Jackson Heights Basketball vs. Pleasant Ridge 1/7/2020
Northeast Kansas League basketball action resumed in earnest last night when the Jackson Heights High School Cobra teams split an evening with Pleasant Ridge, the Lady Cobras coming out on top 48-36 while the Ram boys squeaked past the Cobras with a 40-39 win.
The Lady Cobras’ win, which boosted their NEK League and overall record to 4-1, kept them in second in the league behind Jefferson County North and dropped the Lady Rams to 2-3 in the league (sixth place) and overall.
“Our defense has been our strength this season,” Lady Cobras Head Coach Dan Shupe said of last night’s win. “We have been executing it well for this time of year.”
The first quarter of the game appeared to set the pace for the Lady Cobras, who outscored the Rams 14-3 in the frame, eight of the Heights points coming from Amaya Marlatt. The only problem was Pleasant Ridge’s 20-7 run in the second quarter, which put the Rams up 23-21 at halftime.
“We had a letdown after a pretty good first quarter, and when you do that with a good team, it opens the door for them,” Coach Shupe said. “So we had to get back to executing the basics.”
But in the second half, the Cobras came back and kept the Rams quiet for the most part, taking a 14-8 third quarter and a 13-5 final frame.
Marlatt led the Lady Cobras with 16 overall points on the night, followed by Abby Brey and Kylie Dohl with a dozen points apiece, while defensively, Shupe cited the work of White and Dohl. For the Lady Rams, Gabbriella Watkins led scoring with 10 points, followed by Kaija Nutsch with eight.
On Friday, the Lady Cobras will travel to Oskaloosa to take on a 4-2 Lady Bears team that’s coming off a Tuesday night 52-30 win over McLouth. Pleasant Ridge, meanwhile, will host McLouth (0-5 league and overall) that night.
“Both teams are expecting to get the ball up and down the court, so it will probably be a fast-paced game,” Shupe said of his team’s upcoming game with Oskaloosa.
———
In the nightcap, a last-second disappointment that saw the Rams walking away with the one-point win dropped the Cobra boys to 2-3 in the NEK League (sixth place) and overall, while the Rams climbed to 3-2 in the league (fifth place) and overall.
Cobra head boys coach Chris Brown said his team worked on its game “a lot” over the holiday break and came out “ready to play” against the Rams, who took a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and held on to take a 27-20 lead into intermission.
“We shot very poorly from the free throw line in the first quarter,” Coach Brown said, noting his team made just three of nine shots from the charity stripe in that frame. “We shot better from the line throughout the rest of the game, and that helped us to keep it close.”
The Cobras outscored the Rams 13-9 in the third frame to narrow the Rams’ lead to three points, then got close to a single-point win in the fourth quarter, leading 39-38 when the Cobras were called for a foul with six seconds left. The Rams took the lead on a pair of free throws, prompting the Cobras to get a shot off at the buzzer that didn’t go in, Brown said.
Brown cited the work of Dylan Thompson on both sides of the ball, leading the team offensively with 16 points, including a pair of three-point hits.
“Dylan did a great job being in the passing lane,” the coach said.
Pleasant Ridge was led in scoring by Conner Gibson with 14 points.
On Friday, the Cobras will head to Oskaloosa to take on a Bear team that’s currently winless in six tries, league and overall, following last night’s 48-31 loss to McLouth. The Rams will host McLouth (4-1 league and overall) that same night.
“Oskaloosa is a young team, and they’ve struggled so far this year,” Brown said. “Hopefully we can go play well and win.”
Girls Scoring
Jackson Heights 14-7-14-13 48
Pleasant Ridge 3-20-8-5 36
Jackson Heights: Marlatt 8 0-1 16, Brey 4 4-4 12, Dohl 5 2-3 12, Roles 3 0-2 6, White 1 0-0 2. Total 21 6-10 48.
Pleasant Ridge: Watkins 1 (2) 2-2 10, K. Nutsch 4 0-0 8, Schwinn 3 0-1 6, Herbig 1 (1) 0-0 5, Theis 1 2-2 4, Barnes 1 1-2 3. Totals 11 (3) 5-7 36.
Boys Scoring
Jackson Heights 11-9-13-6 39
Pleasant Ridge 14-13-9-4 40
Jackson Heights: Thompson 3 (2) 4-8 16, S. Holliday 0 (1) 5-5 8, Bosley 2 2-3 6, Kennedy 2 1-3 5, Doyle 0 (1) 0-0 3, Wareham 0 1-2 1, Wege 0 0-1 0. Totals 7 (4) 13-22 39.
Pleasant Ridge: Gibson 3 (1) 5-6 14, Carpenter 0 (3) 0-1 9, Johnston 2 2-2 6, Stutz 0 (1) 2-4 5, Wohlgemuth 1 2-2 4, Adams 1 0-1 2. Totals 7 (5) 11-16 40.
JV Girls: JHHS 55, PRHS 15
JV Boys: PRHS 58, JHHS 29
C Girls: JHHS 49, PRHS 5
C Boys: PRHS 42, JHHS 35
———
JHMS Boys Basketball Scores
Monday, Jan. 6
A Team: JHMS 24, ACCMS 15
B Team: ACCMS 25, JHMS 18
C Team: JHMS 12, ACCMS 4 (two quarters)
