'Do-or-die:' Shawnee Heights girls basketball takes down Piper in 2OT of sub-state opener

TOPEKA — When a bucket was needed, Shawnee Heights turned to their senior guard Breezy Canady. The Thunderbirds had their backs against the wall all game against Piper in the first round of sub-state on Wednesday. Shawnee Heights’ belief never wavered as they came away with the 67-59 win in double overtime.

Last week, Piper came to Shawnee Heights and defeated them on their home floor in the season finale by five points. The Thunderbirds exacted revenge even when the odds were not in their favor.

“Tonight was just do-or-die, especially as seniors, we wanted to make it to the second round,” Canady said. “Piper is a good team, but we lacked energy the other night. Honestly, we lacked energy at times in this game, too.”

Piper led 49-45 with just over a minute left in regulation. KK Emmot, a freshman, stepped into a deep 3-pointer to cut the visitors’ lead to just one point. Emmot finished the game with 20 points. On the next possession, Piper was fouled and they split a pair to take a 50-48 lead.

Enter Canady, she had scored only four points before the final offensive possession for Shawnee Heights. The guard brought the ball up the floor and used her strength and balance to make the game-tying runner. Piper could not hit the game-winner thanks to good defense from Shawnee Heights.“Especially this year, my coach has talked to me a lot about going into the player while I go up, rather than fading away,” Canady described her shot.

With Emmot fouled out, Canady was the main ball-handler for the Thunderbirds in the extra periods.

There were 15 seconds left on the clock in overtime. Piper’s Avary Vallejo gave the Pirates a 55-52 lead off of a 3-pointer from the left wing. The Thunderbirds called a timeout to set up the offense.

Following the timeout, Canady sprinted up the entirety of the floor with the ball. Kaydence Torrez set a great screen which forced Piper’s defender to slip underneath it. Canady rose up and drilled the shot to tie the game and send it to double-overtime.

“I didn’t even think about it. I knew that we needed a three and I didn’t see any of my teammates open so I just went up,” Canady said.

In double-overtime, Shawnee Heights started on the front foot. Audrey Schulte cashed in a 3-pointer from the wing to start things off and Shawnee Heights cruised to the finish line. This win wasn’t an individual performance, many players stepped up from Emmot to Canady to Schulte.

The interior offense and defense was impressive, too. Reianna Vega led Shawnee Heights in scoring with 21 points. She scored six of her points in the overtime periods. Vega and Torrez each recorded some important blocks in overtime, too.

Late in the second overtime, Canady fouled out and Haley Bowers came into the game as the primary ball handler. She even knocked down two important free-throws to ice the game.

“This is a testament to who they are and the kids that their parents have raised,” Shawnee Heights head coach Bob Wells said. “They just never give up, never give up, never give up. My hat is off to them because they have that internal drive to stay after it.”

What helped Shawnee Heights was their strategy in picking Piper free-throw shooters. The Pirates struggled at the line when it mattered most. They went 9-for-20 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter and two overtime periods.

Shawnee Heights will go on the road to No. 2 De Soto (18-3) in the sub-state championship game at 5 p.m. on Saturday. De Soto defeated the Thunderbirds twice in the regular season.

Results from Wednesday's first round of sub-state

Boys

Washburn Rural 59, Wichita Southeast 42

Girls

Highland Park 42, Pittsburg 44

Shawnee Heights 67, Piper 59 (2OT)

Topeka West 35, Emporia 65

Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Shawnee Heights girls basketball takes down Piper in 2OT