MIT update: Derby sizzles in 77-58 victory

It may have been snowing outside, but Derby was raining 3-pointers inside.

The Panthers, the McPherson Invitational’s No. 2 seed, came out on fire from beyond the arc against Topeka Seaman’s zone defense in first-round action on Thursday, making 6 of 10 3-pointers in the first quarter alone – including 4 of 4 by Nick Bonner --and finished the half 8 of 17, as they led 41-22.

Derby continued its 3-point assault in the second half and went on for a 77-58 victory to advance to Friday’s 6:30 semifinals where they’ll play the winner of Lawrence Free State and Junction City.

The Panthers finished the game a blistering 15 of 31 from the Land of 3 as they played fast and relaxed and in rhythm.

Seaman actually shot 50 percent in the first half, but turned it over 10 times against Derby’s doubling and long-armed defense. The Panthers  never allowed a serious Seaman run in the second half and won the game going away.

Bonner drained 6 of 8 on 3-pointers and finished with 20 points to lead the Panthers. Isaac Ray added 13 and Jacob Karsak furnished 12.

Kaeden Bonne led Seaman with 13 points and Micah Kobuszewski added 12. Despite losing by 19, Seaman did shoot 20 of 36 from the field and 7 of 15 from 3.

Seaman plays at 3:00 on Friday against the loser of Lawrence Free State and Junction City.

Derby (77) – Bonner 7-9, 0-2, 20; Karsak 4-5, 3-3, 12; Washington 1-3, 0-0, 3; L. Clemons 2-3, 0-0, 6; Ray 5-8, 1-1, 13; J. Clemons 2-5, 0-0, 4; Chadwick 2-4, 0-0, 5; Araujo 1-4, 0-0, 2; Adler 3-5, 0-0, 8; Wash 0-1, 0-0, 0; Barger 1-3, 0-0, 2; Thomas 1-5, 0-0, 2. Totals – 29-55, 4-6, 77. 3-pointers – Bonner 6, L. Clemons 2, Adler 2, Ray 2, Karsak 1, Chadwick 1, Washington 1.

Seaman (58) – Brewer 3-7, 3-5, 9; Bonne 4-9, 1-1, 13; Patterson 4-4, 0-0, 8; Kobuszewski 5-6, 0-0, 12; Foster 1-3, 2-4, 4; Finley 1-3, 0-0, 3; Cowan 2-4, 0-0, 4; Zeferjahn 0-0, 5-9, 5. Totals – 20-36, 11-19, 58. 3-pointers – Bonne 4, Kobuszewski 2, Finley 1.

KU, KSU should share blame for incident

Up until the final seconds of Tuesday’s Sunflower State Showdown in Lawrence, my instant reaction was that it was one of the more hum-drum – and quite honestly boring – games played between the teams in quite some time.

Kansas used a 24-4 spurt in the first half to essentially take all the suspense out of its game with Kansas State and the second half was simply a case of the Jayhawks not becoming too complacent or downright sloppy. I made the comment with about 10 minutes to go that I’d never heard Allen Field House so nonplus in a game against their rival.

But then “it” happened. And “it” was the darkest moment in the history of the storied series, hands-down.

KU’s Silvio De Sousa was dribbling out the clock in the closing seconds – I still wonder why he was given that task and not handed to one of the walk-ons – and there’s an unwritten rule not to guard the player with the ball as the hour glass is almost empty.

But Kansas State’s DeJuan Gordon excitedly saw an opportunity for a steal and score as the Big Allen Barn was emptying.

Apparently embarrassed, De Sousa tore back defensively and took a mighty swipe, blocking the shot and the force took Gordon to the ground. No problem there, but at that point De Sousa stood directly  over him, evoking memories of Muhammad Ali when he knocked out Cleveland Williams in 1966 and I’ve always had that image in my head.

De Sousa, correctly, was called for taunting as it was a knucklehead move, but things started to escalate from there. As coaches Bill Self and Bruce Weber were heading toward each other for the traditional postgame handshake, players went flying by them because of the hullabaloo that was breaking out.

A K-State player who wasn’t even suited up, James Love, came off the bench and started to go at it with De Sousa and the fracas was on. It was so ugly at one point that De Sousa picked up a stool and drew it back, only to thankfully be saved by KU assistant coach Jerrance Howard. The image of Howard’s save was played over and over on media outlets around the country and we should be thankful that De Sousa didn’t crack somebody over the head.

Kansas’ David McCormack then started throwing haymakers at anything in purple. Marcus Garrett also was in the mix, but I’m not sure just how much of a factor he was.

Of course, the general reaction was that KU fans probably blamed K-State and K-State fans probably blamed KU. Loyalty runs deep at both schools.

Trust me, though, there’s plenty of blame on both sides. They were both at fault.

Being a KU alumnus, I also thanked God the Jayhawks weren’t playing Missouri, their true arch-rival that raises the blood pressure of every KU supporter beyond normalcy. If this would have been a Missouri game, this could have developed into a 20-minute mess.

Reaction throughout the country was immediate and angry as this was the lead on every sportscast. Dick Vitale called for the immediate banning of De Sousa and many others said he should be gone from the program. I saw another pundit saying Self’s time at KU is probably over for the negative publicity surrounding the school recently and that he’s lost control of the program.

De Sousa wound up getting a 12-game suspension from the Big 12 (probably about right) on Wednesday and McCormack got 2. I was a little surprised that McCormack’s penalty wasn’t more severe, considering how he was cleaning house.

Love was hit with an 8-gamer that I thought was deserved because he escalated the fight and Antonio Gordon received 3, so both teams were considered at fault.

Now, I think it’s time for everyone to take a deep breath and step back.

Everything about this was wrong, except for how Self and Weber handled their postgame press conference. I watched it and both clearly had a firm grasp on the situation. Self sternly stated his perps would be dealt severe punishment and Weber said Gordon was in the wrong to violate the end-of-the-game “code,” which proved to be a firestarter.

I think everybody needs to chill and let the immediate anger subside. There’s still a game left to be played in Manhattan and De Sousa won’t be suited on Feb. 29 for the rematch or even at Bramlage Coliseum as he’ll still be suspended. Hopefully it will be played without incident, because it’s a stain on both programs and the state in general.

And given what KU could still face from the NCAA in terms of violations in the De Sousa case that’s pending, this program can hardly stand any more negativity.

56th MHS Invite gets under way today

Let the games begin.

Action in the 56th  annual McPherson Invitational Basketball Tournament gets under way this afternoon at the Roundhouse with one of Class 6A’s top teams kicking things off in the 3:00 game.

Derby, which needed a huge rally to defeat McPherson High back in December, is the favorite in the opener against Topeka Seaman.

That will be followed by a 4:45 matchup that pits the Lawrence Free State Firebirds against Junction City. Free State is the No. 3 seed.

The evening session features a 6:30 game with pre-tournament favorite and No. 1 seed Bishop Carroll putting its undefeated record on the line against Wichita North.

In the 8:15 finale, in what is expected to be the most competitive game of the day, McPherson High faces a major challenge when it takes on Blue Valley, a 6A school from the mighty Eastern Kansas League. The Bullpups are the No. 4 seed at 6-3, while Blue Valley is 5-4 and features one of the state’s top sophomores in 6-7 Aidan Shaw.

Four more games are scheduled for Friday, with game times the same. There will be consolation bracket games at 3 and 4:45, with the winner’s bracket semifinals scheduled for 6:30 and 8:15.

Fans should be reminded that Saturday’s schedule fires up earlier, with the seventh-place game at 1:30, the fifth-place game at 3:15, the third-place game at 5:00 and the championship game at 7:00.