On Saturday, the Shawnee Mission East Lancers came up short against the Link Academy Lions and fell 65-52. While losing is never fun, the Lancers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 82nd in Kansas, while the Lions are ranked fifth in Missouri).
Link Academy was led to victory by Legend Smiley and Chris Cenac. Smiley went 6 for 7 from beyond the arc on his way to 22 points, while Cenac went 6 of 9 en route to 14 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance gave Smiley a new career-high in points. Another player making a difference was Andre Igoudoula, who posted eight points.
Shawnee Mission East has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-6-1 record this season. That patch can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.8 points per game. As for Link Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season.
Shawnee Mission East didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 62-58 win against St. James Academy on the 25th. As for Link Academy, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next match, a 65-52 victory against Shawnee Mission Northwest on the 25th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
