Kansas School for the Deaf deals Seabury fourth straight loss

From: Lawrence Journal World, KS - Dec 10, 2003

By Ryan Wood, Journal-World Sports Reporter

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

After four same-old, same-olds, Seabury Academy boys basketball coach Marcus Heckman is challenging his players to step it up a little bit.

"This is our fourth game, and our MO is the same," Heckman said. "We assume everything's going to work out. We assume that we're just going to happen to win the game."

Well, it hasn't worked yet. Seabury dropped to 0-4 Tuesday, losing to Kansas School for the Deaf, 41-38, in the first varsity game at Seabury's new gymnasium.

It's the second time this season the Jackrabbits have toppled the Seahawks. In the Williamsburg Tournament last week, KSD prevailed, 34-28, in the season opener for both teams.

"We get to a point in the game where one team takes it to the next level," Heckman said. "And it's not us."

Sure enough, the Jackrabbits hit a point in the game -- when they were down 24-20 in the third quarter -- when they went on a tear, this time a 12-0 run. At 32-24, the game was still within reach, but the blow indeed was a tough one.

Seabury took the momentum early, with KSD playing a zone defense in the first half. On Seahawk possessions, the ball found the hot hand of freshman Scotty King, who drilled three uncontested three-pointers. All 11 points he finished with were in the first half.

But once the Jackrabbits switched to man-to-man, the Seahawks lost their swagger -- and the lead.

"It's more physical," Heckman said of man-to-man. "As of today, we don't like that. Our kids are honestly intimidated when the game steps up a notch competitively. I wouldn't play a zone against us."

Still the Seahawks, behind the aggressiveness of sophomore Grayson Dillon, chiseled away at the deficit, and an eight-point fourth-quarter KSD lead eventually dissolved into a 38-38 tie.

But KSD held the ball more than a minute to get the last shot, and Jackrabbit guard Michael Harper drilled a pull-up jumper while getting fouled with 4.8 seconds left to preserve the win. It was Harper's only field goal of the game.

Dillon led the Seahawks with 12 points, and sophomore Adam Davis chipped in seven. KSD's Justin Brown led the Jackrabbits with 13 points.

The Seahawks will try to grab victory number one again Friday with a home game against Midway-Denton.

"This is a young team, and they don't know what it takes to win basketball games at this level," Heckman said. "That's not something you can practice."

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