The Lancer Boys’ Basketball team opened their season Tuesday night by defeating the Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars 66-52. Coach Shawn Hair came out with a starting lineup that may have surprised some by starting four juniors, and one senior. Junior Vance Wentz carried the load offensively for the Lancers by scoring 33 points.

The Lancers came out firing early, and the first made basket was a three-pointer by Wentz, a trend that would continue throughout the night as he finished with five of them. Northwest was able to battle back and keep the game close with solid offense and rebounding from senior Jackson Foth. At the end of the first quarter the score stood 13-7 with the Lancers on top.

In the second quarter, the Cougars started to show a little more life on the offensive side of the ball, but Coach Hair didn’t let that last long. A characteristic of all Hair teams is tenacious defense, and this team is no different. Seniors Alex Schoegler and Andy Hiett were able to force pressure on the Northwest guards and disrupt the flow of their offense. The Lancers headed into halftime leading 28-19.

“I really felt like I did well pressuring the ball, that helped disrupt their offense and force a few turnovers,” said Schoegler.

After the half, the Cougars came out with a pretty clear defensive strategy; stop Vance Wentz. They were doing all they could to deny passing lanes, and stop the Lancer guards from getting the ball to him. Wentz didn’t let this stop him however, as he was physical and continued to free himself up for open looks. He did get some help on the offensive end from fellow junior Zach Schneider who finished the game with 12 points.

“As a team we played good on offense, but defensively we need to get a lot better,” said Wentz.

Heading into the fourth, the game was a little closer than Coach Hair would have liked as his team was only ahead by seven. The fourth quarter was all Lancers though, and they had their highest scoring quarter of the game with 23 points. By about the two minute mark, Hair was able to pull his starters and the first win of the season was imminent. After this victory, the Lancers look poised to have one of their better seasons in recent memory.