Ending Tuesday’s home playoff game on the wrong side of a 23-6 run, the Parsons Vikings fell to the Eudora Cardinals, 71-54, in the semifinals of the KSHSAA 4A East Boys Sub-State Tournament on Tuesday night.
Trailing by 11 points at halftime, the Vikings slowly clawed back to tie the game at 48-48 early in the fourth quarter. From there, Eudora reclaimed the reins and ended the Vikings’ season.
“I’m really proud of the way our seniors battled,” Parsons head coach Anthony Houk said. “Eudora has some really good players and we took them away a bit in the first half. But man,
Sean Frye/Sun photo
their depth was a factor. We were gassed and they had 10 guys that scored. We played seven guys. Credit to them for that.”
Dontae Sawyer led all scorers with 31 points for Parsons in his final game.
Parsons led, 15-9, at the end of the first quarter after connecting on five 3-pointers. Eudora, previewing its fourth quarter surge, outscored the Vikings, 25-8, in the second stanza.
“One of the big things in the second quarter was that they had guys come off the bench, we went zone to give them a different look, and they hit some threes,” Houk said. “They really had some depth and that was the difference over four quarters.”
Eudora will now face undefeated, top-seeded Ottawa in the sub-state championship with a berth to the state tournament on the line on Friday.
As for Parsons, its season ends with a 12-9 overall record — exceeding many preseason expectations.
“I challenged our guys to weather the storm and answer,” Houk said. “And we did and came back to tie it up. I’m proud of how this group has played all year long. Nobody expected us to win 12 games and host a playoff game. Our guys have done a great job of representing our school and our community. Our seniors were a big reason why.”
Now Houk is tasked with replacing five seniors — Sawyer, Joe Keal, Conner Barcus, Damais Johnson and Jason Smart — for the second straight offseason. Jager Quirin and Connor Largent will be the only lettermen expected to return to next year’s roster.
“We’ve got to remind the new guys about the standard that’s been set,” Houk said. “We’ve got to get our guys to understand that there’s a lot of spots to fill. We’ve got to find the ones that are truly committed to developing, because we have to get guys ready for varsity play. There’s no magic way to do that other than time. They have to put in the minutes.”
