BonnerSprings.com

The final score doesn’t indicate it, but the Bonner Springs boys had every reason to believe they could win their Class 5A substate basketball opener on Wednesday, March 3.

The Braves surged to a double-digit lead before falling, 50-30, at Topeka West. West went on to advance to the state tournament.

The Braves jumped out to an early 10-point lead behind hot 3-point shooting and built a 14-4 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

“The first quarter was pretty awesome,” BSHS coach Ryan Hull said. “We were hitting shots and doing everything right on defense.”

Just when it seemed as if the Braves could pull off the upset, the Chargers settled down and climbed back into the game.

The Braves imploded during the third quarter. They turned the ball over 10 times and attempted only five shots. Still, they trailed by just six points entering the fourth quarter and still had a chance to win.

“I don’t want to take anything away from (Topeka West), but I felt like we really killed ourselves,” Hull said. “We just threw the ball away — even handed it to them a couple of times. We didn’t give ourselves an opportunity. We were extremely disappointed.”

Topeka West outscored BSHS 17-3 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Hull chalked up his team’s lack of composure in this game, as well as in many others this season, to inexperience. He said he liked to think all of the playing time earned by younger players would translate into experience on the court, but was only the case occasionally with a roster dominated by sophomores and juniors.

The Braves had two seniors play in their final game against Topeka West — Ryan Morris and Wole Imokhome. Hull said both affected the team for varied reasons.

“When Wole transferred in this year, we didn’t know what we had,” Hull said. “He turned out to be a dry sponge. I’m not sure if he had a post move at the beginning of the season, but by the end of it we had to get the ball inside to him. We would tell him to do something once, and every time after we told him, he would do it the right way. He deserves an incredible amount of credit.”

Imokhome turned into an energetic player on offense, often setting the tone with early baskets. He also provided the undersized Bonner Springs squad with effective defense in the post. Imokhome averaged 1.5 blocks per game.

Morris did not play extensive minutes during his senior campaign, but he left his mark in other ways.

“Ryan Morris is the classiest (player) I have ever experienced as a coach,” Hull said. “He always tried his hardest and wanted to help the team improve in any way he could. He is just the greatest kid to have on your team.”

With the season now over, the Braves already are turning their focus to next season. On Thursday, following the season-ending loss, Hull posted a quote on his team’s Web site: “Next season starts now! March 4th, 2010. Good players are not made from November to March, they are made from March to November.”

The Braves have hopes looking to next season. For the second year in a row, they will be return 10 lettermen consisting of five seniors and five or more juniors. They will be challenged by more Kaw Valley League contests. Two KVL teams — Perry-Lecompton and Santa Fe Trail — will leave the league at the end of this school year, forcing the remaining teams to play a home-and-home series to round out the schedule. That means that in addition to playing Lansing, Mill Valley, Turner and Basehor-Linwood twice, the Braves also will play Piper, Tonganoxie and Bishop Ward twice instead of the customary single meeting.

Even with the changes, Hull said he learned a lot about his team during this season’s 8-13 campaign, and he believes the Braves will be better next season as they build around their strengths.

“I learned that young players can play an effective half-court game on the defensive side of the court,” Hull said. “In public school, you get what you get as far as size goes. If we aren’t very big, we have to utilize our quickness and really play to the strengths of the kids on our team.”

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