Valley Center tournament: Southeast earns spot in title game
Southeast coach Melvin Herring told his players that they would need to play well, really well to beat Olathe Northwest in the semifinals of the Valley Center Janauary Jam. Southeast did just that, advancing to the championship game with a 73-60 win.
“We played hard, we played really well and hats off to Olathe Northwest,” Herring said. “They’re a very good team and have a lot of size that we don’t have. Our guys had to adjust to that and they executed well.”
Olathe Northwest played four guys taller than 6-foot-5. Southeast’s tallest players are Richard Reed and Israel Barnesat 6-foot-4.
“We know that a lot of teams look to stop us,” Southeast’s Jerrick Harding said. “The good thing is that we have a lot of other players that are willing to step up and play big minutes and take good shots for us.”
Harding finished with a game-high 26 points, including 12-13 from the free-throw line. Barnes added 19 points, while teammate D’Andre Franklin stepped up in the second half, scoring 10 of his 14 points.
“We’ve had guys step up all season,” Herring said. “Besides Israel and Jerrick, most teams don’t know that we’re truly deeper than those two, you saw what D’Andre did, he’s another special player.”
Southeast trailed 16-13 after the first quarter and 29-26 at halftime.
“We were in the same position yesterday,” Herring said. “We were down at halftime and we knew that with our guys we were able to come back in the second half, once our shots started to fall, we knew we could run away with the game.”
Southeast started the second half in full-court defense, which forced three quick Raven turnovers that Southeast turned that into seven points. Southeast controlled the third quarter, outscoring Olathe Northwest 21-7.
“The third quarter was huge for us yesterday too,” Harding said. “It’s just something about our first halves, but in the long run, we always find a way to pull it out. Playing in the City League is definitely helpful, because there are so many good teams and we find ourselves in a hole a lot, but always dig ourselves out.”
Southeast will face Topeka Seaman in the championship game at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.
Valley Center 68, Garden City 60 – Valley Center scored the final eight points in the fourth quarter to take down the Buffaloes in the losers bracket. Valley Center trailed by as many as eight in the third quarter, but outscored Garden City 19-7 in the final eight minutes. Tyler Brown led the Hornets with 26 points, making 19 of 20 free throws. Jared Koster led the Buffaloes with 24 points.
Seaman 71, Maize South 59 – Maize South had a three-point lead in the first quarter but couldn’t stop Seaman. Seaman made 24 of 44 shots (55 percent). Maize South was led by Payten Ricks’ 21 points. Ryan Zeferjahn had 20 points and 7 rebounds for Seaman.
Ulysses | 24 | 14 | 8 | 14 | — | 60 |
KC Turner | 24 | 20 | 22 | 14 | — | 80 |
Ulysses: J. Taylor 3, Sifuentes 2, R. Taylor 8, Paul 5, Zerr 9, Romero 12, Pauda 2, Gallegos 2, Garcia 15, Duck 2.
KC Turner: Prosser 5, Jackson 21, Boose 4, Rinne 16, Martin 2, Reed III 13, Thomas 12, Poe III 7.
Garden City | 11 | 21 | 21 | 7 | — | 60 |
Valley Center | 13 | 20 | 16 | 19 | — | 68 |
Garden City: Davis 2, Doll 4, Koster 24, Brunson 2, Karlin 3, Leal 3, Aguilar 8, Schmidt 14.
Valley Center: N. Brown 8, T. Brown 26, Terwillinger 2, Florestedt 2, Lange 15, Garcia 15.
Olathe NW | 16 | 13 | 7 | 24 | — | 60 |
Southeast | 13 | 13 | 21 | 26 | — | 73 |
Olathe NW: Nicodemus 23, Kline 8, Shiever 3, Vanderslice 6, Waters 20.
Southeast: Barnes 19, Manns 3, Franklin 14, Harding 26, Brown 9, Reed 2.
Maize South | 11 | 13 | 17 | 18 | — | 59 |
Seaman | 13 | 17 | 20 | 21 | — | 71 |
Maize South: Davis 4, White 2, Knoblauch 2, Ricks 21, Jennings 13, Caldwell 5, Richardson 3, Barney 3, Wiedemann 6.
Seaman: Cobb 8, Hazim 10, Jensen 9, Sparks 3, Zeferjahn 20, Lynn 6, Schafer 15.
This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Valley Center tournament: Southeast earns spot in title game."