Ellis leads Heights into Dodge City final
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DODGE CITY — The Heights Falcons wasted no time showing exactly how much it meant for them to get a chance at redeeming their loss to Hutchinson last year.
Perry Ellis scored 24 points, didn't miss a shot from the field and led the Falcons to a 60-44 semifinal win over the Salthawks on Friday at the Dodge City Tournament of Champions.
Heights advanced to play in its first midseason basketball tournament championship game since 2000 and will play Gardner-Edgerton tonight at 7. Hutchinson will play Dodge City for third place.
Last year, Hutch knocked off Heights at the McPherson tournament.
"I'd be lying to you if for our kids, this game didn't have a little extra meaning for them," Heights coach Joe Auer said.
On Heights' first possession, Ellis scored inside. On its next possession, Keith Riley hit Ellis in stride with a baseball pass at half court. Ellis was challenged by Hutchinson's Geneo Grissom at the rim and Ellis threw down a one-handed dunk and drew the foul.
It sent a message.
"I thought Perry asserted himself very early tonight," Auer said. "He attacked the basket and he went right at Grissom and sent a message that he wasn't a freshman. Perry Ellis isn't going to back down from anyone."
Grissom, who finished with eight points, was in early foul trouble and played less than five minutes in the first half.
Heights pulled away early with a six-minute, 9-0 run that bled into the second quarter, then polished things off with a 10-0 run in the third quarter to help put the game away.
"It's our focus, we stay focused on our defensive assignments and it went well for us," said Heights' Terrence Moore, who scored 13 points.
Deshawn Dinwiddie, who led Hutchinson with 12 points, and the Salthawks grabbed 20 offensive rebounds but went an underwhelming 19 of 60 from the field.
"When you have 20 offensive rebounds you shouldn't lose the game by 16 points," Hutchinson coach Nathan Henry said. "If we can knock down those little shots early then it doesn't come down to not being able to come back."
Hutchinson8 9 17 10 — 44 Wichita Heights12 14 20 14 — 60
HUTCHINSON: Des. Dinwiddie 5 0-0 12, Grissom 4 0-0 8, Goodwin 3 0-0 6, Dev. Dinwiddie 3 0-2 6, Turner 2 0-0 4, Fangman 0 2-2 2Weber 2 2-2 6. Totals 19 (2) 4-6 44.
WICHITA HEIGHTS: Ellis 8 7-12 24, Moore 4 4-9 13, Smith 3 1-1 7, Wessel 2 2-3 6, Dobbins 2 0-1 4, Owens 1 0-0 2, Riley 1 0-0 2, Brickhouse 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 (2) 16-28 60.
SM South 74, Wichita East 68 — East didn't get the bounce-back game that it had hoped for. Instead, East lost in triple overtime in the losers bracket.
East (7-3), the second-ranked team in Class 6A, will play for seventh place today.
At the end of the second overtime, East's Randall Rogers dribbled off his foot and SM South's Will Spradling, who finished with a game-high 30 points, forced a jump ball that went SM South's way with four seconds left.
In the third overtime, SM South jumped all over East, scoring seven straight points.
"It was a battle," SM South coach Brett McFall said. "To show our grit and our strength, our determination down the stretch it was fun to watch and to be apart of."
Nathan Jackson led East with 21 points. The Aces have suffered back-to-back losses at Dodge City.
"We're kind of re-creating our identity and I didn't expect that," East coach Ron Allen said. "We got beat last night in a tough ballgame and we came back today and we started not playing sound, not playing solid, struggling in the first quarter. We're going through growing pains right now."
Wichita East3 19 14 16 2 9 5 — 68 SM South8 14 12 18 2 9 11 — 74
WICHITA EAST: Jackson 7 4-4 21, Love 6 0-0 14, Rogers 3 2-2 10, Williams 3 0-0 6, Johnson 2 0-0 5, Carter 1 2-2 4, Duque 0 2-2 2, Walton 1 0-0 2, Johnson-Reed 1 0-0 2, Reed 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 (8) 10-12 68.
SM SOUTH: Spradling 10 9-11 30, Fredrick 6 5-6 17, Reid 3 1-2 9, Moyer 2 2-2 8, Christie 2 0-0 5, Stacker 1 1-2 3, Winkler 0 2-2 2. Totals 24 (6) 20-25 76.
Gardner-Edgerton 53, Dodge City 51
Gardner-Edgerton13 15 11 14 — 53 Dodge City15 9 12 15 — 51
GARDNER-EDGERTON: Langrehr 18, Starling 16, Juenemann 8, Newsome 4, Jones 4, Haas 3. Totals 20 (4) 9-20 53.
DODGE CITY: Morin 18, Hogan 11, Williams 10, Howarth 6, Hallman 4, Sotelo 2. Totals 18 (1) 14-20 51.
Manhattan 51, Hays 37
Hays 6 9 9 13 — 37 Manhattan 10 6 15 20 — 51
HAYS: Pfeifer 13, Pfannenstiel 7, Gaughan 5, Herman 4, Bombardier 3, Rathke 3, Moritz 1, Niemberger 1. Totals 13 (2) 9-15 37.
MANHATTAN: Nelson 20, Brooks 7, Stitt 7, Payne 7, Kern 4, Wilkinson 3, Giambrone 3. Totals 17 (5) 12-16 51.