Cy Stucky’s size helps Maize South basketball seal win at Derby for league title
It’s become increasingly rare in Kansas high school basketball where a team’s best play is to throw it to the big man on the block and let him go to work.
But Maize South has an outlier in senior Cy Stucky, a 6-foot-7 post who has changed the math this season for the Mavericks. He did so once again on Friday night to score a team-high 20 points to lead Maize South to a dramatic 60-59 win at Derby, which put the Mavericks in the driver’s seat to win the AV-CTL Div. I championship in outright fashion.
Maize South (18-3, 10-1) stretched its winning streak to 15 games, while snapping the 11-game winning streak of Derby (16-6, 8-3) in a game that featured eight lead changes in the fourth quarter alone, including five in the final two minutes.
“Not a lot of teams play with a back-to-the-basket big anymore,” Maize South coach Joe Jackson said. “Not a lot of teams practice how to guard against that. When teams send double and triple teams, Cy is always making the right play and that’s a testament to how unselfish he is. It’s such a huge advantage for us to have a guy like that on our team.”
The drama began with a layup that wouldn’t fall.
Maize South’s Jalen Batiste’s potential go-ahead drive hung on the rim for longer than a second before spinning off and being tapped out into a loose-ball scrum with five bodies converging at the scene at once. Derby’s Gavin Chadwick emerged from the scrum with the ball in his hands, but a loose-ball foul was whistled on Chadwick, giving Maize South the ball back with 42 seconds left.
Given a second chance, Stucky wasn’t about to waste it.
On the ensuing inbounds, Maize South fed its 6-7 senior and let him go to work. The senior spun back to his right and went straight to the rim. His first attempt missed, but he stayed with it and tipped in his own miss for the go-ahead basket with 38 seconds left.
“I’ve always been a big, so I’ve always grown up playing the post,” Stucky said. “That’s the main part of my game is the low post and I’ve continued to develop down there. It really helps out our team because when I have a mismatch in the post, then I can kick out to our shooters and that opens up our offense.”
Derby still had one clean look left and coach Brett Flory drew up a play to get star guard Avant Riley downhill. Out of a timeout, Derby ran a double-drag screen action with Cale Clingan setting the second screen, which freed up Riley to turn the corner with his right hand.
In the huddle, Jackson told Stucky not to leave Clingan (14 points) because the coach didn’t want to give up a slip or an easy dump-off. But when Stucky saw his teammate get clipped by the screen and Riley gain a step, instinct overruled instruction.
He helped anyway and that split-section decision changed the shot. Stucky’s scramble forced Riley to pull up just outside the paint instead of getting all the way to the rim. Riley’s short jumper came off long and Stucky rebounded the miss and was fouled with 6.2 seconds left.
“Having Cy back there protecting the rim can cover up some of our defensive mistakes,” Jackson said. “I think we guard really well, but like on that last play his instincts took over and I’m glad they did because it quite likely saved the game for us.”
Even then, Derby had one last chance.
Stucky missed both free throws. With no timeout, Derby had to scramble. Riley grabbed the rebound and tried to fire a long-distance throw ahead to Greg Stiger, who finished with a game-high 23 points. Stiger went up for the catch and was knocked down in the chaos. Derby coach Brett Flory appealed for a foul call that would have given the Panthers a last sideline out-of-bounds chance, but no whistle came.
Maize South erupted in celebration.
“Anytime we get together with Derby, something crazy is always going to happen,” Jackson said. “I have so much respect for their coaches and the way they run their program. That was an intense game and unbelievable environment with a league championship on the line. Now we’re in the driver’s seat.”
If Derby had won, it would have created a three-way tie atop the league standings with Maize South and Maize. Instead, the Mavericks survived and are now positioned to win the league title outright with a road game at Campus on Tuesday.
The win also mattered in the postseason seeding chase. Derby has a top-four seed locked up in the Class 6A West sub-state standings, which guarantees home-court advantage in both sub-state games. Maize South was still chasing a top-four seed in Class 5A West and desperately needed Friday’s result to keep its lead intact.
To find a full recap of league title races for all Wichita-area high school basketball leagues, here is an updated list of league standings.
Wichita high school boys basketball league title races
City League: Kapaun clinched the outright championship with a 68-53 win over Northwest on Friday, improving to 14-0 and holding a three-game lead over the field with only two remaining.
AV-CTL Div. 1: A Derby win over Maize South would have created a three-way tie. Instead, Maize South’s victory clinches at least a share of the league title with a 10-1 mark and a chance to clinch it outright on Tuesday at Campus. Maize (9-2) is one game back to share if the Mavericks stumble.
AV-CTL Div. 2: A game-winner at the buzzer lifted Andover over Eisenhower, elevating the Trojans to a tie with Salina Central for the league lead at 9-2. Andover plays Goddard (1-10) and Salina Central plays Newton (1-10) next week, so a share between them seems likely.
AV-CTL Div. 3: Augusta knocked off McPherson by two to create a three-way tie between Augusta, McPherson and Buhler entering the final two games. The only game involving the three teams left is the season finale of Buhler at Augusta.
AV-CTL Div. 4: Collegiate clinched a share of the league title with a 74-19 win over Clearwater to improve to 9-0 in league play. The Spartans can win it outright in a showdown vs. Andale on Monday, while Andale (7-1) can likely earn a split if it knocks off Collegiate.
CPL: Cheney has clinched the outright league championship after finishing a perfect 8-0 in league play after a 67-40 win over Douglass. Everyone else has at least two losses.
