Odingo’s hot hands lead Panthers’ second half surge past Hesston

The Panthers ignited the crowd midway through the first half with a lob from freshman Tane Kirisome to sophomore Traymond Willis-Shaw, jumping out to a nine-point advantage. But, a run led by Hesston’s David Duncan brought the score within one at the break.

“I was pretty upset at halftime. We went up by nine, and then got kinda lackadaisical,” Shaffer said. “I was upset about how we were guarding personnel, and they came out (in the second half), played hard and responded.”

After the two teams again traded baskets for about eight minutes, Hesston opened up the first major lead of the game with an 11-3 run.

“They had a couple guys who didn’t shoot the ball from 3 well, so the plan was to sag off and help,” Shaffer said. “Early in the second half we were jumping at those non-shooters, and they were getting layups.”

After detonating for 26 points in the last matchup, Hesston’s Duncan was Neosho County’s main defensive priority. Tirisome was tasked with the job, and after holding the star to five points in the first half, he picked up his third and fourth fouls with 15 minutes left to play.

Kirisome would find his way to the bench for the next 10 minutes, replaced by sophomore Michael Odingo.

“Michael responded well,” Shaffer said. “He’s probably our second best defender. But it wasn’t just one guy, it was a whole-team defensive effort.”

The defense adjusted, packing the paint to force the Larks to take deep shots. This adjustment allowed the Panthers to string together defensive stops and steals into a suffocating 16-0 run, as Hesston netted just 2-of-17 3-pointers in the half.

“When we came out of the half, we were taking a ton of perimeter jumpshots. When we started to get inside-out, percentages went up,” Shaffer said. “That’s what offense is supposed to look like.”

This run was propelled by Shaw, who netted a game-high 21 points, and Odingo, who shot 4-of-6 from deep in the second half.

“That kid has some… courage about him,” Shaffer said of Odingo with a laugh. “Those were big shots… and it was nice to see him knock those down. When he gets going, it’s hard to stop him.”

After a few frustrating performances in the last two weeks, sophomore forward Peter Obeng was back to dominating the paint. Obeng tallied a double-double, pulling down 17 rebounds to go with 13 points and five assists.

Kirisome — who now leads the team with 12.8 points per game — had 15 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Alexander Norris dropped nine points on his birthday, sophomore Ezrah Vaigafa had six points and six rebounds from the point and freshman Davion Lewis and sophomore Jaaron Hariott had two each.

Luke McGinnis led the scoring for Hesston with 16, while Duncan was held to 15 points on the day, a containment effort Shaffer was proud of.

“It’s finally nice to get one,” Shaffer said of his first conference win.

Up Next

The Panthers (9-13, 1-7 KJCCC) continue the second round of conference play on Saturday, taking on the Highland Scotties (12-11, 3-5). The Scotties eked out a 69-68 win in the season’s first matchup after Neosho County’s buzzer-beater shot came up short.

“They’re gonna be big and physical,” Shaffer said. “They guard like we do, so it’s gonna be about getting inside-out and handling ball pressure. If we can do that and handle their big men, I think we’ll do alright.

Box Score

Hesston: 33 35 — 68

Neosho: 34 48 — 82

Scoring

Hesston: Luke McGinnis 16, David Duncan 15, Quez Wright 12, Kolby Wallace 8, Tahj Burrows 7, Rob Gambill 5, Hunter Hickman 3, Larry Ruffin 2

Neosho: Traymond Willis-Shaw 21, Tane Kirisome 15, Michael Odingo 14, Peter Obeng 13, Alexander Norris 9, Ezrah Vaigafa 6, Jaaron Harriott 2, Davion Lewis 2

Kansas Jayhawk Conference Standings

Johnson County (18-6, 6-2)

Allen (17-7, 6-2)

Kansas City (15-9, 6-2)

Fort Scott (14-10, 5-3)

Labette (12-8, 4-4)

Highland (12-11, 3-5)

Hesston (9-13, 1-7)

Neosho County (9-13, 1-7)