By Chris Parker
Thayer entered its fourth consecutive final four looking to make the championship game for the first time since 1961, but a third quarter blitz from KIPP KC Legacy proved too much to overcome in a 56-49 loss.
“Going into today we knew athletically and strength-wise those guys (KIPP KC Legacy) are pretty special. We knew there were things we were going to have to make them do to try and even some things out,” Thayer head coach Matt Pitts said. “We dug ourselves a hole early and it took a lot of energy to get out of that hole.”
The Gators jumped out to a 10-point lead on Thayer after one quarter, but the Bobcats had an answer in the form of Easton Pitts. He carried Thayer in the second quarter scoring 12 points and pulling down five rebounds. He also drew four fouls in the frame.
Thayer outscored KIPP 22-7 to take a 29-24 lead into the break.
Out of the half, KIPP caught fire on both ends of the court outscoring Thayer 21-5 in the third quarter to take a commanding 45-34 lead into the final eight minutes.
“In the third quarter they made shots. When they make shots like that, they become really hard to handle,” Coach Pitts said.
KIPP was five-for-eight from three-point range in the pivotal third quarter.
The other thing the Gators did was change the way they defended Easton Pitts.
“We noticed that No. 1 (Easton Pitts) every time he comes from a pindown he gets back to the wing for an open shot. Instead of letting him get the ball back, or if he got the ball back, we just blitzed him. We sent another player at him,” KIPP KC Legacy head coach Andre Chatman said.
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The Gators held Easton Pitts to six second-half points, as he finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. Devin Harrington posted a double-double for Thayer with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
KIPP KC Legacy was led by 23 points from King Smith including five 3-pointers.
Thayer (24-5) advances to face Woodland (24-7) at 10 am on Thursday in the Class 3 third place game.
It is the fourth consecutive appearance in the third place game for Thayer.
“We try to win every time we show up. That is how this game works,” Pitts said. “It doesn’t matter if it is for fifth, eighth or seventh, we are going to try and win. These guys will be ready to roll tomorrow. We wanted to play in the big one and we just didn’t get that done today, but it doesn’t take away from what these guys are doing.”
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It will be the last time suiting up in a Thayer Bobcat uniform for a five-player senior class that includes Easton Pitts, Harrington, Brandon Prince, Cooper Clark and John Zuchowski.
“That whole senior class has won over 100 games with four conference championships, four district championships and four final fours. There is not much left out there for these guys to do,” Coach Pitts said.
It is especially meaningful for Easton Pitts playing for his father one last time.
“You don’t really go places that succeed this much. We have won 12 districts in a row. At a lot of schools you don’t get to be that blessed. We have a great coach, but he has been blessed with some good players to,” Easton Pitts said.
