Orange Crushed: Bonner Springs dominates Tonganoxie with strong offensive attack

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

The past two or three weeks, it's been about strong defense and tenacity for the Bonner Springs boys basketball team.

On Friday night against Tonganoxie, it was Bonner Springs' athleticism on offense and execution of the offensive game-plan that was the difference.

Bonner Springs defeated Tonganoxie 76-53 behind a team-high 24 points from Stevie Williams, who snapped a bit of a late-season funk.

Williams scored five quick points to help Bonner Springs build an 8-4 lead. That's as close as the game was. Williams scored in double figures early in the game, scoring 10 points on the way to a 26-10 lead.

After Tonganoxie went on a 8-1 run to cut the lead down to nine, it was senior Johnathan Jackson who put a second quarter dagger in the heart of Tonganoxie.

Jackson went on a quick 8-2 run, hitting a couple of three-pointers to push the lead to 35-20. Tonganoxie cut the lead down to nine points by halftime.

In the second half, it was another great run for Williams that put the game away yet again. Williams' quick six points to begin the second half helped Bonner Springs start the half on a 13-4 run.

The man who orchestrated the attack was point guard B.J. Watson. Watson bypassed several shots and kept the ball moving.

Still, he had 12 points in his own right, including a couple of three-pointers.

"We really wanted to get a fast pace in this game," Watson said. "We had more athletic guards than them and our big guys can move quicker."

Bonner's offensive attack was unstoppable at times. They took advantage of several Tonganoxie turnovers and earned hard points inside, with Williams taking a particular hard drop to the floor.

The Braves hit eight three-pointers, most of which were created after terrific ball movement and unselfish play.

"We really think we are peaking right now," Watson said. "Coach Price has stressed defense to us."

For Tonganoxie, Dane Erickson had another terrific game.

Erickson likely punched his All-Kaw Valley League honors with a 33-point game on the road against Bonner Springs.

With league out of the picture, it's about sub-state seeding and finishing the season strong for the Braves.

After all, the Braves will be the home team in sub-state this year, as Bonner Springs High School is the host.

"We're very excited to be the home team," Watson said. "We always have a great crowd and the entire city checks us out. We're excited and that will be huge."

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KCK Preps - Post Game Interview - Torrence Allen

by David Brox, davidbrox@shukc.com

Thanks to coach Torrence Allen for doing a quick post game interview.  I have not done many live interviews so forgive me.  Everything is a work in progress.

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High School Basketball Scores: February 17

Boys

Basehor-Linwood 52, LANSING 44
SUMNER ACADEMY 85, Washington 63
MILL VALLEY 63, Piper 49
BONNER SPRINGS 76, Tonganoxie 53
HARMON 70, Atchison 52
(Don't have the Wyandotte-Schlagle winner)

Girls

LANSING 44, Basehor-Linwood 40
MILL VALLEY 36, Piper 19
BONNER SPRINGS 60, Tonganoxie 55
SUMNER ACADEMY 42, Washington 11

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KVL Corner: Kaw Valley League should look to expand

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

There was some interesting league news this week when it comes to the Kaw Valley League and teams in Wyandotte County.

Basehor-Linwood had formally applied to become a member of the Frontier League, but the league decided to not expand for the foreseeable future.

That means Basehor and Piper, Tonganoxie and Bonner Springs - three other rumored districts looking at the Frontier League - will probably remain in the Kaw Valley League.

Because of this, it's time for the KVL "powers to be" to explore expansion.

For whatever reason, there's this notion that the KVL is a down league. I don't get that.

I'll acknowledge that no league has been more disappointing in the football postseason than the KVL. There's great potential for the KVL in football that has not been met in terms of expectations. Really, Piper is the only KVL school that's exceeded postseason expectations. They've pulled off two big upsets in the past few years against Perry-Lecompton.

Basehor, Lansing and Mill Valley have had disappointing finishes.

The KVL, however, is still a good league in football.

This year in basketball, it's one of the best in the metro areas. Lansing is arguably the best team in 5A, while Basehor-Linwood is one of the top three or four teams in 4A basketball. That cannot be disputed.

On top of that, you have a sneaky good Bonner Springs team that could easily shock some people in the postseason and you have Piper, Tonganoxie and Mill Valley - three communities ripe for good basketball.

The Frontier League talk bothers me because the KVL has a good to great foundation that could be even better.

If I'm the commissioner of the KVL or if I'm in the KVL as an athletic director, I would make a very strong push for Leavenworth and Sumner Academy to join the league.

While it may not make too much sense for either school to come in separately, a Sumner Academy-Leavenworth duo entry to the Kaw Valley League would be incredible for basketball.

Ponder this: How strong would a Kaw Valley League featuring Lansing, Leavenworth, Basehor-Linwood, Bonner Springs and Sumner Academy be?

