They won by 50 against a one-loss team in a tournament championship game

Saturday morning Maize South coach Ben Hamilton met his team in the hotel lobby for breakfast and delivered a message he knew would work. And it did.

“He said he heard people doubting us, saying the championship was last night with Mill Valley and Circle,” senior guard Lauren Johnson said.

Maize South beat Mill Valley 67-17 in the championship game of the 2019 Lady Cat Classic in El Dorado on Saturday. It was one of the most shockingly lop-sided games of the Kansas high school girls basketball season.

The Mavericks allowed four points in the final 16 minutes.

“They play with a chip on their shoulder all the time,” Hamilton said. “As much as we tell them not to, they look at those rankings. Earlier in the year when we weren’t in that top 10, that was on the board, and it was talked about every day. They turned red in the face.”

Mill Valley is one of the best teams in Kansas. The Jaguars entered Saturday’s final 11-1 and No. 3 in Class 6A East. They have wins over Olathe Northwest, Shawnee Mission Northwest and Circle in the semifinals Friday.

Their only loss was to Bishop Miege on the road.

Maize South was vastly undersized but fought like dogs. They out-rebounded Mill Valley, shot a much better percentage and were first to almost every loose ball.

After the game, the Mavs didn’t know what to say.

“When you’re up, you kind of get that swagger and kind of just roll with it,” Johnson said. “Coming into halftime, we knew if we let up, they’re such a good team that they’re going to come back, and it could bite us in the butt.”

Maize South had five players with at least 10 points. Senior Lexi Snodgrass had 16. Junior Katie Wagner scored 14. Senior Lauren Johnson had 11. Senior Zayda Perez and junior Macy McCormack added 10.

In addition, the Mavs shut down Claire Kaifes, one of the best players in Kansas, who finished with 11.

Although signs didn’t point to a 50-point win, senior guard Zayda Perez said she believed the undefeated Mavs came in as underdogs. They likely won’t be underdogs in any game they play until they lose.

“Everyone has been telling us that we’re going against easy teams, so we want to prove to people that we’re not just an average team,” Perez said. “We can be a great team if we focus on what we need to do.”

Maize South’s best win before Saturday came Jan. 11 at home against Wichita South in the AVCTL/GWAL Challenge. Although the Titans have a rich history, they are three games back of the City League lead through the midseason tournament season. The Mavs won by seven.

That made a win Saturday, by any margin, a statement. Winning by 50 was a decree that they’re sending it in 2019.

Perez and Snodgrass are new to the Maize South roster this season. Snodgrass was the City League’s highest average scorer last year at Wichita Northwest, and Perez was Valley Center’s top player before transferring.

Combined with leaders like Johnson and Wagner, Hamilton said though two players can’t turn an eight-win team into a state title contender, they have boosted the process.

“The culture has been the difference,” he said. “Over the past 365 days, I’ve talked to my leaders about how things have changed from when I walked in the building to now, and they love it: the way we do things every day. We’ve talked about a vision, and they’re living it out.”

Maize South has hit the meat of its regular season schedule. The Mavs are on the road Tuesday at Goddard. It will be a matchup of two out of three undefeated teams left in the Wichita area and a battle for the top spot in AVCTL II.

Three days later, they host Maize, another 5A contender and rival whose only loss was at Derby.

The Mavericks likely won’t beat either team by 50, but they can win both. They knew it before, but they have momentum now.

“Coming into this season, we talked about, ‘We can be good or great,’ ” Hamilton said. “They said they wanted to be great. They said, ‘Coach, we want to do things this school has never done before. There are going to be a lot of firsts this year.’ “

This story was originally published January 27, 2019 at 2:08 AM with the headline "They won by 50 against a one-loss team in a tournament championship game."