Senior Alex Blake helps Blue Valley North beat Lee’s Summit North 57-54 in Hy-Vee Shootout

Blue Valley North senior Alex Blake likes to have the basketball in his hands at the end of games.

It showed during the Mustangs’ 57-54 win Saturday over Lee’s Summit North in the Hy-Vee Shootout at Avila University.

Blake scored six of his team-high 12 points in the final 70 seconds, helping the Mustangs improve to 3-1.

“We’ve worked on time-and-score situations in practice, and my teammates just got me some open looks,” Blake said. “This was a total team win.”

In a game that featured 10 ties and seven lead changes, Blue Valley North overcame a seven-point second-half deficit and took the lead for good midway through the fourth on Keilon Hunter’s three-point play.

“This is a team still trying to find identity as we’ve been dealing with injuries and have a lot of young guys seeing varsity minutes for the first time,” Blue Valley North coach Ryan Phifer said. “(Lee’s Summit North) is a good team and it’s nice to have a win going into break.”

Elijah Farr scored 17 points and Logan Jenkins added 16 for Lee’s Summit North.

Rockhurst 49, Blue Valley West 41

Rockhurst went beyond the arc to beat Blue Valley West 49-41.

The Hawklets made nine of 21 three-pointers and shot a better percentage from behind the arc (43 percent) than inside it (33).

“We like to shoot a lot of threes. That’s one thing we’re pretty good at,” said Trevor White, who hit four three-pointers and led Rockhurst with 16 points.

Rockhurst built an 11-point lead late in the third quarter before Blue Valley West made it a three-point game midway through the fourth quarter.

A three-pointer by White extended the Hawklets’ lead back to eight, and the Jaguars never threatened again.

“(Shooting threes) is kind of our deal, our strength is in our guards,” said Rockhurst coach Pete Campbell, whose team improved to 3-3. “When we shoot from the perimeter well, we usually do well.”

Xavier Rhodes finished with 12 points for Rockhurst, and Derek Neubauer led Blue Valley West with nine.

BV Northwest 71, Sumner Academy 41

Blue Valley Northwest’s Joseph Pleasant threw down a monster dunk on a breakaway to start the game. That signaled what kind of day it would be for the Huskies.

Northwest rolled to a 71-41 win over Sumner Academy, holding the Sabres to 33-percent shooting.

Darien Jackson scored 15 points, and JaMichael Morgan added 13 for the Huskies, who had four dunks in the game and improved to 3-0.

Sumner’s Saadique Perkins led all scorers with 20.

Bishop Miege 70, Truman girls 36

After one quarter it looked as if the girls game between Bishop Miege and Truman would be close. Then Miege started to press and pulled away for a 70-36 victory.

Spurred by its suffocating full-court press and aggressive half-court defense, the Stags went on a 22-5 second-quarter run.

“We tried to pick up our intensity on the floor and communicate more,” Miege’s Lakesha Lamaster said of the Stags’ defense after the first quarter. “Our rotation was better.”

Hunter Bentley had 16 points, and Lamaster added 14 for Miege, 3-0.

Erin Davis made three of four three-pointers and scored 13 for Truman.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Senior Alex Blake helps Blue Valley North beat Lee’s Summit North 57-54 in Hy-Vee Shootout."