHS gym. Games start at 4 p.m. with the boys' JV in the auxiliary gym. The boys' varsity will play in the main gym.

Basehor-Linwood will enter the holiday break with a game at Tonganoxie on Tuesday. Games begin at 4:30 p.m.