5 Takeaways: Lee’s Summit West vs Lee’s Summit North (Round 2)
Friday was a game full of highlights, and most of those highlights were favoring the Lee’s Summit West Titans as they probably had around 10 slams in the game. In the first meeting between these two teams, the Lee’s Summit North Broncos knocked off the Titans, but Titans were also missing a few key players. On Friday, they were back to full strength, and they showed how good they are and how hard it’s going to be to stop them. Lee’s Summit West was led by their two big guys with Christian Bishop showing out and scoring 20 points along with some highlights slams and alley oops. Yor Anei missed the first meeting, but made up for it with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 blocks! This kid is a major game changer for the Titans. The Broncos were led by their big man Elijah Farr who put together a pretty big second half scoring 15 of his 20 points. These two teams have a chance to meet up again to decide their District Championship on Friday, as long as they both win their first round matchups.
Anei & Bishop
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to hear about these two dominating the game. Anei, who will be taking his talents to Oklahoma State next season has been impressive all season, as long as he is playing that is. He did have some off the court issues early on that caused him to miss a little of the season, but since he’s come back, he’s been nothing short of spectacular. This was the first game the Broncos got to see what he could do, and he played a huge factor on both ends of the ball. With him tossing 9 shots and leading his team with 22 points, he obviously was a huge part in why the Titans were able to take down the Broncos. If he doesn’t actually get the block, he is still affecting the shot most of the time. Being 6’10” and quite athletic at that has really helped Anei and the Titans this season. They are one of the favorites to make it to the State Finals and possibly win. Bishop would be another reason why they are such high favorites. He had one of his better outings that I’ve seen this year. He shot the ball really well and was huge on the offensive boards. The Broncos had no answer for him as he 15 of his 20 points in the second half and made his final 6 shots. When the Titans shot the ball from the outside, there was a pretty good chance that you would see Bishop coming down with the offensive board. He gave them a ton of second chance opportunities in which they capitalized on most of them. Both big men had double doubles for the Titans.
Elijah Farr
Farr was and has been a shining light for this Bronco team all year. He’s close to averaging a double double on the year and he showed exactly why on Friday. Although he had a tough task in battling with the two Titan Bigs down low, he was most of the reason why the Broncos stayed in the game. He’s a tough big guy to guard, he knows how to use his body and draws a lot of contact. He’s shooting well from the line, plus he can move it out and knock down the outside shot as well. On Friday he did most of his damage down in the post. What really helps Farr is that he isn’t as slender big guy, but he’s got a little more meat on his bones. He moves extremely well and is great at finishing around the rim. It is really weird that Farr likes to finish going to his left and with his left hand more than his right, but he has been great at it, and there is no reason to stop now. Farr is averaging a little more than 15 points this season and just under 10 rebounds, and on Friday he showed up with a team high 20 points. If the Broncos plan on doing any damage in District play, Farr will be a key factor for this team.
Lee’s Summit West Defense
With the way the Broncos had been playing lately, the Titans knew they would have to bring it on the defensive end. They did just that on Friday night. Mario Goodrich drew a pretty tough task in guarding Javaunte Hawkins in which he was only allowed to score 16 points. Goodrich got caught in some early foul trouble, but it didn’t hurt him much as he just played tight defense in the second half. Goodrich will be going to Clemson for Football next season, and he showed how athletic he really is. He had a few breakaway steals and dunks in the game. His first jam was in the first half of the game and it really grabbed the momentum for the Titans. He also tossed two highlight alley oops to Bishop which got the gym rocking! Phillip Brooks is probably one of the better defenders in the conference. He’s very quick and very strong which makes him a pretty good on the ball defender. Besides being a defender, he does all of the little things right. He’s a great rebounder for a small guard, and he is big on hustling for loose balls. A lot that Brooks does on the court doesn’t show up in the box score, but it is very much noticed during the game and even in the film room. Rich Johnson had a pretty good game as well getting in the heads of some Bronco players. Johnson, who is more of a scorer for this Titan team, averaging around 15 points a game. He was a big reason why the Titans hung around that last time these two teams played scoring a game high 29 points. He never really got it going on the offensive end Friday night, but when his shots aren’t falling, he knows to become more a facilitator. Johnson is a very smart basketball player and will be key when and if the Titans plan on making a run at the State Championship.
Broncos spread the weatlh
The Lee’s Summit North Broncos have been pretty good at spreading the wealth on the offensive end this year. They have 3 or 4 players who can really light up the scoreboard on any given night. Friday Night, Elijah Farr led the team with 20 points, but the Broncos also had 3 other guys in double figures. Javaunte Hawkins who has been leading the team in scoring throughout the year finished with 16 points. He was just a little over 40% when shooting the ball Friday night which isn’t bad, but definitely wasn’t one of his better nights. The Titan defense played pretty well and forced him to be more a facilitator than a scorer. He had 5 assists and most of them were to the big man Farr. Mikel Henderson has really risen his play since the start of the new year. He’s a huge factor in how this team does and will do in the future. He’s a great on ball defender, he can score the ball from anywhere on the court, and he plays a lot bigger than he actually is. He’s not the biggest guy on the court, but he knows how to box out, and he’s not afraid to body up on players. Henderson finished with 10 points. Logan Jenkins is another player that the Broncos will need to play well if they want to get out of their District. Jenkins pulled up from about 25 a couple of times on Friday night knocking down some big 3’s. He has the ability to get to the rim when needed, but he really excels as an outside shooter. He’s got great form and gets some good elevation on his shot. Jenkins finished with the game with 11 points.
What the future holds?
The Future looks very promising for the Lee’s Summit West Titans. They are going to be playing the Winner of the Ray Pec/Belton game in which they should end up winning. They will then face the Winner of the Lee’s Summit/Lee’s Summit North game. The Titans have played pretty well for most of the season. They had their little skid when Goodrich was visiting schools for Football and Anei was suspended for a few games. Now that they are back at full health, they are looking better than ever. They have another 20 win season in the books, and they don’t really look to be slowing down. 2 of their 4 losses have come against Lee’s Summit and Lee’s Summit North. They are all very familiar with each other, so that would be the only thing to worry about. The Titans look to be the best team in the Kansas City area, and I’d be surprised if they didn’t make it to the Final Four again this season. For the Broncos, they have a chance. That is all they really want and need. Tuesday will be no walk in the park as they will face off against a tough Lee’s Summit Tiger team, and if they win, they will more than likely get another shot at the Titans. This is a very tough district for obvious reasons, but any of the Lee’s Summit teams could really walk out on top. The Titans are the favorites, and there is no doubt about that, but the other two aren’t slouches and will bring their A game.