It wasn’t the result that many expected after the Cougars beat SM North handily in their first meeting 75-48. But on the Indians last home game of the season a maximum effort was to be expected.

Although Northwest got the victory, it was easy to see that they were not clicking on all cylinders for most of the night.

“ You never want to say its good to play like that,” coach Mike Rose said, “But certainly our kids should be focused and realize you got to play hard every night.”

Northwest was in control for most of the first quarter, Junior Trey Fruehling knocked down his first two three of the night and finished the quarter with eight points.

Senior Steve Carver and Junior Drew Goodger were also both factors inside making two easy layups, close to the basket. North a made a mini-run of 5 points to end the quarter however keeping the game in arms length at 17-13.

“ We gave up too many points in the first quarter.I think it was 13. We just can’t do that will be going through the emotions defensively and just waiting for a big burst to erupt and have the points spread get out there and it never did. Give Shawnee Mission North credit they had a nice game plan,” Rose said.

In the second quarter, the Indians continued to chip away at the lead and eventually tied the game at 19-19 with 6:12 remaining.

Each team traded the lead throughout, but the telling series of the quarter was North’s determination on the offensive glass which led to 5 rebounds and eventual three pointer by Sophomore Llyod Young to give North the lead once again.

Going into halftime Northwest only led by a point against their rival 29-28.

In the second half, the Cougars tried to extend their lead again by pounding the ball inside instead of playing from the perimeter.

“ Our stats at halftime were 2-9 from behind the arc and 9-12 inside, so it was pretty simple in the second half, quit shooting threes and start dumping the ball inside,” Rose said.

Northwest continued to work the middle of the Indians 2-3 zone for much of the second relying heavily on Carver who finished the game with a team high 20 points. But the main focus of the night was on the other end of the floor.

“ I wasn’t so worried about the offensive end of the floor tonight as I was the defensive end,” Rose said.

The Cougars never trailed in the second half and were able to hit enough free throws down the stretch to secure a victory.

The team begins the sub-state tournament on Thursday, March 4 at Northwest. The other three teams in the Cougars bracket its still undetermined, but it could include any of the following seven teams: Lawrence, Lawrence Free State, Leavenworth, Shawnee Mission East, Shawnee Mission North,  Shawnee Mission South, and  Shawnee Mission West.

According to Coach Rose the most likely opponent will be the Lawrence.

Shawnee Mission Northwest:

Steve Carver 20 points

AJ Spencer 14 points

Trey Fruehling 12 points

Drew Goodger 6 points

Sam Phelps 2 points

For more information on the Sub-State tournament check back later this weekend to smnw.com or follow the link below:

http://www.kshsaa.org/BASKETBALL/bskreg.html#Class6A

Throughout the last month, the boys basketball team had been struggling to a balanced game on both ends of the floor. Tonight, on Senior Night they did just that.

“ It was a nice win for us and certainly at a time when we needed a win against a very good basketball team,” Coach Mike Rose said.

All three seniors started the game, starters Steve Carver, Nick Feighner, and key reserve Brady Smith who is still recovering from a broken nose from last Friday’s game.

Each team started out slow, unable to get any  rhythm on the offensive end of the floor. However, Northwest managed to open up a small lead in the first quarter by working the ball inside to Carver off the passes in traffic by junior AJ Spencer.

“ When he has the ball in his hand it seems like we play much better,” Carver said.

Spencer contniued to make the extra pass all night especially around the basket.

“  At times AJ passes when he should try to score, but that’s a good problem to have,” Rose said.

In the second quarter the Cougars began to extend their lead starting with a right handed slam by Carver 30 seconds into the quarter.

“ One thing we have to do a good job is get the ball up the floor in transition,” Rose said.

Northwest continued to overpower the Pioneers on both ends of the floor and end with a 12-3 run in the second half which included another dunk this time by  Spencer. By the end of half the Cougars had a commanding 33-17 lead.

Junior Trey Fruehling also had one of his best shooting quarters of the season knocking down 3 three pointers and leading both teams in scoring with 11 points going into half time.

Senior Nick Feighner contributed 8 points for the game including 2 of 3 from the three point range.

