Jayhawk girls dominate pre-season tourney

Jayhawk Jaden Holt drives past Lady Trojan Heidi Grother when the teams clashed on Friday, Dec. 12, in the Linn County Basketball Tournament in Osawatomie. The Jayhawks won the game 63-23. (Photos by Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)

By Roger Sims

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

The Jayhawk-Linn girls basketball team made a statement, underscored with an exclamation mark, after dominating the Linn County Basketball Tournament last week. The team walked away from the tournament on Friday night with a perfect 4-0 record overall.

The Linn County Tournament was played on Osawatomie High School’s home court in, of course, Miami County. Osawatomie has been a regular school in the tourney in recent years, and it was their turn to host this year.

In the opening game on Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Lady Jayhawks delivered a 53-16 win against Pleasanton, and on Thursday, they won by a 36-point margin with a final score 53-17 against Prairie View.

Members of the tournament champion Jayhawks are, from left, head coach Chris Thomas, JoVeia Clark, Tegan Harris, Logan Cochran, Jude Wade, Brilyn Bogan, Addison Otto, Brea Dawson, Brenlyn Bogan, Eleanor Vaughn, Breck Umphenour, Adalyn Nation, Jaden Holt, and assistant coach Shelby Krull.

The final test to win the championship trophy was against Osawatomie on Friday. But the Lady ‘Hawks outscored the Trojans nearly 3 to 1 with a 63-23 win.

The Jayhawks used their advantages of height and athleticism in the beatdown of the other three teams. Opponents trying to drive into the basket found a wall of arms blocking shots, and the team was quick to transition when it forced turnovers.

The Prairie View girls were runners-up in the tournament, beating both Osawatomie and Pleasanton.

The Lady Trojans placed third in the tournament, losing to both Jayhawk and Prairie View, but coming back from 2 points down in the final minute in the game against the Blu-Jays of Pleasanton. It was one of the closest games on the girls’ side with Pleasanton, a Class 1A school, nearly knocking off the 3A Trojans.

But it was not to happen and the Lady ‘Jays had to settle for a 36-30 loss.

Pleasanton senior Garrett Conley finds little room for a shot in the paint as Osawatomie's 6'7" senior Jaxon Stevenson (33) and 6'3" Blaine Flanagan provide smothering coverage.

On the boys side, the Blu-Jays were a couple of field goals away from winning the tournament trophy. In a hard-fought game against Osawatomie on Thursday night, the Blu-Jays were within 3 points of upsetting the tournament favorite, but they just couldn’t squeeze out extra points against the Trojans’ big men before time ran out. The Blu-Jays ended up on the short end of the 48 to 50 score and settled for runner-up in the tourney.

While the Blu-Jays handed Prairie View a loss, their win against the Jayhawk boys team was a narrow one, beating the ‘Hawks by a score of 49-46. That close score would indicate that Pleasanton and Jayhawks next meeting during the regular season should be a good one.

Tournament champion Osawatomie was too much for the other three schools. With big men inside the paint, the Trojans were effective in halting drives in the paint and forced opponents to shoot from the perimeter.

Blu-Jay senior Kamden Staton scores from outside the arc as Trojan Jack Burchett tries to block the shot.