Bishop Miege is in good hands when junior point guard Semaj Ray has the ball late in the game.
Ray scored seven of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter Friday as the Stags fought off a pesky Blue Valley North team for a 65-49 home win.
“Right now, Semaj is our best player,” Miege coach Rick Zych said. “He hit some big free throws down the stretch and did a good job of taking care of the basketball.”
Holding a 55-49 lead with under three minutes left, the Stags handled BV North’s pressure defense thanks to Ray, who weaved through defenders and drew fouls, hitting five free throws in the final minutes to secure the East Kansas League victory.
“It’s a very satisfying win and a nice bounce-back win from Wednesday’s loss to Hogan Prep,” Ray said. “Once we took the lead, we wanted to push the ball and we did a good job of breaking their press.”
Miege took control of the game with a 21-0 run over a seven-minute stretch during the second and third quarters, turning a 26-18 deficit into a 39-26 lead capped by a 3-pointer from Ray.
“A lot of that had to do with our defensive intensity,” Zych said. “We got some easy buckets, kept them to one shot and I think our size hurt them some.”
The Stags field a front line featuring 6-11 Bol Bol, 6-8 Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and 6-6 Francesco Badocchi, all underclassmen. The three combined for 34 points with Bol and Robinson-Earl each tallying 14. Guard Dawson Downing marks the only senior in the Stags’ rotation, meaning while the present could be bright, the future may be glaring.
“We’re young and we’re going through some growing pains,” said Zych, whose team improved to 3-2. “Most of our guys just played their fifth varsity game and were nervous and excited, but I’m proud of how they played.”
The game started at a frenetic pace, both teams reaching double figures in less than four minutes and BV North holding an 18-16 lead after the first quarter. The Mustangs opened up their eight-point advantage midway through the second thanks to four straight points from Alex Blake and a transition basket from Miles Emery.
Miege answered back with an 11-0 run to end the half, Robinson-Earl scoring four points and Bol five, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the right corner, causing the home crowd to erupt.
Two baskets from Robinson-Earl and a monster dunk by Bol started the 10-0 Miege run to begin the third quarter, preceding Ray’s 3 that pushed the Stags lead to 13.
BV North (4-2) slowly whittled its deficit in the fourth, Colby Bullock scoring six of his team-high 14 points in the frame for the Mustangs. Emery finished with 11 points for BV North and Blake added 10.