“ It makes a big difference when our open guys are stepping out and knocking down some shots,” Rose said,  ”It kinda got them back on their heals.”

Junior Drew Goodger also had an excellent showing tonight dominating the defensive glass and drawing fouls inside.

“ He knocked down a couple baskets and that’s been kinda missing for him the last 4, 5, 6 games,” Rose said.

But the zone defense of the Cougars was the deciding factor of the half holding Leavenworth to only six points in the first half. This also included K-State Commit Nino Williams who was held to 14 points on the night.

“ There in the first half I thought we played really well. We played really well defensively, Rose said, “ We talked all week about our defense and we need to be better on the defensive end of the floor and our defense has generated our offense even more.”

In the second half Northwest stayed consitent, not allowing the Pioneers to get back in the game. With the combination of with persistent perimeter defense and getting easy baaskets near the rim the Cougars controlled the last 16 minutes of the game.

“ We weren’t really aggressive the second half and we were more patient offensively,” Rose said.

The boys basketball team now improves their record to 12-6 on the season and look to continue to improve their seeding for sub-state.

Northwest next game is against Olathe South on Tuesday February 23.

Shawnee Mission Northwest:

Steve Carver 23 points

Trey Fruehling 13 points

Drew Goodger 9 points

Nick Feighner 8 points

AJ Spencer 6 points

Even with the home court advantage, Saint Thomas Aquinas posed little threat to the Cougars.

After a sluggish first quarter where a combined 11 points were scored, the Cougars pulled away in the second quarter outscoring the Saints 24-5.

” We were looking a little too early for shots rather than get a feel for the zone,” Coach Mike Rose said,” We really wanted to get people on the baseline to drag out that zone a little bit.”

The key for Northwest was driving into the zone and then kicking it out to the perimeter for open outside shots. The Cougars made seven of 11 three point attempts in the half, a staggering  64 percentage from outside the arch.

“We were better tonight against the zone,” Rose said, ” We had some big threes in the first half that were kind of a back breaker.”

But the Northwest was also impressive on the defensive allowing only one Aquinas player to score in the first half, Senior Steven Mayfield. He had all eight points for the Saints.

Cougars had a balanced attack in the first half with four of the five starters contributing at least 6 points.

Opening up the second half, the Cougars continued to shoot effectively making their first three shots of the half.

” We talked a little bit at halftime, that we need to penetrate some gaps to get that zone to collapse a little bit,” Rose said.

Throughout the third quarter Northwest sustained their lead, building it all the way up to 33 at one point. Northwest never trailed the entire game.

There was a scary moment late in the third quarter when a STA player accidentally stepped on Junior Drew Goodger’s head. After the game Coach Rose said that he had “abrasion” above one of his eyes. A decision on whether Goodger will be determined later today.

Having a comfortable 28-point at the end of the third quarter coach Mike Rose began rotating in JV players getting them valuable varsity time.

In all Northwest played 11 total players in the game giving the starters much needed rest for tomorrow . With the win Northwest improves to 8-2 on the season.

” Were gonna need as much energy as possible  tomorrow,” Rose said

The Cougars will now face the No. 1 ranked team in the state and the KC metro, the Bishop Miege Stags led by Alabama commit Trevor Releford. Northwest met Miege in the Saints Tournament Final last year only to fall to them 78-57, one of the only games last year where the Cougars looked over matched. The star of the game was Releford who scored 31 points and was named tournament MVP.

The game starts at 4:45 p.m. at Saint Thomas Aquinas.

” Were gonna need as much energy as possible  tomorrow, ” Rose said.

Senior Steve Carver also advanced to the finals of the three point competition of the tournament.

Point Totals:

SMNW:

AJ Spencer 19 points

Steve Carver 15 points

Trey Fruehling 10 points

Nick Feighner 8 points

Sam Phelps 4 points

With a half-filled gym and a sleepy atmosphere, Northwest was able to finish off the first round of the Saints Classic with a 58-40 victory over the Northeast of Kansas City, Missouri.

The Cougars were in control the entire game pulling away in second quarter and taking a 15 point lead into halftime.

Throughout the night the Cougars tried to the work the ball inside especially with the height advantage of Senior Steve Carver who finished with 20 points in the game.

