Derby beats the No. 2 team in 6A by 36 and advances to sub-state basketball final
.JPG "Derby’s Tre Washington")
Derby proved the AVCTL I’s worth Wednesday in Topeka.
The Panthers provided the score of the night in Kansas high school basketball, beating Topeka, the No. 2 team in Class 6A, 62-26 on the road in the first round of their sub-state tournament. Derby entered with 13 fewer wins.
“There’s no question our guys were on tonight, but we know Topeka can play better than that,” coach Brett Flory said. “So we were fortunate to catch them when they didn’t have their best night.”
Flory said it was a balanced effort for the Panthers. Derby’s lone senior, Clayton Hood, was his usual self on both ends of the floor. Junior Tre Washington added a spark around the basket. And the Panthers fed off the energy of having junior Grant Adler back on the floor, recovering from an arm injury.
Flory said it was a moment his group deserved.
“We were in so many close games with so many good teams, and it just never seemed to go our way,” he said. “I kept telling our guys that, and tonight we were able to get through that and reap the benefits of having such a great schedule all year long.”
Derby has had a brutal road to the sub-state championship game. The Panthers lost seven straight from Dec. 11-Jan. 17. Four of those games were decided by five points or fewer, and one went to overtime at Andover.
They lost 60 percent of their starting lineup to injury, but slowly, they are getting healthier.
“Your bench becomes your starters, and your JV becomes your bench,” Flory said. “Our young kids have gotten better and better, but our older guys tonight really stepped forward.”
Derby will play Lawrence Free State (13-6) for the chance to go to state. The Panthers (5-14) met Free State two seasons ago in this same spot and lost on their home floor 68-59.
They will look to repay the favor at 7 p.m. Friday in Lawrence.
“The kids needed a reward at some point,” Flory said. “Kids have a hard time seeing the forest through the trees. As a coach, I could see us getting better, but they needed to see the wins. We were due to beat a really good team, and tonight we did.”