Blue Valley Northwest basketball improves to 4-0 with dominant home win over BV West

With silence falling across the gym as Blue Valley Northwest senior Ben Fritz stepped up to the free-throw line in the first minute of play, a lone voice shouted from the Blue Valley West side of the bleachers:

“They’re an athletic team, don’t fall behind!”

Friday night’s game between Blue Valley Northwest and Blue Valley West may have featured two of the Eastern Kansas League’s 3-0 teams, but one BV West parent was fully aware of the threat the Huskies posed.

Fritz sank both free throws and the the BV Northwest Huskies ran out to an early 8-0 lead to start the game. It was a lead the Huskies (4-0) wouldn’t relinquish in a 66-41 home win over the Jaguars (3-1).

The Huskies were led by Fritz (19 points) and senior guard Jack Chapman (21 points). The pair dominated a half each, with 15 of Fritz’s points coming in the first half and 15 of Chapman’s in the second.

“Jack Chapman is really good at taking the ball to the basket, Alston Mason is a hard guy to press and the third quarter he got so many drives and assists that really helped us,” BV Northwest coach Ed Fritz said. “I thought Ben Fritz had a really great game for us too.”

BV Northwest’s athleticism spelled foul trouble for BV West early in the first half. The Huskies were already in the bonus with six minutes remaining of the 16-minute long first half.

Consistent trips to the free-throw line allowed BV Northwest to build a 30-16 lead heading into halftime.

“It was really big,” said Ben Fritz, who finished the game 5 for 5 from the free-throw line. “We do need to work on our free throws though. We missed a couple down the stretch, so that’s definitely something to focus on.”

BV Northwest finished the game 14 of 19 from the line.

BV Northwest really got it going in the third quarter. The Huskies scored 26 points in the third quarter alone, while the Jaguars had just 27 points as a whole by the end of the third quarter.

“(Coach Fritz) just told us to come out and focus on the first three minutes of the third quarter, and that’s what we did,” Ben Fritz said. “Just really killed them inside and on the three-point line. If we continue to do that in the season we’ll be good.”

Trying to salvage something early in the third, the Jaguars stretched their defense on nearly every possession, pressing as many as two players full-court into Huskies territory.

The tactic effectively cut off the wings and Northwest suffered from three, but that just allowed the 6-foot-7 frames of Ben Fritz and Chapman to drive to the basket consistently and dominate the paint.

“I think they extended the defense, and I think that gave us passing angles,” Ed Fritz said. “They did a really good job denying the wings, so we’d may as well drive it if they’re trying to spread out that much.”

It also played into BV Northwest’s hands that they’re a considerably older team. The Jaguars feature just one senior and a handful of juniors on their roster; nine of their rostered players are underclassmen. That’s in stark comparison to BV Northwest’s four seniors and many more juniors that take up most of the minutes.

“The other team that we were playing was a little smaller than us, so we were able to get the ball inside and really work offensive and defensive boards,” Ben Fritz said. “I was just able to kill on the offensive boards and get some put-backs.”

Quinton Robertson and Jack Ratigan helped BV West put up a better fight in the fourth quarter.

Robertson finished with nine points — all coming from beyond the arc as he shot 3 for 4 on three-pointers, while Ratigan led the team on the night with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

The victory was Northwest’s 24th in a row, dating back to last season.

“This win helps us with a lot of confidence to push forward,” Chapman said. “Our goal this year is to stay undefeated, so I think this is going to help a lot.”

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 10:56 PM.