Aurora – Smoky Hill lost its starting guards from last season’s Class 5A semifinal team, but the Buffaloes apparently haven’t let their guard down.
Switching the focus to the frontcourt duo of 6-foot-6 seniors Josh Cassaday and Sam Huebner, coach Ken Shaw’s squad is living up to its No. 4 preseason ranking.
The Buffaloes ran their record to 3-0 with a convincing 94-65 trouncing of a tired 10th-ranked Standley Lake club in their home opener Wednesday night.
Cassaday (18 points) and hot-shooting Travis Stroth (game-high 23 points) did the bulk of the damage offensively, but it was Huebner’s shot blocking that took the air out of Standley Lake early in a third quarter.
With the Buffaloes leading 46-36 after nearly blowing a 15-point lead in the second quarter, Huebner blocked three straight Standley Lake shots during a possession in which the Gators missed six field-goal attempts.
Standley Lake missed its final six shots of the quarter, was outscored 23-9 in the period and trailed 65-43 heading into the final eight minutes.
“Those were the same kind of blocks he’s had this year, and they get us fired up,” Cassaday said of Huebner, who finished with six blocked shots and 10 points. “Those blocks were a big momentum swing.”
“I like to at least make them change their shot, if not block them,” Huebner said. “We knew they were going to come out strong (in the third quarter), so we tried to come out more focused and with more mental intensity.”
Cassaday scored 14 points in the first half. His total included a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to push Smoky Hill to a 42-34 lead after Standley Lake had pulled to within a point behind Andrew Zehnder, who scored 11 of his team-high 17 in the second quarter.
Stroth, a 6-1 senior, scored nine of Smoky Hill’s final 13 points of the third quarter and had 19 of his points in the second half.
Standley Lake (3-2) was playing its fifth game in seven days and back-to-back after defeating Legacy on Tuesday. The busy early-season schedule obviously took its toll against a Buffaloes team that prefers an up-tempo style.
“They’re good, but they’re not 30 points better than us,” Gators coach Jon Baskin said. “We were fatigued, and we had no time to prepare for them.”
Standley Lake didn’t help itself at the free-throw line, going 18-of-37.
Standley Lake 11 23 9 22 – 65
Smoky Hill 24 18 23 29 – 94
Standley Lake – Hernandez 4 1-2 11, Pahl 3 5-7 13, Zehnder 6 4-8 17, Soukup 3 2-5 8, Gibbs 1 2-2 5, Lott 2 2-6 6, Norloff 1 2-7 5. Totals 20 18-37 65.
Smoky Hill – Agyei 0 0-0 0, May 4 4-4 13, Ross 1 0-0 2, Cassaday 8 0-0 18, Huebner 5 0-0 10, Stroth 9 2-2 23, Perry 6 0-0 12, Whittington 0 3-6 3, Carter 2 1-3 5, Drinker 2 1-4 6, Pandorf 0 0-0 0, Rice 1 0-0 2. Totals 38 11-19 94.
3-point goals – Hernandez 2, Pahl 2, Zehnder, Gibbs, Norloff; Stroth 3, Cassaday 2, May, Drinker. Total fouls – Standley Lake 20, Smoky Hill 27. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
