BonnerSprings.com

What should have been a celebratory atmosphere Friday night in the stands spilled out on the court at the Bonner Springs YMCA following the Braves’ 69-63 victory against Turner.

As the two teams began to line up to shake hands, the student section streamed across the court and mobbed the Braves’ players. Turner coach Rick Sula took his team off the court and walked into their locker room without subjecting his players to the spectacle that was happening.

BSHS Assistant Principal Rick Moulin and coach Ryan Hull dispersed the crowd as quickly as possible — but the damage had been done.

Hull, who was embarrassed, spoke briefly with his team in its own locker room before dismissing them to go down to the Bears’ locker room door where the two teams could properly shake hands and congratulate each other on the hard-fought game.

The court-storming stole the spotlight from what had been a terrific second half by the Braves.

The Braves trailed by eight points at halftime and were having a hard time with Turner’s interior players.

“I challenged them a little bit,” Hull said. “Our lack of enthusiasm hurt us in the first half because (Turner) was going hard. They really were, and we didn’t answer the call at the beginning.”

It worked.

Easy baskets in the first half for the Bears became contested shots in the second half. That effort got the Braves back in the game and eventually earned them the lead as they showed grit and toughness all the way.

Guards B.J. Watson, Stevie Williams and Jourdaine Smallwood played with almost a swagger in the second half as they combined for 25 points in the final 16 minutes.

No shot was bigger than junior guard Juan Pichardo’s. With 1:31 remaining and the Braves again trailing 63-60, Pichardo drained a game-tying 3-pointer. Williams and Watson knocked down 6-of-8 free throws in the game’s final minute to secure the win for the Braves.

“I was just trying to make big shots for my team,” said Watson, who said shooting 100 free throws every day in practice gave him confidence when the game was on the line.

Williams said the confidence level changed at halftime.

“When you have confidence in yourself and your teammates, you can go a long way,” Williams said. “There was no doubt we could (win the game).”

Timely toughness by senior center Wole Imokhome provided a much-needed lift to his team.

The Braves opened the second half with a set play that called for Imokhome to cut behind the defense for an easy layup. The pass got to him and he finished at the hoop. On the other end he turned back a shot in close by the Bears, leading to another Bonner basket.

“Coach told me I needed to play with energy, and that’s what I did,” Imokhome said. “(The coaches) said I need to just play hard and show up.”

Imokhome provided another block in the third quarter’s waning moments, and had an offensive rebound and put-back to energize his team again.

Turner’s Chuck O’Neil played a great first half for the Bears scoring 16 points, but the Braves decided to make other players try to beat them in the second half and only allowed him one basket in the second half.

“I saw that the team was feeling down tonight, so the coaches needed me to be the spark and show what I can do,” said Smallwood, who threaded two no-look passes for assists on baskets in the second half. “There is this thing called momentum — I call it ‘Uncle Mo.’ ‘Uncle Mo’ is going to come over and we are going to keep going from here.”

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