McPherson Invitational Boys’ Basketball Recap

Photo by: Kaitlyn Stratman

The Shawnee Mission East Boys’ Basketball team competed at the McPherson Invitational Basketball Tournament at McPherson High School last Thursday through Saturday the 21st. The team played one game on each day. They lost to McPherson on Thursday 69 – 55, but were able to rebound from the loss and defeat Mill Valley High School 64 – 44 on Friday. East concluded the tournament with a 92 – 82 loss to Wichita Heights in double overtime. The Lancers finished the tournament with a record of 1 – 2.

Senior Trevor Thompson was a continuous force, playing all but one minute of the first game, a loss to McPherson. He finished with 10 points and three assists. Senior Connor Rieg was the leading scorer for the team in the game with 19 points. Ten turnovers contributed to the downfall of the Lancers. McPherson was able to capitalize on the turnovers, scoring 16 points off turnovers.

“[East] played really well, but McPherson was able to make all of their open shots and executed well [on both offense and defense],” senior team manager Chace Prothe said. “They got some calls in their favor, which helped them too.”

In Friday’s game, the Lancers won big against Mill Valley, winning by 20 points. Three of the five senior starters- Trevor Thompson, Connor Rieg and Liam George scored in the double digits. After struggling in the third quarter, the Lancers were able to close out the game strong with 27 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring Mill Valley by 12.

“[After losing the first game of the tournament] we knew it would be tough to keep our focus and bring a lot of energy to a consolation game,” Rieg said. “But we did and it helped a lot in winning the second game.”

East finished the tournament in sixth place after a double overtime loss to Wichita Heights High School. The game was tightly contested until the second overtime, with the lead changing nine times throughout the game. Rebounds greatly contributed to Wichita Heights’ victory by out rebounding East 43 – 21 in the game.

“I thought we played our best quarter of the season so far in the third quarter of that game,” junior forward Jack Schoemann said. “It was a tough game to lose, but we grew as a team and we’re getting a lot better, and we will be ready for Rockhurst on Friday.”