CKL: Hesston clinched the outright league championship with a 57-29 win over Haven to wrap up a perfect 8-0 league record to edge out Pratt by one game.
HOA: Sterling completed the gauntlet of league play with a perfect 11-0 record after a 81-56 win over Ell-Saline to capture the outright league championship, edging Berean by one game.
Wichita high school girls basketball league title races
City League: Heights clinched the outright league championship with a 76-17 win over West, as the Falcons are 14-0 and have a three-game lead in the loss column over East with two games to play.
AV-CTL Div. 1: Derby knocked off Maize South 61-47 in the rematch to draw level at the top of the standings with a 10-1 record. Derby plays Salina South, while Maize South plays at Campus to wrap up the season. They would share if both win.
AV-CTL Div. 2: Andover clinched the outright league championship with a win over Eisenhower, as the Trojans are 11-0 entering the final game of the season with a three-game lead over the competition.
AV-CTL Div. 3: Mulvane and McPherson both notched wins to keep pace with one another, as they are tied at 7-1 entering the final two games. Mulvane plays at McPherson on Tuesday that will likely decided the league title outright.
AV-CTL Div. 4: Wellington clinched at least a share of the league title with a 59-3 win over Rose Hill to improve to 8-0 this season. The Crusaders have a two-game lead with two games left over Clearwater and Andale. Wellington can clinch it outright with a trip to Clearwater on Tuesday.
CPL: Garden Plain clinched at least a share of the league title with a 50-36 win over Chaparral to improve to 7-0 in league play. Conway Springs is in the clubhouse with a 7-1 league record, so the Owls can win the CPL title outright with a win at Belle Plaine on Monday.
CKL: Halstead has clinched at least a share of the league title with a perfect 7-0 record, but Hillsboro (7-1) is there if the Dragons stumble to share it. Halstead can win it outright with a win over Hoisington on Tuesday.
HOA: In a showdown to determine the outright league title between two unbeatens in the regular-season finale, Moundridge knocked off Remington, 55-30, to claim the outright HOA championship and finish off a perfect 11-0 season.
Kansas high school basketball scores (Friday, Feb. 20)
City League
Boys
Bishop Carroll 58, North 15
East 64, South 50
Heights 77, West 53
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 68, Northwest 53
Southeast 65, Wichita Trinity 58
Girls
Bishop Carroll 56, North 32
East 78, South 29
Heights 76, West 17
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 66, Northwest 25
Southeast 50, Wichita Trinity 32
Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League
Boys
Andale 60, El Dorado 30
Andover 51, Eisenhower 49
Andover Central 71, Arkansas City 60
Augusta 61, McPherson 59
Buhler 70, Circle 31
Collegiate 74, Clearwater 19
Hutchinson 69, Newton 65
Maize 60, Campus 52
Maize South 60, Derby 59
Rose Hill 64, Wellington 45
Salina Central 68, Goddard 31
Salina South 47, Valley Center 44
Winfield 55, Mulvane 53
Girls
Andale 71, El Dorado 45
Andover 59, Eisenhower 42
Andover Central 52, Arkansas City 43
Circle 34, Buhler 30
Clearwater 53, Collegiate 40
Derby 61, Maize South 47
Hutchinson 70, Newton 38
Maize 74, Campus 51
McPherson 67, Augusta 35
Mulvane 49, Winfield 34
Salina Central 60, Goddard 53
Salina South 54, Valley Center 41
Wellington 59, Rose Hill 3
Other Wichita-area
Boys
Argonia 59, West Elk 49
Bennington 37, Sedgwick 31
Berean 57, Classical 43
Burden-Central 44, Oxford 36
Cedar Vale-Dexter 83, Udall 71 (OT)
Chaparral 61, Garden Plain 50
Cheney 67, Douglass 40
Flinthills 68, South Haven 42
Halstead 53, Elyria Christian 47
Hartford 67, Goessel 28
Hesston 57, Haven 29
Hillsboro 64, Nickerson 37
Hoisington 57, Larned 24
Hutchinson Central Christian 60, Pratt Skyline 39
Inman 55, Hutchinson Trinity 42
Kingman 49, Belle Plaine 46
Marion 47, Wichita Central Christian 46
Medicine Lodge 41, Conway Springs 38
Moundridge 74, Remington 51
Neodesha 101, Bluestem 42
Norwich 58, Fairfield 28
Olpe 62, Little River 57
Pratt 57, Smoky Valley 45
Sterling 81, Ell-Saline 56
Girls
Argonia 51, West Elk 19
Belle Plaine 42, Kingman 27
Bennington 48, Sedgwick 36
Berean 53, Classical 23
Burden-Central 50, Oxford 35
Cedar Vale-Dexter 46, Udall 21
Cheney 73, Douglass 19
Conway Springs 61, Medicine Lodge 31
Garden Plain 50, Chaparral 36
Halstead 44, Elyria Christian 26
Hesston 43, Haven 24
Hillsboro 61, Nickerson 20
Hutchinson Central Christian 41, Pratt Skyline 11
Inman 64, Hutchinson Trinity 12
Larned 47, Hoisington 30
Little River 64, Olpe 48
Marion 42, Wichita Central Christian 38 (OT)
Moundridge 55, Remington 30
Neodesha 64, Bluestem 38
Pratt 48, Smoky Valley 44
Sterling 47, Ell-Saline 27
This story was originally published February 21, 2026 at 6:06 AM.
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