Southeast overcomes height disadvantage, bounces Lawrence at 6A state hoops tourney

Southeast proved once again Wednesday night that even on a team without a lot of height, speed and pressure can make up for a lot.

The Golden Buffaloes used a 16-0 run in the first part of the third quarter to take a 48-33 lead over Lawrence, then sweated out multiple Lions comeback attempts and pulled out a 70-67 victory in the Class 6A boys high school basketball quarterfinals at Koch Arena.

Lawrence had one shot to tie, but a three-point attempt bounded off the rim as the final buzzer sounded.

“We just didn’t want to let them score,” sophomore guard Jackie Johnson said. “I think this is a big confidence-booster for everybody.”

Next up for Southeast is top-seeded Washburn Rural, which went to overtime to subdue Lawrence Free State, 54-45.

The Buffaloes — who only have two players taller than 6-2 — struggled in the first half against the bigger Lions but finished the half with a 32-30 lead. The run began at 7:22 on a three-pointer by sophomore Rone Smith and ended with fellow sophomore Johnson’s free throws at 3:27.

In all, five different Buffaloes scored the 16 points. The run put Lawrence on its heels, but the Lions showed resilience in the second part of the quarter and trailed just 50-48 entering the fourth period.

Southeast (20-3) used free throws to maintain its lead, hitting 10 of 12 in the final quarter. Johnson hit eight of 10 and 13 of 15 for the game, gaining the opportunities by fearlessly driving into the lane.

First-year varsity head coach Joe Mitchell has found a way to make quickness and speed a weapon, senior guard Johnny Murdock said.

“We just come out and play hard every game,” Murdock said. “Our coach just wants us to play 100 percent, 100 percent of the time.”

Having someone as quick as Johnson, a transfer from North, doesn’t hurt at all, Murdock said.

“We’re glad he came over,” he said. “Offense, we’re in ‘go’ mode all the time; defense, we’re go all the time, too. We’re just going to play hard.”He calms everything down. Jackie, he’s ‘pedal to the metal.’ He’s always in aggressive-type mode; that’s what I like.

“I don’t think anybody in the state of Kansas can stay in front of him.”

Murdock said it was important to have that third-quarter run.

“We knew they were going to have a run, so we had to have a run,” he said. “We just have to keep outstretching it.”

Johnson said, “I felt our defense just took it over the top (Wednesday) night. They started hitting big-time shots, and just have to lock down and buckle in.

“We’re always looking to attack. A lot of our key players are looking do what we need to do.”

Speed is key to neutralizing a height deficit, Johnson said.

“Speed kills,” he said. “We definitely used that to our advantage.”

In the next round, Southeast gets No. 1 seed Washburn Rural, but the Buffaloes won’t have to deal with the tall frontcourt that Lawrence presented.

But that doesn’t faze Johnson.

“We have a lot of weapons, definitely,” he said.

In other 6A quarterfinals:

No. 2 Blue Valley Northwest 75, No. Olathe North 70: BV Northwest looked like anything but the defending 6A champion in the first half Wednesday, going down by as many as 12 points against Olathe North. But BVNW regrouped behind senior 6-foot-7 point guard and KU Jayhawks signee Christian Braun, who finished with a game-high 33 points — 22 after halftime.

No. 6 seed Shawnee Mission South 57, No. 3 Harmon 46: Held to just three first-half points, senior Evan Hickman finished with 23 points for the Raiders (19-4). Lonell Lane had 22 for Harmon (19-4).

No. 1 Washburn Rural 54, No. 8 Lawrence Free State 45 (OT): Free State (15-7) forced the extra period by outscoring the Junior Blues (22-1) 15-12 in the fourth quarter, and the game was a grind throughout. Rural senior Jordan White paced the victory by hitting overtime free throws and finished with a game-high 20 points.