Miege boys, down 16 at the half, rally to beat O’Hara

By JASON JENKS

Special to The Star

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Bishop Miege’s knees were weak and wobbling after taking what seemed like a second-quarter knockout punch from O’Hara.

The Stags, bothered by O’Hara’s trapping defense, headed to their corner at halftime down 16 and in need of some major regrouping. Their goal at that point was to simply extend the fight.

“We were going to see what we were made of,” Miege coach Rick Zych said.

If Miege’s 51-46 win on Saturday in the Hy-Vee Shootout at Avila University is any indication, Zych’s team is a pretty gritty bunch.

The Stags looked like a different group after halftime, putting together a 23-0 run that deflated and frustrated an O’Hara team unable to find the bottom of the basket.

“I told them this is as good of a win that we’ve had here in a long time,” Zych said. “We could have easily laid down.”

It marked a drastic change from the first half, when O’Hara, 3-1, couldn’t do much wrong and Miege, 4-0, couldn’t do much right.

The Celtics deployed a zone defense that looked to trap the Stags whenever possible. At one point in the second quarter, O’Hara forced four straight turnovers.

But then Miege came out in the third quarter and scored five early points. Quickly, the lead was down to 10, then three, and all of a sudden Miege held a four-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

The Stags outscored O’Hara 20-0 in the quarter. O’Hara didn’t score its first points of the second half until 5 minutes, 12 seconds were left in the game. The Celtics went 10 minutes, 12 seconds without a point.

By the time Miege’s 23-0 run ended, the Stags led by six.

Richard Smith and Montell Cozart each scored 13 points for Miege. Stephen Hopper added 10.

Daniel Hurtt led O’Hara with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

St. Thomas Aquinas 43, Liberty 40

As his team struggled to score Saturday, Aquinas coach Sean Reilly decided to unveil an offense he wasn’t planning on using until later in the season.

The offense revolves around movement, and against a physical Liberty team, it provided the fourth-quarter spark the Saints needed.

Tyler Clement scored six of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for Aquinas, and Jimmy Clark added five of his 13, including a huge pull-up three-pointer.

Liberty raced out to a 38-28 lead in the fourth quarter. But the Blue Jays scored just two points over the final 5 minutes.

Max Francisco scored 16 points for Liberty.

Basehor-Linwood 67, Rock Bridge 60, OT

Basehor-Linwood’s big three — Ben Johnson and twins Ryan and Colin Murphy — got off to a slow start in the first half against Columbia Rock Bridge.

In the second half, though, the three took over, combining for 57 points in Basehor-Linwood’s overtime win against the No. 2 team in Missouri’s Class 5 rankings.

Murphy led the way with 24 points, Ryan Murphy added 20, and Ben Johnson had 13.

Blue Valley West 72, Lee’s Summit 52

Blue Valley West jumped all over Lee’s Summit early, and the Jaguars cruised from there.

BV West led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter and kept that cushion throughout the game. Collin Wiles led the Jaguars with 22 points while Joey Lillis (15 points) and Ryan Ralston (13) helped inside.

Lee’s Summit shot just 38 percent as BV West kept the Tigers from getting in a rhythm. Drew Lock scored 17 points for Lee’s Summit.