Blue Springs South forward Shawn Meyer knew he was going to be in for a personal challenge Monday night.
The Jaguars met cross-town rival Blue Springs in the Class 5 District 14 boys basketball tournament at Blue Springs South High School.
“It got pretty physical the last time we played them (a 46-40 Wildcat upset win in Suburban Big Seven play),” said Meyer, who scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Jaguars to a 72-56 victory Monday night. “They play so hard – and never quit until the game is over.
“But we played hard tonight, too. Last time, they owned the boards against us, and we didn’t want that to happen again.”
It didn’t.
“Blue Springs had 17 offensive boards last time we played them,” South coach Jimmy Cain said after his No. 3-seeded Jaguars (11-14) advanced to meet No. 2-seed Lee’s Summit in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. district semifinal. “Tonight, they had five. That was one big difference. The other was that we hit our free throws tonight.”
Meyer hit his first seven attempts and finished 12 of 14 from the line. Overall, the Jaguars were 22 of 30.
“You always feel good with Shawn at the line,” Cain said. “And tonight, everyone was hitting. I’ll take 22 free throws.”
The first quarter was a barn-burner as Blue Springs’ D’Vante Lewis hit two long 3-pointers and South worked hard to get some points in the paint.
The Jaguars took a slim 18-17 lead into the second period.
That’s when Meyer took over. He scored 10 of his 22 points in the second quarter, with six coming at the free-throw line.
“We shoot a lot of free throws in practice and all that extra time in the gym paid off tonight,” the junior said. “I like the mental approach of shooting free throws. We’re a very good free-throw shooting team, and we needed to be tonight.”
With Meyer leading the charge, South took a 38-29 lead going into halftime and was never seriously challenged by the 3-21 Wildcats in the second half.
“I was proud of the kids’ effort tonight,” Wildcats coach Frank Wheeler said after his team finished 3-21. “It’s been a long, disappointing season. But they never give up. We beat South last time we saw them and we got off to a good start tonight.
“Jimmy’s kids are talented and they play hard. I think a season like the one we just experienced doesn’t necessarily build character, it reveals it. And we had some kids who didn’t handle the adversity real well.
“We had some others who really bought into the team aspect of the game and the coaches are going to start working tomorrow on ways we can be a better team next season.”
Khadrun Black came off the bench and scored 13 points for the Jaguars. Brandon Murillo and D.J. Booker added 12 and 10, respectively.
Lewis led the Wildcats with 17 points. Eric Cloninger scored 13 and Jordan Nubine added 12.
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Blue Springs South forward Shawn Meyer knew he was going to be in for a personal challenge Monday night.
The Jaguars met cross-town rival Blue Springs in the Class 5 District 14 boys basketball tournament at Blue Springs South High School.
“It got pretty physical the last time we played them (a 46-40 Wildcat upset win in Suburban Big Seven play),” said Meyer, who scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Jaguars to a 72-56 victory Monday night. “They play so hard – and never quit until the game is over.
“But we played hard tonight, too. Last time, they owned the boards against us, and we didn’t want that to happen again.”
It didn’t.
“Blue Springs had 17 offensive boards last time we played them,” South coach Jimmy Cain said after his No. 3-seeded Jaguars (11-14) advanced to meet No. 2-seed Lee’s Summit in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. district semifinal. “Tonight, they had five. That was one big difference. The other was that we hit our free throws tonight.”
Meyer hit his first seven attempts and finished 12 of 14 from the line. Overall, the Jaguars were 22 of 30.
“You always feel good with Shawn at the line,” Cain said. “And tonight, everyone was hitting. I’ll take 22 free throws.”
The first quarter was a barn-burner as Blue Springs’ D’Vante Lewis hit two long 3-pointers and South worked hard to get some points in the paint.
The Jaguars took a slim 18-17 lead into the second period.
That’s when Meyer took over. He scored 10 of his 22 points in the second quarter, with six coming at the free-throw line.
“We shoot a lot of free throws in practice and all that extra time in the gym paid off tonight,” the junior said. “I like the mental approach of shooting free throws. We’re a very good free-throw shooting team, and we needed to be tonight.”
With Meyer leading the charge, South took a 38-29 lead going into halftime and was never seriously challenged by the 3-21 Wildcats in the second half.
“I was proud of the kids’ effort tonight,” Wildcats coach Frank Wheeler said after his team finished 3-21. “It’s been a long, disappointing season. But they never give up. We beat South last time we saw them and we got off to a good start tonight.
“Jimmy’s kids are talented and they play hard. I think a season like the one we just experienced doesn’t necessarily build character, it reveals it. And we had some kids who didn’t handle the adversity real well.
“We had some others who really bought into the team aspect of the game and the coaches are going to start working tomorrow on ways we can be a better team next season.”
Khadrun Black came off the bench and scored 13 points for the Jaguars. Brandon Murillo and D.J. Booker added 12 and 10, respectively.
Lewis led the Wildcats with 17 points. Eric Cloninger scored 13 and Jordan Nubine added 12.
