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This time, the Truman Patriots didn’t blink.
Early last month the Truman boys basketball team flirted with an upset of Lee’s Summit West for three quarters before falling apart and suffering a disheartening 17-point loss.
On Tuesday at Truman High School, the Pats got another shot at the metro’s top-ranked team. Like the first meeting, Truman started strong before the Class 5 No. 4 Titans took control, building an 11-point lead in the third quarter. But instead of folding, Truman answered with a flurry that left the Pats with a three-point lead and all the momentum.
The Pats made enough plays down the stretch to withstand a West push in the final minute and in the process landed a 64-61 Suburban Middle Six Conference signature victory.
“I feel – and I would hope that they feel – if you play the right way, there’s nobody you can’t play with,” Truman coach Billy Guinnee said. “I think you’ve got to take some confidence from that.”
Guinnee can also trust that his squad’s first setback to the Titans wasn’t a total lost cause. Not after how the Pats (14-8, 5-3 conference) responded this time around. In the first game, Guinnee said his players panicked after the Titans charged in the second half. Avoiding that pitfall was a pregame emphasis of Guinnee’s Tuesday, but the opportunity was there to fall into that same trap as West forged ahead 40-29 halfway through the third.
“I think in the past when teams have made runs we’ve had the tendency to try to get it all back at once and end up rushing shots,” Guinnee said. “We tried to stress over the course of the season that’s not really how you answer a run.”
So it was only a coincidence that Truman caught the Titans and tied the game at 40 in just 1 minute, 21 seconds after Zach Large’s 3-pointer at the 2:37 mark. Although the 11-0 spurt happened in a flurry, Guinnee said his guys worked for good shots for the right players and they converted.
Another major pregame point was to play physical from the opening tip. Again, the Pats delivered, outrebounding the Titans 31-26. Truman junior Zach Huber might have even taken the message too literally, delivering a hard foul to West standout Shaquille Harrison in the first quarter that sent the senior sprawling to the floor.
Huber said there was no intent on his part to send an opening-quarter message, but it might have been received anyway.
This time, the Truman Patriots didn’t blink.
Early last month the Truman boys basketball team flirted with an upset of Lee’s Summit West for three quarters before falling apart and suffering a disheartening 17-point loss.
On Tuesday at Truman High School, the Pats got another shot at the metro’s top-ranked team. Like the first meeting, Truman started strong before the Class 5 No. 4 Titans took control, building an 11-point lead in the third quarter. But instead of folding, Truman answered with a flurry that left the Pats with a three-point lead and all the momentum.
The Pats made enough plays down the stretch to withstand a West push in the final minute and in the process landed a 64-61 Suburban Middle Six Conference signature victory.
“I feel – and I would hope that they feel – if you play the right way, there’s nobody you can’t play with,” Truman coach Billy Guinnee said. “I think you’ve got to take some confidence from that.”
Guinnee can also trust that his squad’s first setback to the Titans wasn’t a total lost cause. Not after how the Pats (14-8, 5-3 conference) responded this time around. In the first game, Guinnee said his players panicked after the Titans charged in the second half. Avoiding that pitfall was a pregame emphasis of Guinnee’s Tuesday, but the opportunity was there to fall into that same trap as West forged ahead 40-29 halfway through the third.
“I think in the past when teams have made runs we’ve had the tendency to try to get it all back at once and end up rushing shots,” Guinnee said. “We tried to stress over the course of the season that’s not really how you answer a run.”
So it was only a coincidence that Truman caught the Titans and tied the game at 40 in just 1 minute, 21 seconds after Zach Large’s 3-pointer at the 2:37 mark. Although the 11-0 spurt happened in a flurry, Guinnee said his guys worked for good shots for the right players and they converted.
Another major pregame point was to play physical from the opening tip. Again, the Pats delivered, outrebounding the Titans 31-26. Truman junior Zach Huber might have even taken the message too literally, delivering a hard foul to West standout Shaquille Harrison in the first quarter that sent the senior sprawling to the floor.
Huber said there was no intent on his part to send an opening-quarter message, but it might have been received anyway.
“I didn’t mean to foul him as hard as I did,” said Huber, who finished with eight points and six rebounds. “I just wanted to be really physical. ... I’m a big man, that’s my role to rebound, play defense and be physical.”
Huber was one of five Patriots with at least eight points as Large led the way with 18 points and seven boards. Antonio Winn notched 16 points, David Franklin tallied 12 points and eight rebounds and Lane Titus finished with eight points.
Titus also knocked down seven consecutive free throws in the final minute after missing six of his first seven tries to stave off a final Titans’ rally.
“He had ice water in his veins,” Large said.
Nathan Jackson paced the Titans (19-2, 6-2) with 18 points and splashed six 3-pointers, including four in the fourth quarter. Harrison added 14 points and yanked 11 boards.
But at the end of the night, it was the Patriots who walked out of the locker room to a swarm of screaming Truman students. And it was the Patriots who left with a bolstered swagger heading into the regular-season’s final three games.
“West was the No. 1 team in the metro area – the whole metro,” Large said. “And we came out and showed we can beat them. So we can beat anybody.”
