Gallery • 12 Photos

Mahmood Khatib

Blue Valley Northwest senior forward Parker Braun (23) takes the contact and scores the layup during the third quarter of the Huskies matchup with Grandview at Lee's Summit High School Jan. 13.

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — In yet another game, the Huskies found themselves in a close game coming down the stretch. In Saturday’s night matchup between Blue Valley Northwest and Grandview as part of the 810 Varsity Showcase, the Huskies retained a 39-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.

With 6:53 remaining in the game, the Bulldogs equalized the game at 41-41 after hitting their second three-pointer of the quarter. While a full-court press by Grandview throughout the entirety of the game caused problems for BVNW, the Huskies were able to find senior forward Parker Braun for two quick baskets at the rim. At this point, Blue Valley Northwest was sitting on a three point lead, 45-42, with 5:58 left in the game.

However, the Bulldog’s press that the Huskies seemed to be getting used to started causing problems for the guards of BVNW. In a short period of time, Grandview was able to reclaim the lead after scoring a couple of layups off of turnovers in the backcourt by the Huskies. With 2:28 left in the game, head coach Ed Fritz was forced to call a timeout as his team was trailing Grandview, 48-45. Braun said the Huskies were struggling with the press, but needed to slow down when they were able to get the ball on their side of the court.

“I thought we could have broken their press and I think when we got past half we should have just slowed the game down,” Braun said. “I think we kinda gave them the tempo and played their game which obviously didn’t end up well.”

Coming out of the timeout, the Bulldogs converted on an and-one which gave them a 51-45 lead over BVNW, and it was clear that the game was starting to get away from the Huskies. With just over a minute left, senior forward Joe Pleasant made a three-pointer which put the Huskies back within six points. However, Blue Valley Northwest would be forced to start fouling Grandview with such little time left in the game. Grandview was able to knock down their free throws late in the fourth quarter which solidified a 58-53 Bulldog victory as they handed Blue Valley Northwest their fourth loss of the season. Blue Valley Northwest Head Coach Ed Fritz said the Huskies needed to get more shots down the stretch to close out the game with a win, but overall the Bulldogs were too much to handle.

“Hey, credit to them. They’re a lot more athletic than we are; they got some big guys,” Fritz said. “They’re good.”

Before the fourth quarter, the matchup featured a multitude of lead changes as neither team was able to pull away from the other. This was in part due to the speed of the game. Although they ran a press, it was clear the Bulldogs attempted to slow down the pace of the game as they would often spend ample amounts of time dribbling out the clock on offense. 

Going into the half, the Huskies trailed the Bulldogs, 26-25. Regardless, the Huskies offense did not appear to be as dominant as usual as 9 of their 25 points in the first half came off of free throws. While the game was slower than usual, Fritz said the speed of the game favored his team as the Bulldogs were very fast and athletic as well.

“We had three guys with 2 fouls and we were down one point at halftime, so that’s not bad,” Fritz said. “We like to run, but they really like to run, so I thought we were fine. We couldn’t run with them.”

While the scoring in the first half was balanced for Blue Valley Northwest, the Huskies were able to find Pleasant and Braun close to the basket in the third quarter for dunks and layups which was one of the reasons they were able to go into the fourth quarter with the lead. Coming out of the half, it was clear the game was going to be close as the Huskies and Bulldogs were able to match what the other team would throw at them. After a third quarter full of lead changes, the Huskies were able to claim a 39-35 lead as they entered the fourth quarter.

After a 58-53 loss to Grandview, Blue Valley Northwest falls to 4-4 on the season. The Huskies will travel to Pittsburg, Kan. for their next three games, the first one being on Thursday, Jan. 17.