South girls stay focused on way to win over Heights, 6-0 start

With their head coach three rows behind the bench in a New York Yankees cap and jeans, things weren’t exactly normal for South’s girls on Tuesday.

But the unbeaten Titans focused on what didn’t seem unchanged in their first post-holiday test at Heights.

“As a team we just came together, got dialed in and got the job done,” said South junior Trezure Jobe, who scored 15 points in the Titans’ 55-39 victory. “We laced up our shoes the same and went out there.”

Antwain Scales, the coach of the four-time defending Class 6A champions, served a one-game suspension issued by Wichita school district athletic director J. Means for a sportsmanship rule violation in the Titans’ 46-41 victory over Bishop Carroll on Dec. 16. Scales’ assistants, Heidi Dreiling and Barry Glover, shared coaching duties on Tuesday.

“Coach Scales is the heart and soul of this team,” Dreiling said. “But we always preach fundamentals and just coming in every day and working hard.

“As long as we stick to that philosophy, we feel like we’ll be OK no matter the situation.”

South (6-0, 6-0 City League) denied Heights’ upset bid by closing both halves strong. Senior forward Kyla Callins shared game-high scoring honors with Jobe with 15 points, while junior Loan-Anh Johnson added 13.

Heights (3-3, 3-3) trailed most of the first half, but grabbed momentum with a half-court trap and streaky shooting to take a 24-22 lead. But South countered with the final 11 points before the break, with Johnson’s three-pointer putting the Titans up 33-24.

“When they did make those runs, it’s because our girls were a little bit out of sync,” said Scales, who joined his team in the locker room after the game. “Once we settled down and did things our way, we were able to control the game.”

South’s defense kept Heights scoreless for more than 5 1/2 minutes in the third quarter. But Daliyah Watson’s basket with 2:22 to play in the third started a 15-6 run that pulled the Falcons within 44-39 with 5:11 remaining in the game.

“I was very happy with our effort and the way we were playing hard,” said Heights coach Ken Palmer, whose team was led by Taylor Jameson’s 13 points. “We just had a lot of missed defensive assignments.

“In the second half, the shots didn’t fall, and it’s tough to stay in the game when the shots don’t fall.”

South made 7 of 8 shots in the fourth quarter and finished at 51 percent (20 of 39) for the game.

“It was a little different out there,” Jobe said of Scales’ absence on the bench. “But we did what we had to do.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 8:38 PM with the headline "South girls stay focused on way to win over Heights, 6-0 start."