BY CHARLES CHANEY
ANDOVER, Kan. — A word you hear a lot about with the Andover boys’ basketball team: consistency.
The Trojans are nothing but consistent. Making three consecutive state tournaments, maintaining the coaching staff and having these senior leaders step game-after-game.
Andover proved that once again in the 5A sub-state final against Hays, dismantling any hopes the Indians had early and running away with the 62-40 win.
“I think some of our scores are kind of deceiving, because we were in tight games and we kind of pull away at the end,” Andover head coach Martin Shetlar said. “This junior class is really starting to figure it out. Then with Josh, Owen and Will Baker and Zeke [Ezekiel McCaskill], those seniors that we have are really good leaders, kind of pulling those sophomores along, and it’s just kind of all fitting together. We’re peaking at the right time.”
Hays tried to deny senior Josh Kim early in the contest and that’s where other players like Owen Allman stepped up and made play after play. The senior guard had 11 first half points and Hays had little answer. Allman carries a swagger about him when he’s on the court, he knows when a shot goes up, it’s probably going in.
“When you get a guy like that who’s on fire and just feeling in that game, I almost go out of my way to try and find him,” Kim said. “Because once he hits one and he sees it going in, you might as well throw it for a second and third.
It’s so special to have a guy like him, he’s my best friend on and off the court. So our connection so deep, and getting to enjoy every game and knowing when he’s open is actually really nice.”
Andover only trailed for a matter of seconds on Saturday evening—20 to be exact—and they just took care of business. They would go on a 14-5 run that ended the first quarter and into the second. The Trojans took advantage of mistakes from Hays (13-9) would make.
One of the big differences in the first half for Andover was their 3-point shooting. The Trojans hit seven first half 3s in 12 attempts, while Hays was only 3 of 7. The Trojans only committed two turnovers in the first half, finishing with seven overall.
Allman’s first three came when two Hays defenders try to collapse and defend Walker McClellan but Allman drained the three in front of the Hays bench and the Trojans would never trail again.
“Teams are starting to really try to take Josh [Kim] away and let these other guys kind of do what they what they do,” Shetlar said. “When they step up and have big games like Owen did tonight, was really big when he’s making shots and stuff. When teams start taking away Josh it makes those other guys have good opportunities, and they’re taking advantage of it.”
Allman then picked Tiger Johnson’s pocket and raced down the floor for the easy layup. Then, Kim had his own easy coast-to-coast lay up. A McClellan jumper at the line and then Kim hit a 3-pointer to end the quarter and you could feel the 5-point lead felt like 15 at that point.
The Trojans had held Hays without a point for the first 150 seconds of the second quarter before a three from Johnny Cano put a bandaid on a gushing wound.
The lead would balloon to 11 when Kim was fouled on a made 3 with 4:48 remaining until halftime.
Kim then whipped it to a wide open Allman in the corner, forcing a Hays time out and the Trojans were putting a team away within minutes.
Andover would lead 32-18 at the break.
The Trojans would continue the onslaught in the second half capped on a Griffin hand 3-pointer in the corner to put the Trojans up 37-19 with 6:45 to go in the third quarter. It was all a part of an extended 27-10 run dating back to the first quarter.
Hays would get their first bucket of the half until nearly five minutes gone in the third quarter.
The Indians would fight to within 39-27 with 2:10 remaining to go in the third after some free throws stopped the clock for the Indians and they were able to chip away. However, it was McClellan putting a dagger into the heart as he did an easy and-one finger-roll bucket and it pushed Andover back in front comfortably, 42-27.
Andover would hold Hays without a field goal over the last 5:45 of the game. With the final points coming on free throws.
That’s just how good the Andover defense is this season. They defend and community. They use Shetlar’s defense into offense mentality and apply it nearly flawlessly.
For Kim, he finished with 13 points. He’s one of a handful of seniors on the roster but it did set in that was his final game on that court.
“Once Shetlar subbed me out, I realized that I was my last game ever in that gym,” he said. “I’m always grateful for everything we’ve done together.”
Kim is one of the consistent factors, along with this senior class who have all played a ton, even as freshman. The coaching staff staying together as been equally as important.
“It’s been a big part of it is this kind of the consistency we’ve had,” Shetlar said. “Especially Sean [Woods] has been really good, and kind of just kind of came together. We started coaching together whenever I got the head coaching job with me, and we’ve just kind of learned and kind of adapted to what we do and things we do together.”
The Trojans will be the No. 3 seed in the 5A state tournament held at White Auditorium in Emporia, Kansas. They’ll play Bonner Springs (18-4), the sixth seed at 8 p.m.
Kim will make his third straight state tournament appearance next week in Emporia. He knows what they have to do to win the first round game and what it takes to win it all.
“Constant workout in practice and watching film on opponents,” he said. “Because our coaches have really stressed defense and rebounding this year for us. Once we start to focus on that, our offense gets started, and that’s really been a key part of us winning.”
Andover 62, Hays 40
Hays 10 8 12 10 – 40
Andover 15 17 15 15 – 62
HAYS (13-9) 40: Lang 0 1-2 – 1; Cano 0 (1) 0-0 – 3; Lindenmeyer 1 1-2 – 3; Oakley 2 (1) 4-4 – 11; Johnson 1 (1) 0-0 – 5; Harmoney 0 0-2 – 0; Fox 2 (1) 3-4 – 10; Smalley 0 0-2 – 0; Ruder 1 3-4 – 5; Loving 0 2-2 – 2. TOTALS: 7-27 4-13 14-22 – 40.
ANDOVER (19-3) 62: Kim 3 (2) 1-1 – 13; Allman 2 (4) 2-2 – 18; Henry 1 0-0 – 2; Evans 0 2-2 – 2; Baker 2 0-0 – 4; Hand 1 (2) 2-2- 10; McClellan 2 3-5 – 7; McCaskill 0 (2) 0-0 – 6. TOTALS: 11-16 10-21 10-12 – 62.
