Maize South falls in Valley Center semifinals
Maize South had no problems scoring the basketball on Thursday against Coffeyville, putting up a season-high 95 points.
The Mavericks, however, struggled on the offensive end Friday night in the Valley Center Invitational semifinal against Topeka Seaman.
Their lowest point total of the season, 57, and 25 percent shooting from behind the arc allowed Seaman control of the game. Seaman will play Wichita Southeast in the championship game at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. Maize South will play Ulysses in the third-place game.
“We like to run the ball and push the ball and for some reason today we didn’t make that an emphasis,” Maize South coach Kip Schultz said. “We didn’t get as many rebounds in the early part of the game to get the run going. Those two factors, not being ready to run, not pushing the ball, not really sprinting the floor and not getting any defensive boards to get the long outlet going kind of hurt us today.”
Maize South was without Nolan Veenis, who Schultz called the Mavericks’ “best scorer.” Veenis had a strained tendon and is out for at least a week, Schultz said.
“I would love to tie that in and say (Veenis’ absence) is hand and hand (with the loss),” Schultz said. “To be brutally honest, I felt like we didn’t have any heart and we didn’t come ready to play.”
With Topeka Seaman’s size, the Vikings were able to front Maize South’s post players and not have to drop down guards for help defense, disrupting the flow of the Mavericks’ offense according to junior Kael Kordonowy. Seaman’s quickness and length shut down Maize South for just 26 points at the half while leading by five.
Seaman’s defense forced the Mavericks to shoot 34.8 percent through the first two quarters.
“Their guards were a little bit quicker and smarter and they were able to get into the passing lanes, making us think about passes,” Kordonowy said. “It stopped us from transitioning, which caused us to slow down. We play better when we’re fast.”
Maize South grabbed a 41-40 lead at the end of the third quarter, but the Vikings pulled away thanks to 49 percent shooting from the floor and 57 percent from behind the arc. Kordonowy finished with 12 points and eight rebounds while Bryce Wiedemann led all scorers with 20 points and added eight rebounds.
“Everybody knows when it’s this time frame, some of your weaknesses show,” Schultz said. “Everybody gets tired, you’re banging on each other. We’re just finding out that other kids have to step up and today we didn’t have as much leadership and not as many kids stepped up.”
In Friday’s other semifinal, Southeast beat Ulysses 61-60. Southeast leading scorer Israel Barnes didn’t enter the game until the second quarter. He scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half. Southeast coach Melvin Herring said it was his decision to keep Barnes out of the starting lineup, though he would specify a reason. He said Barnes has “got to work through some things.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Maize South falls in Valley Center semifinals."