​Fourth-quarter woes doom Eagles in 62-52 loss to Jaguars

by Michael Smith
 
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The Grain Valley boys basketball team hung with Blue Springs South in a tightly-contested game.
 
The Eagles led 25-23 at halftime and went into the fourth tied at 42-all in the non-conference contest.
 
It seemed like anyone’s game at the time, but a combination of turnovers, the lack of rebounding and a South offense that was able to get to the rim at will led to a 62-52 loss Friday on the road.
 
There were six lead changes at the beginning of the fourth period. Grain Valley’s last lead came when sophomore Eli Herbert came off a screen and hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to put his team up 48-47. South immediately responded when senior Gunnar Guinnee drove to the basket and fed an underhanded pass to junior center Suldan Mohamed, who made the layup to put his team ahead for good.
 
That play sparked a 7-0 run for the Jaguars to create enough separation to hold off Grain Valley. During that time, a pair of Grain Valley turnovers and offensive rebounds from Guinnee and Mohamed led to putback layups, fueling the spurt.
 
“The offensive rebounds were the backbreaker,” Grain Valley head coach Andy Herbert said. “When you force a miss, you have to finish the play and we didn’t do a great job of that.”
 
“Part of that is that you have to help and your big guy is out of position and can’t box out. They executed down the stretch better than we did.”
 
The South defense clamped down on Grain Valley as the Eagles shot just 5 for 13 from the field (38 percent). After the 7-0 run, South made just 5 of 8 attempts from the free throw line, but the Eagles couldn’t generate enough offense to overcome the deficit.
 
Grain Valley (4-2) led 14-13 at the end of the first period thanks to 11 points from junior Aaron Barr, who also made a pair of 3-pointers. Herbert then put his offensive imprint on the game in the second quarter when he scored seven points to help his team take a 25-23 lead at halftime.
 
The game continued to be close throughout the third as Guinnee converted a conventional 3-point play with 7 seconds left in the third to put South ahead 41-38, but Herbert ended up hitting a three at the buzzer to tie it.
 
The Eagles kept pace with the Jaguars until midway through the fourth period. Twelve of South’s 21 fourth-quarter points came in the paint as it got to the rim frequently throughout the contest.
 
“That’s what they do. They are good at,” Andy Herbert said of the Jaguars getting points in the paint. “They did a good job of sticking to what they are good at.”
 
Herbert scored a game-high 17 points, Barr added 13 and senior forward Stylz Blackmon had 11 for Grain Valley.

Grain Valley senior Eli Herbert looks to drive past a Blue Springs South defender in a 62-52 loss Friday on the road. Herbert finished with a game-high 17 points. Photo credit: Michael Smith

Grain Valley senior Stylz Blackmon, right, dribbles the ball as he looks to get the ball to teammate Eli Herbert. Photo credit: Michael Smith