SM Northwest girls keep LHS winless in league play

Box Score

Lawrence (52)

Olivia Lemus 1 0-0 3, Skyler Drum 1 0-0 2, Brook Sumonja1 0-0 3 , Makayla Bell 8 2-5 20, Marissa Pope 3 1-2 7, Nesreen Iskandrani 0 0-0 0, Hailey Belcher 1 3-4 6, Matia Finley 0 0-0 0, Kionna Coleman 5 1-5 11, Rebecca Finley 0 0-0 0, Jolona Shield 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 6-17 52.

Shawnee Mission Northwest (71)

Brooklyn Wagler 5 0-5 11, Arielle Jackson 4 6-8 16, Danielle Rehor 0 0-0 0, Shelbie Mclain 5 3-3 16, Emma Van Donselaar 0 1-2 1, Emmalee Rose 0 0-0 0, Amanda Hoelting 0 2-2 2, Tatum Graves 6 5-5 17, Brenni Rose 0 0-0 0, Tracy Monahan 3 2-2 8, Courtney Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 19-27 71.

LHS 5 17 12 18 — 52

SMNW 23 11 14 23 — 71

Three-point goals: LHS 5 (Bell 2, Belcher, Lemus, Sumonja); SMNW 6 (Mclain 3, Jackson 2, Wagler). Fouled out: None.

Shawnee ? The Shawnee Mission Northwest girls basketball team simply had too many weapons.

Hitting Lawrence High from all directions, seventh-ranked SM Northwest used a decisive 8-2 run in the third quarter to pull away for a 71-52 Sunflower League victory on Tuesday night.

“We knew coming in they are a very good team,” Lawrence coach Nick Wood said of Northwest “They’re one of the best teams in our league, we knew we were going to have to be efficient coming into the game and we knew we had our hands full defensively.”

Six-foot-two junior post player Tatum Graves poured in 17 points to lead four Northwest players in double figure. Arielle Jackson and Shelbie Mclain added 16 points apiece and Brooklyn Wagler finished with 11 for the Cougars .

“They spread the floor really well, they penetrated and kicked and to their credit, they made some shots,” Wood said of Northwest.

Lawrence, 4-11 and winless in league play, was led by 5-10 senior forward Makayla Bell scoring 20 points. Kionna

Coleman added 11 points, Marissa Pope put in seven and Hailey Belcher finished with six.

Midway through the third quarter, with Northwest leading 38-28, it outscored the Lions, 8-2, for a 46-30 advantage with two minutes remaining in the period.

Lawrence never recovered.

In the first half, the Lions, who trailed 34-22 at halftime, roared back into contention after falling behind 23-5 at the end of the opening period.

Northwest rode 5-for-7 three-point shooting in the first quarter, led by Jackson, who scored 10 opening-quarter points and had 13 by intermission.

The Cougars made 8 of 13 field goals during the first eight minutes, and Lawrence came out of the gate cold, missing 12 of its first 14 shots.

“Something that hurt us in the first quarter was our shot selection,” Wood said. ” … that led to them to getting out in transition and getting some open looks.”

Near the six-minute mark in the second quarter, Lawrence whittled its big deficit down to 29-20 at the 4:22 mark, as Bell sandwiched three-pointers around a Pope driving layup and a pair of foul shots from Belcher.

Northwest was able to keep the Lions out of arm’s reach the remainder of the half, maintaining its lead and taking a 12-point edge into the locker room.