High school boys hoops notebook: Balanced offense propels Blue Valley West
Here are five takeaways from the past week in 913-area high school boys basketball:
1. The Blue Valley West boys basketball team is using a balanced offensive attack to win close games and is quietly rising to the top of the Eastern Kansas League.
Each of the Jaguars’ four victories has been decided by 10 or fewer points. Their one setback came in a four-point loss to Blue Valley North. Their latest game continued their league sucess. It was a two-point victory against St. Thomas Aquinas.
Nine Blue Valley West players scored in the game and only one reached double figures.
2. A rivalry victory against Blue Valley North might be just what Blue Valley Northwest needed to get back on track after back-to-back losses.
AJ Pleasant and Darien Jackson combined to lead the Huskies, with both players scoring 18 points. Pleasant was held to two points in Blue Valley Northwest’s loss to Blue Valley Southwest on Monday.
The Huskies have one additional loss in Eastern Kansas League play. Blue Valley Northwest fell to Blue Valley West 58-50 in mid-January.
3. Blue Valley Southwest has come out strong after the winter break and improved its Eastern Kansas League record with victories against perennial powers such as Blue Valley Northwest and Blue Valley North.
After starting 0-3 in the EKL, the Timberwolves have won two of four games for a 5-7 overall record on the season.
Jackson Lazzo and Patrick Cairns have scored in double figures in each of the Timberwolves’ last two games.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas hit a rough patch that started in its own tournament and has resulted in losses in two of the Saints’ last three games.
The good news for the Saints, though, is that both were decided by just two points. All four of the Saints’ losses this season have been decided by seven or fewer points.
A common thread in the Saints’ last three games is that St. Thomas Aquinas has given up one big quarter in each game. Two of them came in the first and one came in the fourth, hampering the Saints.
5. The St. James Academy boys basketball team recently had one of the toughest draws in the Saints Classic tournament at St. Thomas Aquinas, ending their stay with a pair of close losses to teams that combined for six losses all season.
Zach Thornhill had a game-high 35 points in a six-point victory over Sumner Academy last Friday.
This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "High school boys hoops notebook: Balanced offense propels Blue Valley West."