5A boys: Eisenhower, Heights lose in semifinals

There have been moments throughout the career of Matt Pile when the 6-foot-8 big man would unleash the inner competitiveness that only comes out in the most intense situations.

On Friday night, in the Class 5A semifinals against Shawnee Heights, Pile unleashed it for an entire game.

He would finish with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 blocks — a triple-double in the game to reach the state championship — and yet it was not enough.

Shawnee Heights erased a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter, then won on a last-second lay-up by Michael Brooks to stun Eisenhower with a 57-55 victory in overtime. Shawnee Heights will play Kansas City Schlagle for the 5A title on Saturday night.

“It is tough to believe,” Eisenhower coach Steve Blue said, shaking his head. “A triple-double.… I’m in pretty good shock right now.”

Shawnee Heights coach Steve Wallace had watched film on Pile and was convinced his team could still be aggressive driving to the basket. Then Pile swatted 10 shots, including one so hard that it landed past half-court and created a fast break for Eisenhower.

The Pile he saw in person on Friday night was on another level.

“I guess that’s why he’s a Division I player,” Wallace said. “To have a triple-double in the state semifinals? That guy is a complete beast.”

With Pile blocking seemingly every foray into the lane and Jeffrey Wake connecting on momentum-swinging three-pointers, Eisenhower looked up at the scoreboard with seven minutes remaining regulation and, with a 12-point lead, started to imagine what a championship game would be like.

But Shawnee Heights senior Trey Brown was wondering too.

Brown would score 12 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter, as Shawnee Heights reeled off a 15-0 run to take a 51-48 lead with 2:40 remaining in regulation. A pair of Brown free throws pushed Shawnee Heights’ lead to 53-50 with 43 seconds before a Wake (16 points) kick-out three-pointer with 26 seconds left forced a tie and overtime.

“We’ve struggled with that before,” Pile said. “When we get a lead we start playing not to lose. We all played our hearts out and some of our shots just didn’t fall. That’s how it goes sometimes.”

Eisenhower primarily played in front for the game’s first 28 minutes, even with a double-digit lead for most of that. It wasn’t until Shawnee Heights rallied in the fourth quarter when Eisenhower didn’t have the momentum.

“We had the game in hand and we just let things slip away from us,” Blue said. “We controlled most of that game and we were playing well and playing our style of basketball and we just let it slip away. We knew Shawnee Heights is a great shooting team and they were going to make a run, but we just had a few too many mental mistakes late.”

Even after blowing the 12-point lead in regulation, Eisenhower came back and took an early lead in overtime when Dylan Vincent connected on a lob to Pile, who nearly pulled the entire goal down with an emphatic dunk. Shawnee Heights would tie the score at 55 with 1:09 remaining in overtime.

Instead of holding for the final shot, Vincent decided to shoot an open three-pointer with 59 seconds left. It missed and Shawnee Heights would hold for a final shot, as Trey Brown penetrated and drew Pile away from the rim, which allowed Brooks to slip in for the pass and score with 0.7 seconds remaining.

“(Pile) was in my head all night because it seemed like he was blocking everything,” Brooks said. “When I got the ball, he was in the back of my mind. But I thought I could get a shot off.”

Eisenhower threw a full-court pass to Pile in the final second and his turnaround three-pointer drew iron, but bounced out.

The Tigers (22-2) will play Wichita Heights in the third-place game on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“This was a really emotional game for all of us,” Pile said. “I had a lot of fun playing in this game and I love my team.”

“I thought Matt Pile showed tonight if he’s not the best player in the state, then he’s definitely one of the top few,” Blue said. “A triple-double, that’s just incredible.”

KC Schlagle 50, Heights 39 — Heights was in complete control, up 12 near the end of the second quarter, but allowed Schlagle to end the half on an 8-0 run, which turned into a foreboding sign.

With Malik Cushon (20 points, 17 rebounds, four blocks), Schlagle’s 6-foot-6 rim protector, lurking in the paint, Heights was robbed of its typical aggression attacking the rim. The Falcons were stunned, as Schlagle outscored them 21-3 in the fourth quarter and held them without a basket for the last five minutes and without a point for the last four.

“We lost our confidence going to the rim and we just played tentatively for most of the second half,” Heights coach Joe Auer said. “We just needed to get downhill and do the things we’ve done all year, but there in the fourth quarter it almost like we played like, ‘Can we please just get to the finish line?’”

Still, its first-half lead was enough to retain the lead until Schlagle took a 40-39 lead with 3:10 remaining. But Heights would miss two straight shots, a bonus free throw, and commit two straight turnovers in a crucial stretch where Schlagle was also coming up empty.

Trailing 42-39 with 1:16 remaining, Anthoney Collins missed a three-pointer and Schlagle rebounded and made eight straight free throws to close out the game.

In 16 fourth-quarter possessions, Heights’ offense failed to produce points on 14 of them. Heights missed nine of 10 field goals, four of five free throws, and committed four turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“We just got a little tight and a little nervous,” Auer said. “That can happen to you in this moment, at state where there’s so much at stake.”

Devin Davis led Heights with 19 points and five three-pointers, while Schlagle will play Shawnee Heights for its first championship since 1995.

“This season was never so much about winning state as it was about setting the bar high and making high expectations,” Schlagle coach Prentes Potts said. “When we raised our standards, the kids went up and they met it. That’s all we’re doing here is raising standards and having the kids strive to meet them.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 11:04 PM with the headline "5A boys: Eisenhower, Heights lose in semifinals."