5A boys: Eisenhower tops Carroll; Heights wins

The Topeka troubles are over for Eisenhower’s boys.

After losing in the quarterfinals three times as a top seed, Eisenhower erased those memories on Thursday night with a 55-50 victory over Bishop Carroll in the Class 5A quarterfinals.

Eisenhower will play the winner of Shawnee Heights and St. Thomas Aquinas in Friday’s semifinals.

“We finally broke the curse,” Eisenhower’s Tanner King exclaimed.

“We wanted this one for coach Blue so bad,” Eisenhower junior Dylan Vincent said of coach Steve Blue, who had yet to win at the state tournament. “He’s been working so hard for this and we all wanted to give this to him. Now he’s finally got one.”

Eisenhower’s past Topeka nightmares came to mind when it scored four points in the first quarter and fell behind 11-4 early in the second quarter.

Vincent had a performance he wanted to forget last year at state and that will be easier after Thursday, as the Eisenhower point guard finished with a game-high 25 points and added five assists.

When the game got to winning time, it was Vincent who delivered important shot after important shot in the fourth quarter. His three-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave Eisenhower its first lead, then he hit another three late in the fourth quarter to push the Tigers’ lead to 49-44.

“This meant so much to me because last year was not good and not the way I wanted it to go,” Vincent said. “I knew I had it in me. I just had to go out there and go get buckets.”

Carroll would reel off a 6-0 run to cut Eisenhower’s lead to 51-50 and had possession to potentially tie after Eisenhower’s Jeffrey Wake made a pair of free throws for a 53-50 lead, but Clay Cundiff’s three-pointer fell short and Wake rebounded and made two more free throws for seal the win.

Eisenhower rallied in the fourth quarter to outscore Carroll 17-8 to erase a 42-38 deficit after the third quarter.

“We just wanted it more,” King said. “We got every loose ball, every rebound. Our defense really stepped up.”

For Blue, it was an emotional victory.

“The curse is over,” Blue said. “Now we can go have some fun.”

Heights 72, Pittsburg 65 — When Heights sophomore K’Vonte Baker wants a ball, more often than not he finds a way to make a steal or grab a rebound that seem impossible.

Coach Joe Auer used to grimace when Baker would chase those types of plays, but he’s made so many for Heights this season Auer has learned to trust the 5-foot-9 sophomore dynamo.

Baker scored eight points, but he helped Heights reach the semifinals against Kansas City Schlagle the most with his seven rebounds, seven assists, and five steals.

“What I learned with K’Vonte is just let him go,” Auer said. “There’s no middle ground with that guy. He’s going to play as hard as he possibly can until the whistle blows. He’s just a special, special kid.”

The best example of Baker’s daring play came at the end of the fourth quarter to seal the victory for Heights. Pittsburg, once down 14 in the fourth quarter, had to rallied to within two points. After a pair of Tyrell Andrews free throws, Baker gambled on the in-bounds pass, came up with the steal, then dished a no-look pass to Andrews for a basket.

Just like that Heights was up 70-63 and well on its way to the eighth consecutive victory by Heights and Auer in the quarterfinals.

“I like to play fast and my coach wants us to play fast,” Baker said. “That’s just what we do.”

Andrews scored a game-high 25 points, while Anthony Collins knocked down four three-pointers and added 16 and Decquan Richardson grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench.

Pittsburg wanted to push the pace against Heights, but struggled to match the speed of the Falcons and often gave up points in the transition.

“We’re faster than they are, so when you’re faster than somebody you want to make the game about that,” Auer said. “I think they were used to pressuring people all year and that’s what they wanted to do to us, but I thought our kids did a nice job and took advantage of them not getting back.”

Pittsburg was led by 22 points by Jerek Butcher, who connected on six three-pointers to lead the Dragons on their fourth-quarter rally.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 9:18 PM with the headline "5A boys: Eisenhower tops Carroll; Heights wins."