The collegiate floor, tournament atmosphere and cameras Monday night were nice for the Smoky Hill Buffaloes.
It was also kind of old hat.
The 2006 Class 5A state semifinalists showed off their big-game experience against Abraham Lincoln in the belated final of the Tournament of Champions at Metro State. The Buffaloes got solid contributions from eight players, three scoring in double figures, en route to a 62-51 victory.
“This is one of many battles we’ve been in,” said senior Phil Ross, who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Buffaloes (11-2) won their fourth straight game to clinch the eight-team, multi-class tourney that was postponed from December because of the weather.
Tournament MVP Josh Cassaday led the Buffaloes with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots as Smoky Hill took over late in the second quarter and led by as many as 14 points in the third.
The Class 4A Lancers (7-6) got 30 points from junior standout Jorge Gutierrez, but little else. Gutierrez made 10 of the Lancers’ 18 field goals and got to the free-throw line for 16 attempts.
Ruot Pal had six points for the Lancers.
“It’s really hard when we just have Jorge to depend on,” Lancers guard Kadeem Thomas said. “We all got to step up.”
Although Gutierrez put on an impressive show with spins, scoops and swishes off screens, the Buffaloes prevented his teammates from joining the fray.
“We try to stop him and have the other guys beat us, and, I guess, that showed we did a pretty good job at it,” Cassaday said.
Smoky Hill began to pull away on Travis Stroth’s 3-pointer in the second quarter during a 7-0 run. Strong rebounding and defense sparked the Buffaloes’ transition game, and they led by 14 points on Ryan Perry’s steal and layup with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
“Initially, we were struggling a little bit, but we just kept fighting, kept working together as a team,” Ross said.
Abraham Lincoln 11 9 11 20 – 51
Smoky Hill 10 16 17 19 – 62
Abraham Lincoln – Gutierrez 10 10-16 30, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Torres 2 1-2 5, Pal 2 2-5 6, Preciado 2 0-0 4, Cruz 1 2-2 4, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 15-25 51.
Smoky Hill – Agyei 0 0-0 0, May 3 4-5 10, Ross 5 1-1 11, Cassaday 4 4-5 13, Huebner 4 1-2 9, Whittington 2 0-0 4, Perry 3 0-1 7, Stroth 3 0-0 8, Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 10-14 62.
3-point goals – Stroth 2, Cassaday, Perry. Total fouls – Abraham Lincoln 17, Smoky Hill 21.