Junior AJ Spencer also contributed to Northwest night with a team high 21 points with most of the points coming in transition.

” I think are problem tonight was we weren’t running very good half-court sets. We were trying to rush stuff and get stuff up too quick,” coach Mike Rose said.

After staying in control the entire game the Cougars struggled against the pressure of the Vikings. Some careless turnovers were a problem down the stretch.

” It was sloppy and those are things we won’t be able to do over the course of the next couple of games. We got make things cleaner if were gonna have success in this tournament,” Rose said.

The Cougars will play in the first semifinal of Saints Classic against the host school Saint Thomas Aquinas at 6: 30 p.m. The Saints won easily in the game proceeding Northwest 58-39 over Mill Valley.

We kinda expect some different things and we’ll talk about it a little bit. I guess the main thing is we don’t have a lot of time to practice for (the game) ,” Rose said.

The other semifinal will be the Grandview (Mo.) Bulldogs versus the Bishop Miege Stags at 8:00 p.m.

” You know, all in all, I told the boys after the game, it was ugly win, but a win and will take it and move on to tomorrow,” Rose said.

AJ Spencer 21 points

Steve Carver 20 points

Trey Fruehling 10 points

Drew Goodger 4 points

Nick Feighner 2 points

Brady Smith 1 point

Following a difficult loss to Washington High School in which the Cougar basketball team gave up a surprising 62 points, but a refocused defensive intensity propelled Northwest to squeak by Shawnee Mission South.

“ It was a physical basketball game and tough one to call,” coach Mike Rose said.

Throughout the game many questionable calls were called by the officials, but the main story of the night was shutting down Raiders sharpshooter Will Spradling. The Kansas State Signee was held to only 3 points mainly because of the suffocating defense of Senior Nick Feighner.

“We wanted to pay a lot of attention to Will, He’s a great player, ” Rose said,“ Nick had to defend hard and he defended very very well for 32 minutes.”

The Cougars began the game on a quick 6-0 run with Junior Trey Fruehling leading the attack. Fruehling led all scorers with 9 of the teams 11 points in the first quarter.

Then South countered winning the second quarter 11-8, but the Cougars still were able to hold Spradling to 2 points until 6 seconds left in the half.

Throughout the night the Raiders relied on the three point shot refusing to pound the ball inside against the much taller Cougar team. South was able to hit some threes early in the fourth quarter, but still struggled to make hit shots down the stretch.

“They relied on three point shot a lot and they can knock it down it’s a nice strategy for them,” Rose said.

At the end of the fourth quarter, the Raiders began to stall in the final minute, but some missed free throws by Shawnee Mission South and some key baskets by senior leader Steve Carver the Cougars took over the lead in the last 30 seconds.

In the final seconds both Carver and junior AJ Spencer knocked down key free throws to stretch out the lead, but a scramble by players turned out to be Spradling’s fifth and final foul eliminating him from taking the game winning shot at the end of the game.

“ It was a great battle and fortunately we came out on the winning end tonight, but things could be different down the line,” Rose said.

The Cougars improve their record to 2-1 on the year. The next game will be Friday December 18 against Lawrence High School at SMNW Gymnasium. Then on Saturday Northwest takes on Rockhurst in the HyVee Shootout at Avila University.

Scoring Summary:

Shawnee Mission Northwest

Trey Fruehling- 10 points

AJ Spencer- 7 points

Drew Goodger- 6 points

Steve Carver- 15 points

Shawnee Mission South

Will Spradling- 3 points

Jake Reid- 5 points

Andrew Winkler- 10 points

Rayner Fredrick- 5 points

Dylan Christe- 6 points

Alex Moyer- 6 points

After a a tough loss against Shawnee Mission West last week, the football team looked to get their playoff aspirations back on track against a rebuilding Lancer program under new head coach Chip Sherman. But the night did not go according to as the Cougars struggled offensively  once again.

” The way our football team played tonight was embarrassing,” coach Aaron Barnett said following the loss,” Our effort tonight was very poor. Something I have not been used to since I’ve been at Northwest for my four years.”

