Bishop Miege runs by Lee’s Summit North at Shootout

Ezekiel Lopes doesn’t exactly play in the shadows at Bishop Miege, but he doesn’t command the high profile of some of his teammates.

And he’s fine with that.

“I like to be the leader of the team,” Lopes said. “I don’t always want to show out, but if I can be the leader and a team player, that just stands out for me.”

Lopes stepped out of his usual role Friday night when Miege throttled Lee’s Summit North 76-51 at the Cable Dahmer Shootout at Avila. Lopes, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, scored 22 points for the Stags, one more than more-heralded teammate Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s 21.

Lopes scored all but six of those points in the second half, as the Stags (3-0) pulled away. He went 4 for 4 from three point range, drove the lane and added an emphatic dunk on a baseline move.

“I think I wanted to push my aggressiveness in the second half, show that I have that ability,” Lopes said.

Miege coach Rick Zych knows all about Lopes’ ability. While Lopes might not be as flashy as the Stags’ top scorer, Zych said Lopes has long been a major contributor to the Kansas Class 4A Division-I defending state champions’ success.

“EZ hit as many big shots as anyone for us,” Zych said. “We know he can shoot the ball and got him some open looks from our penetration on the inside and he hit them.”

Lopes’ points complimented Robinson-Earl, a 6-9 junior who made 10 of 14 shots, grabbed six rebounds and had seven assists. Robinson-Earl is the top-ranked junior recruit in Kansas, and sitting courtside to see him play was former KU star and Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning.

Lee’s Summit North (3-4), which was missing shooting guard and top scorer Javaunte Hawkins with a wrist injury, managed to stay close by working the ball inside to 6-8 forward Elijah Farr. The Broncos were within 23-20 when the Stags switched to a 2-3 zone defense to thwart Farr, and it helped fuel a 14-4 run that put the Stags up 37-24 by halftime.

“The objective was to take the big guy out,” Zych said. “We had trouble covering him. He’s a good player. We could stretch our zone out and guard the three and take him out of it. I thought it was probably the difference.”

Miege stuck with the zone most of the second half and pushed its lead to 54-36 after three quarters and led by as many as 30 points late in the game.

Logan Jenkins scored 15 points to lead Lee’s Summit North. Farr and Tommy Erwin finished with 14 apiece.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 9:57 PM with the headline "Bishop Miege runs by Lee’s Summit North at Shootout."