Lynch keeps Heights moving
Midway through the fourth quarter at Heights Tuesday night, an official called timeout and Heights girls coach Kip Pulliam motioned junior Jada Lynch over to him. Confusion was etched on her face as the players and coaches on the bench chuckled while Pulliam informed her she had blood filling her mouth.
Lynch had taken two blows to the face and was bleeding above her lip, and didn’t realize it.
But when you play like Lynch does — all out all the time, scrapping for loose balls, banging inside for rebounds — there’s no time to stop for blood.
Lynch came off the bench and scored 16 points as Heights defeated Kapaun Mount Carmel 66-49 to take a two-game lead in the City League standings.
Lynch hit 5 of 10 shots, was 5 of 5 from the free-throw line and had a game-high six rebounds.
“Man, I love her,” Pulliam said. “I told the girls… the maddest girl on my team should be Jada Lynch because she should be starting right now. But I’m superstitious … and I also love having that coming off the bench. You can’t brew that up any better than have all that energy and scoring ability coming off the bench.”
She brings a fiery intensity off the bench, continuing a Heights tradition. Last season it was Katie Palmer who came off the bench and had the ability to lead the team in scoring. Two years ago it was Ashlee Ivy, and three seasons ago it was Mary Sims.
“When we get down, we can count on Jada to come in and pick us up,” Ivy said.
Actually, Heights has a variety of players who can do that, including Ivy, who came into the game having scored 32 total points and focusing more on her roles as a defensive stopper and leader. She had 16 against Kapaun, hitting 7 of 12 shots.
“We have a lot of kids who can put the ball in the hole,” Pulliam said. “They don’t care who scores.”
Heights quickly rolled to a 12-3 lead over Kapaun by the midpoint of the first quarter. The Crusaders cut it to 16-12 on a Blake Bullock basket after breaking Heights’ daunting full-court pressure defense.
The Falcons responded with a 12-0 run, capped by Ivy driving to the basket for the 28-12 lead at the 6:47 mark of the third quarter. Heights shot 23 of 48 from the field, 15 of 21 from the free-throw line and forced 21 turnovers.
Kapaun was hampered by the absence of sophomore post Sydney Kuhn, out with an achilles injury. Coach Marvin Estes said she will have an MRI this week.
Heights initially got the ball inside to take advantage of the situation. Joyea Marshall scored 8 of her 10 points in the first period.
But Kapaun handled it, and Hannah Lienhard played well inside, finishing with 16 points, including 4-of-7 shooting.
“Those post men stepped up and did a great job,” Estes said. “Once we figured out how to get the high post the ball, then you have options…. That’s a good team. We’re satisfied. We just got a little further up the mountain. If there’s a better team than them in Kansas, I hope we don’t meet them.”
| Kapaun (8-2, 7-2) | 12 | 12 | 6 | 19 | — | 49 |
| Heights (9-0, 8-0) | 24 | 16 | 15 | 11 | — | 66 |
KAPAUN: Andersen 3 1-1 9, Lienhard 4 8-11 16, McAuliffe 3 0-0 7, Bachrodt 3 1-2 7, Shaw 2 0-0 6, Hogan 1 0-0 2, Bullock 1 0-0 2, Garaging 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 (5) 10-14 49.
HEIGHTS: Ivy 7 2-4 16, Cyphers 3 0-0 6, Marshall 3 4-6 10, Palmer 2 2-4 7, Chandler 1 0-0 3, Lynch 5 5-5 16, Bowen 2 0-0 6, Harding 0 0-0 0, Smallwood 0 0-0 0, Owens 0 0-0 0, Horton 0 2-2 2, Drury 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 (5) 15-21 66.