Package: Boys’ Basketball vs. SM South

Story by Julia Poe:

By the third quarter, he had already scored a basket, a free throw and thrown down a two-handed dunk.

Now, six-foot-seven junior Lucas Jones took a shuffle step behind the three point line and lofted a shot from the top of the key. The shot was high-arcing and smooth. It swished — definitively — and the already-raucous Lancer student section roared in approval.

Although he would go on to score 21 points in the Lancers’ 58-43 win over the SM South Raiders, the night was defensively focused for Jones and the East squad. It began with a quick three by senior Luke Haverty, who would lead the Lancers on a run to create a 10 point lead.

From there, Jones took over the game by dominating in the post. Using his vast wingspan to cover the paint, Jones blocked or affected a majority of the shots taken from inside the three-point line. On the offensive side, the big man was solid in the first half but came alive in the second, where he scored 16 points.

Almost half of Jones’ points came from the free throws, which was where the Lancers truly won the game. Both teams made it into the double bonus in both halves, and East shot 83 percent from the free throw line, sinking a total of 24 free throws to solidify their victory.

“We knew it would be a great game, great atmosphere,” head coach Shawn Hair said. “We knew both teams would compete at a high level. We were able to attack them and make it so that they had to foul us. We’re a good free throw shooting team, and we used that to our advantage.”

The Lancers would maintain a lead of at least five points for the rest of the game, using their momentum to keep the South squad on the defensive. Although the Lancers utilized set plays to score skillful shots — including two three-point shots from sophomore Jay Guastello — their domination of the game was based on high intensity and scrappy, hustle plays.

“I guess it started with Luke knocking down that first three and from there we just gained a ton of energy and never let up,” junior Gunnar Englund said. “We did everything we could to keep them out of their game and stay in ours, and we came out with a big win.”

Although South was able to rally for several runs to bring the lead under 10 points, they were unable to pull close enough to pose a threat to the Lancers. Outmatched in the post by a smothering Lancer defense, the Raiders’ offense was based on unreliable three-point shots.

In the final minutes of the game, South turned to desperate fouls, which only lengthened the Lancers’ lead. The team feels that a victory in such an intense rivalry game has given them strong momentum heading into the post-season, which will begin on Thurs., Mar. 6 against Blue Valley High School.

“We capped the week off with an outstanding win tonight,” Haverty said. “I thought Lucas was huge down low. Not only was he blocking shots but his presence factored into South missing a lot of layups and jumpers. Our coaching staff did an incredible job coming up with confusing defenses. We want to thank the East fans for believing in us.”

View a photo gallery of the game by Jordan Hall, John Foster, James Wooldridge, McKenzie Swanson, and Maddie Schoemann: