Northwest's Anthony Collins (10) manuevers his way by West's Dontrez Flournoy (21) and Travis Gantt in the 4th quarter riday (Feb. 12, 2010) at Northwest High. Fernando Salazar/The Wichita Eagle | Buy this photo
Northwest halts West streak
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West's boys basketball team hadn't lost since Jan. 15, and Friday night it took the Pioneers three quarters to remember the raised expectations a six-game winning streak created.
Those 24 minutes were enough for Northwest to keep the Pioneers from making it seven straight. A 16-point Northwest lead dwindled to four, but the Grizzlies finished a 67-61 win with four free throws in the final 19 seconds.
The game mirrored West's season — down and nearly out early before a late rally. The ending was written on Friday's game, but not on the Pioneers' season as they dropped to 7-9.
"Just not enough this time," West coach Phil Daignault said. "But we hurt ourselves."
The Pioneers' self-inflicted wounds were caused by a sluggish start that Daignault partly blamed on West having the day off from school on Friday. West didn't lead after scoring the first two points, and all of its rallies were answered by the Grizzlies.
West committed 10 turnovers in the first quarter and 14 in the first half. The Pioneers also missed half of their 20 free throws, and Northwest made that statistic hurt by performing well from the line in the fourth quarter to keep West at bay.
"I don't think we played as well as we should have," Northwest coach Chris Collins said. "We did enough to get the win and that's the most important thing. (West is) a scrappy team. We got up 16 and it's tough to sustain that when you spent so much energy getting there. They had so much confidence coming in and I knew they would make another run."
A Dave Carson three-pointer with 4:45 to go in the third quarter put Northwest ahead 48-32. The Pioneers started a rally late in the third but it wasn't on the verge of being complete until Daylin Thomas sparked them in the fourth.
The West center took advantage of foul trouble on counterpart Spenser Gales and scored 10 of his 14 points (on 7 of 7 shooting) in the fourth quarter. He made four of West's first five fourth-quarter baskets, cutting the Northwest lead to 57-51.
Thomas played briefly in the first half, picking up two early fouls and committing three turnovers in the first quarter. His absence damaged the undersized Pioneers and Gales benefited by grabbing 17 rebounds.
"He had two fouls early and you run a risk," Daignault said. "You can put him in there, because I'm trying to keep the game close, or save him for that second half. Could I have put him in? Yeah, but it's a gamble. Gales is a (6-foot-7) giant. Daylin (6-4) is my giant. Without him out there to help rebound... "
Thomas gave West its only consistent scorer. Though Jamez Jones (15 points) and Travis Gantt combined for 28 points, they totaled 33 shots and missed seven free throws and eight three-point attempts.
Northwest's balanced scoring was led by Grant Landenberger, who scored 13 points. After Jones missed a free throw that could have made it a three-point game with 24 seconds to go, Landenberger all but sealed it with a pair from the line five seconds later, putting the Grizzlies ahead 65-59.
"West, they play extremely hard and it seems like no matter how much they're down they keep on playing," Landenberger said. "We expected that, expected their pressure and just needed to slow it down and play our game toward the end."
West (7-9, 3-9) 14 13 13 21 — 61 Northwest (10-7, 9-4) 19 16 18 14 — 67
WEST: Gantt 5 0-2 13, Washington 1 3-3 5, Jones 5 5-10 15, Scruggs 2 2-2 6, Thomas 7 0-1 14, Banks 4 0-0 8, Eatmon 0 0-2 0. Totals 24 (3) 10-20 61.
NORTHWEST: Fox 1 0-0 3, Landenberger 4 5-9 13, Kramer 1 0-0 2, Carson 3 2-2 9, Collins 3 5-6 11, Nicholson 2 2-4 8, Miller 2 2-2 6, Gales 4 0-0 8, Johnson 3 1-1 7. Totals 23 (4) 17-24 67.