Wichita East boys crush Lawrence for first state title since 2005
Surrounded by cameras, East coach Joe Jackson turned and looked at two of his stars, Zach Jackson and Xavier Kelly, just minutes after winning Saturday’s Class 6A state title at Koch Arena.
“What’s that feeling?” Joe Jackson asked, then gestured toward the medals around their necks. “What’s that look like?”
The two boys smiled. It felt good. It looked like gold.
And with that, East turned in a start-to-finish domination of Lawrence in a 58-43 win for the Aces’ first state title since 2005.
“They were extremely focused tonight,” Joe Jackson said. “You could just tell by the look of their eyes in the locker room that they were on point.”
The Aces got an extra dose of motivation before the game, with Joe Jackson reprinting a piece of paper he’d distributed to his team after after taking third in 6A last year.
“We got together about a week or so after the season was over, and handed them a piece of paper that said ‘We will not be denied’ on it, along with bullet points about what they needed to do to win a state title,” Joe Jackson said. “Not a more deserving group than this one. One year, they did everything they had to do.”
East (24-1) defeated Lawrence for the second time this season with a big dose of Kelly, who finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
“When (Kelly) is making shots, he is tough,” Lawrence coach Mike Lewis said. “He is the real deal and he played well tonight. I thought we banged on him and had a real physical presence, but didn’t get it done.”
Kelly, 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, dominated from the start, scoring eight points in the first quarter as East took an 11-8 lead. Once Zach Jackson, who finished with 23 points, started to get involved, Lawrence (23-2) struggled to get back in the game.
Leading 21-13 at halftime, East opened up the second half with a big sequence from Kelly. He hit a short jumper on one end, pinned Price Morgan’s shot against the top of the square on the other, then finished inside for a layup on the other end for a 27-15 lead.
East continued to pad its lead until, with a couple of minutes left, all Lawrence could do was foul and chuck up three-pointers on the other end. Justin Roberts and Anthony Bonner led Lawrence with 18 points each.
“The plan was to pound it inside,” Kelly said. “I was just really hyped up to get out there today, just really excited to get to play in a state championship game for our seniors and for our school.”
With 1:03 left in the game, Joe Jackson pulled his five starters.
They approached him, one by one, for an embrace. First Terence Caw, then Samajae Jones, Zach Jackson, Isaac Fralin and Kelly last.
“We put so much into this, we didn’t see any other outcome,” Zach Jackson said. “This was everything to us.”
After the buzzer sounded and a brief celebration on the bench, Jones led a group of Aces jumping up and over the railing and into the green-clad student section.
“I love my teammates to death,” Zach Jackson said. “There wasn’t much left to be said today. We just stepped out on the court and got the job done.”
Reach Tony Adame at 316-268-6284 or tadame@wichitaeagle.com. Follow him on Twitter: @t_adame.
This story was originally published March 15, 2015 at 6:53 AM with the headline "Wichita East boys crush Lawrence for first state title since 2005."