The Basketball Blog – Week Three

I almost broke down crying during the Lancers’ game on Friday, but not because they were losing.

I almost started crying because I finally saw a Shawnee Mission East player dunk. My dramatic overreaction aside, Lucas Jones’ dunk against Leavenworth was the highlight of this young Lancer campaign. No player had dunked in a game for East in my time here, so for the current students, that was a pretty special moment.

But Jones’ breakaway slam wasn’t the only highlight in East’s 69-53 rout of Leavenworth. With 20 points, Vance Wentz led a relentless Lancer attack that had the Pioneers on their heels for most of the game. Vance started at the point for the first time in his career and handled the position and the ball well, demonstrating some versatility that will serve him well next year for Montana State.

With Wentz and Zach Schneider leading the attack and Jones’ dunk energizing his teammates, East rolled over Leavenworth. The Lancers only missed one free throw all game and dominated the boards, staging an impressive performance against a pretty good Pioneer squad.

So after another week without a loss, what’s next for this team? Tomorrow, East will host Olathe North before entering Nordic country for a showdown against the rival SM West Vikings. The West game in particular is an interesting matchup, primarily because of the bad blood that exists between the two senior classes. The showdown between these two rivals should be intense and physical and shouldn’t be missed.