Whitko Basketball: Smith Sends ‘Cats Packing [VIDEO]
TOPEKA — It had to be Mason Smith. After 31 minutes and 57.5 seconds of causing problems for the Whitko basketball team, Smith had to be the one to take the shot. With 2.5 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s second quarterfinal of the Sectional 35 tournament at Westview, Smith and Central Noble trailed the Wildcats by two. Smith took an in-bounds pass from Reeve Zolman, took a desperation three and sank it with no problem. Smith had lifted the Cougars to a 62-61 victory and sent Whitko home early.
“We went for a lob, to me, but that wasn’t there so I just caught it and prayed it would go in.,” Smith remarked.
Smith has somewhat of a flare for the dramatic as he hit the game-winner over Fremont in the first round of last year’s sectional. When asked if hitting clutch shots was just another day at the office for him, Smith did not hesitate.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” the senior said, followed by a big grin.
Smith had been the Achilles heel for Whitko all game. He finished with a double-double that featured 17 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. His biggest impact, aside from the game-winning dagger, was on the boards in the first half. Smith totaled 10 of his rebounds in the first 16 minutes, that Cougars held a 25-7 advantage on the boards at half following a completely dominating first two quarters.
Central (12-12) jumped out to a 12-3 lead on Whitko and was just simply playing with a ton more energy than the Wildcats. The Cougars established their dominance early and led 15-5 after one, though it felt like a lot more as Nathan Walpole and River West were a combined 1-11 from the floor. Things did not get any better in the second quarter and the Wildcats found themselves in a 33-16 hole at the break.
“We didn’t come out ready to go in the first half,” Whitko head coach Eli Henson explained. “The biggest thing, I thought, was that they (Westview) just wanted it more in that first half. They had 10 offensive rebounds for 10 or 12 points. When you’re giving up offensive rebounds and free throws, you know something has to change.”
After challenging his team in the locker room to not go out without a fight, Henson saw the Wildcats completely turn things around in the final two quarters.
Whitko (14-9) opened up the second half on a 7-0 run and would trail 39-29 after three. The ‘Cats continued to chip away at the lea as Walpole and West awoke from their slumber and started to hit big shot after big shot.
Walpole hit a three to bring Whitko within eight, 59-51 with 3:16 to play. West then hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, making it 59-57, then stole the in-bounds following his second three and laid in two to tie things up with 1:47 to spare.
Alex Bechtold gave Whitko its first lead since an early 2-0 advantage as he hit a free throw with 33 seconds remaining. But Bechtold had only hit one of two attempts. Prior to that Walpole missed the front end of a one-and-one and then West would hit 1-2 from the stripe with 16.6 seconds remaining. In the final 35 seconds Whitko had missed three free throws, the Wildcats were 13-22 for the game.
Trey Phillips was rejected by Sroufe on the ensuing Cougar possession, a shot that would have tied things up, but Central had to regroup and leave it in the hands of Smith.
“That was just a great shot,” said Henson. “A fadeaway from the corner, that’s a great shot. He doesn’t make any threes all game and then he hits that shot. It’s tough. Good for him.”
The Cougars were led by Zolman’s 20-point effort.
“We responded well in the second, we never gave up,” Henson added. “Sometimes you look at it and think would you rather have just lost by 20 or come back and lose like that. But, I’m proud of those guys. They showed the effort in that second half, they wanted it. That’s a good group of kids, they fought for it, that game meant a lot to them. To lose like that, it’s not fun.”
Walpole finished with 18 points for Whitko and finishes with 1,977 points in his prep career. West led the Wildcats with 10 on the night, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter. Sroufe had 11 for the ‘Cats.
“They know that I’m ready to get to work with them right away. I’d be ready to go tomorrow,” Henson said when asked about the message given to his underclassmen. “The biggest thing is to let this one stay with you. Let a loss like that stay with you. Let that feeling that you have right now, stay with you all summer long, all spring, all fall. Let that be your fire and motivation to get better to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
The Cougars advance to play defending sectional champion Westview Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Warriors downed Fremont 64-46 in Wednesday’s first game. Friday’s first semifinal will be between LaVille and Bremen.