Maize, Maize South create ‘tough atmosphere to match’ in memorable basketball split
Coming out of a timeout, Maize South Junior Katie Wagner took a second for herself.
She did a 360-degree turn and looked at the hundreds of people without seats and a couple of thousand more in the bowl watching a girls basketball game.
“I thought, ‘These are the moments that you’re not going to get back,’ “ Wagner said.
The undefeated Mavericks stayed that way Friday night with a 54-47 Win over crosstown rival Maize. It was Maize South’s first win over the Eagles in school history.
Not to be outdone, the unbeaten Maize boys forced a series split with a 65-63 win over Maize South, who entered the night on an eight-game win streak. Both fan bases got a reason to cheer Friday night, and Mavericks girls coach Ben Hamilton said it was special to be part of.
“I’ve never seen a high school girls basketball game with that atmosphere,” he said. “I spent five years coaching on the boys side, and that was a pretty tough atmosphere to match.”
The boys game came down to the final seconds. Maize South junior Trey Reid rounded a run along the baseline and snagged a pass in the right corner. Maize senior Caleb Grill closed on the shot, and it hit the front iron.
Grill and his teammates went sprinting down the court to celebrate a 14-0 start to what is turning into a state championship-caliber season.
Hours earlier, the Maize South girls trailed through three quarters. The Eagles never had a lead more than six but felt as if they were in control throughout. In the first half, Maize hit five three-pointers. The Mavs had none.
But with about four minutes to play, they broke through.
Senior Alexis Snodgrass drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key as Maize’s Cassandra Onwugbufor rolled through a screen by Maverick senior Zayda Perez. Snodgrass went to the line, completed the four-point play to earn a 43-41 lead.
Many of the Mavs, including Snodgrass, had a quiet first half. She had four points after the first 16 minutes. She finished tied for a team high with 15. Snodgrass said she was playing with a little added pressure Friday. She played at Maize as a freshman before going to Wichita Northwest and ended up at Maize South.
“Lexi is one of those players who can heat up fast,” Hamilton said. “We have a lot of rules in our program as far as shooting early in the possession. She has her own set of rules.”
Maize’s Sydney Holmes was crucial down the stretch with a pair of late threes, but the Mavericks’ caught fire in the fourth quarter, outscoring their rivals 21-13. Signs didn’t point to that coming in.
Maize South was on the tail end of a brutal three-game stretch against one-loss Mill Valley in its midseason tournament championship and undefeated Goddard on the road in a potential league title game. Snodgrass said she was exhausted after the win, but they pulled through.
“Our legs are definitely dead,” Snodgrass said. “Coach told us, ‘You can’t let up. You can’t come in and think you’re going to blow them out. There’s going to be teams like that who come out and punch you in the throat.”
The boys game featured a similar story. Maize jumped to a hot start, but the Mavericks closed the first quarter strong with a dunk at the buzzer from senior center Kael Kordonowy. They did it again at half as senior Ethan Hartig drained a three and pulled out the air guitar on his way to the locker room.
Grill, who finished with 21 points, and senior center Devon Koehn, who added 14, put the team on their backs late in the fourth and battled to keep the lead, and the Eagles closed defensively.
Coach Chris Grill said his group just finds a way to finish games.
“We don’t always play the right way all the time; we make some mistakes on our shot selection at times,” he said. “But I do think that when it comes down to it, they know how to refocus and lock back in and execute when it’s time to execute.”
The atmosphere was the overarching theme between four of Kansas’ top teams. The boys and girls teams entered the night with four losses combined. The crosstown rivalry played into it, but there were players from across the Wichita area taking in one of the state’s top double features.
Caleb Grill said though they approached it like any other game, it carried more for the crowds and likely all four teams as there was more chatter among players than usual.
“We’re going to get everybody’s best shot, it feels like,” Caleb Grill said. “This will get us ready for sub-state and state and those types of atmosphere. It was fun to play in, especially when you get a W.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2019 at 11:23 PM.