The Cougars opened up the game with a hard earned 12 play drive that drove them inside their opponents 5 yard line. But Northwest was unable to stuff the ball into end zone after four attempts. After turning over the ball on downs, the Cougars defense swarmed the backfield forcing fumble which was recovered by junior Drew Goodger giving them the early 6-0 lead.

After failing to score again on their first drive of the second quarter. Northwest tacked on a 31 yard field goal by senior Matt Nowak midway through the second quarter. The Lancers quickly countered with a touchdown pass of their own cutting the lead to three points heading into halftime.

Following another stop of Shawnee Mission East offense, Northwest looked to take another long drive down the field using senior Jon Hauk to take time off the clock. But an inherent pass by Nowak that was returned by Lancer  junior Josh Meis set up the go ahead score for the Lancers.

During  in suing drive, the Cougars pounded the ball once again, running the ball 11 of the 14 plays of the drive with most of the carries for Hauk. However they were forced to settle for another field goal even though they were inside the Lancer ten yard line for the second time.

After stopping the Lancers on their first drive of the fourth quarter,  the Cougars looked to have a comeback drive to secure their first win of district play. But the offensive line was unable to get a fourth down push and were stopped for no gain giving the Lancers the ball and the win.

With the loss the Cougars are now eliminated from playoff contention in their district. The loss makes the October 30th  Homecoming game against arch rival Shawnee Mission North just for bragging rights and the opportunity to send the seniors out on a high note.

The game will start at 7 p.m. Along with the homecoming festivities, it will also be Football senior night and the annual light show.

First Quarter:

SMNW: TD Drew Goodger fumble recovery in the end zone (Extra Point No Good) 5:23 SMNW 6-0

Second Quarter:

SMNW: FG Matt Nowak 31 yards 4:24 SMNW 9-0

SME: TD Kevin Hertel 44 yard pass from Robby Moriarty (Extra Point No Good) 1:53  SMNW 9-6

Third Quarter:

SME: TD Kevin Hertel 14 yard pass from John Schrock ( Brennan Burns kick) 5:27 SME 13-9

Fourth Quarter:

SMNW: FG Matt Nowak 24 yards 11:48 SME 13-12

SMNW Statistics

Passing

Matt Nowak 11/18 101 yards, INT

Rushing

Jon Hauk 29 car 123 yards

Matt Nowak 8 car 33 yards

Nick Caldwell 1 car 9 yards

Receving

Chris Mansker 5 rec 25 yards

Will Greenhaw 1 rec 23 yards

Jon Hauk 2 rec 18 yards

Kosh Khan 1 rec 17 yards

Alex Geis 1 rec 14 yards

Frankie Hernandez 1 rec 4 yards

The story of the year for Northwest has been their struggling offense in the games against the top teams in the Sunflower League. First against Olathe North early in the year. Then the loss to Lawrence Free State in which they were shut out. And now the disappointing loss  to Shawnee Mission West to open district loss.

The Cougars started the game by stopping Vikings offense deep in their own territory on fourth down. Following the turnover on downs Northwest put together a 15 play drive taking the ball all the way down to West’s eight yard line. But after three attempts at a touchdown senior Matt Nowak could not convert a 25 yard field goal attempt.

West finally broke the tie 6 minutes into the second quarter with a 2 yard run by junior Cordi Pascal. After stopping the Cougars offense once again, the Vikings senior quarterback DJ Balazs bursted through an open whole in the defense for a 69 yard scamper putting them up by two scores.

Northwest was able to run the ball efficiently throughout the game with senior Jon Hauk recording over 100 yards once again, but quarter back Matt Nowak was unable to complete a positive pass until the final drive of the game.

After the failing to score on their first drive of the second half, Northwest defense made a major play. Senior Will Greenhaw wrestled the ball away from a Vikings receiver giving the the Cougars another chance to score. But were unable to score in the red zone once again.

West added on their final score of the night later in the quarter with Pascal scoring his second touchdown of the night.

The Cougars finally put points on the board with 32 second left in the game with Nowak scrambling into the end zone to put the final score at 20-8.

Northwest tries to get back on track next week against Shawnee Mission East. If the football team wins their last two games of the season they will qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year.