The fifth-place team in the league would be in the top three in most other leagues. It would be incredibly deep - all five of those teams will likely finish with 15 or more wins this season, with some of them having a great shot at getting 20 plus victories.

Wouldn't the KVL be in instant competition as the best league in the state?

I think it would be crazy for Basehor, Piper, Tonganoxie and Bonner Springs to explore leaving the KVL. Those schools struggle to find metro-wide respect as it is, despite how close they are to Kansas City.

Being in the Frontier League would not help that.

A stronger Kaw Valley League in basketball would.

In high school athletics, it's not a football dominant deal like you see in college sports. The KVL has a great opportunity.

Leavenworth is already in a very good league, but if Sumner Academy could come with them, I think you could see Leavenworth getting pulled in. It would be great for Leavenworth County and Wyandotte County if there was a stronger KVL.

Let's make it happen.

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Poll: Who should be the Kaw Valley League Player of the Year?

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KCK Preps Coach of the Year Candidate: Andy Price, Bonner Springs

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

The head coaches from Basehor-Linwood, Sumner Academy, Bonner Springs and perhaps Washington (if they win out and win league) are likely to be our head coach of the year candidates.

Let me touch on the person who I would vote for as Coach of the Year if the season ended today - Bonner Springs boys basketball head coach Andy Price.

Why Price?

1. In my four years of covering basketball in Wyandotte County, Price is the only head coach that a player directly credited a victory to without being asked about it. I interviewed Stevie Williams after Bonner's victory against Piper and some of the very first words out of his mouth were about "Coach Price's defensive game-plan." That may not mean much, but players generally do not like giving credit to head coaches for wins. Price is the only coach who's received that type of gratitude from a player.

2. Price has transformed Bonner into a winning program again. Bonner Springs had suffered some losing seasons after Price resigned the first go around. In just two years, Bonner's a Top 25 team in Kansas City. It's a great turn around and Bonner Springs has an outside shot of a state title this year.

3. He's convinced players to love defense. It may not show every possession, but Bonner's defense is truly outstanding. They hustle and in Wyandotte County, it's very tough to convince basketball players to love defense. Price has. Talking to some parents who have athletes on the team, they tell me how much they love to play defense. Price deserves every single bit of credit for that. Having watched several practices at the high school and middle school level, I can tell you that a lot of student-athletes here in Wyandotte County hate defense and hate playing it. That's not the case down in Bonner Springs, Kansas.

4. He's done more with less than the other candidates have. Before I get too much into trouble with this, let me say that I love this year's Bonner Springs team.

If you put a gun to my head to pick a "favorite team" for the 2011-12 season, it would be this Bonner Springs group. They're great human beings, solid players and have a great support system from outstanding families on the team. I love the Watson, Jackson and Williams families. The characters and great families associated with Bonner Springs makes it really fun for me to cover Braves basketball. 

That said, if you put the Basehor-Linwood, Sumner Academy, Washington and Bonner Springs players into a pool, how many of the top ten players would be from Bonner Springs? Glad you asked!

Here would be my picks if you did a fantasy draft of those players.

1. Benny Parker, Sumner Academy

2. Colin Murphy, Basehor-Linwood

3. Ryan Murphy, Basehor-Linwood

4. Dominique Wilson, Washington (I love Big Dom, but I'm convinced we haven't seen the best of him. There's still time, though.)

5. Marcus Allen, Sumner Academy

6. B.J. Watson, Bonner Springs

7. Deon Tripp, Sumner Academy (Love his defense, character, and rebounding)

8. Ben Johnson, Basehor-Linwood

9. Deandre King, Washington (Great defense, can make three-pointers, tremendous shot)

10. Stevie Williams, Bonner Springs

Those would be the guys in order, and quite frankly, you could make a case for a couple of players ahead of Stevie Williams, who's primarily a football player. You could make a case for Deon Tripp over Watson too based on Tripp's ability to rebound and get inside.

I love B.J. Watson, but Benny Parker is going to Nebraska. Parker's been a four-year starter and has a ton of mileage and history with him. He's a great player and you have to pick him over B.J.

I think Brett Steuart is the most underrated player in the Kaw Valley League and he's been great down the stretch for Bonner Springs. But could you justify picking him over Dominique Wilson or any of the Murphy Twins? You can't.

Regardless, you have to admit that Watson is probably the only sure-fire Top 10 guy for Bonner Springs in any draft of Basehor-Sumner Academy-Bonner Springs-Washington players.

That's not to take away from the other coaches, but it's to give credit to Price. 

Bonner Springs has a great group of players who play as a team, win as a team and lose as a team. They have a lot of good players who accept roles and play as a team.

Price deserves a ton of credit for that - and that's why he would be my Coach of the Year if the season ended today.

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