A night of 48 champions: How hope turned to heartbreak at Kansas state basketball
Matt Tinsley stood on the south stands of Emporia’s White Auditorium and, like a pastor delivering his sermon, gave his message to a community that needed something to hold onto besides one another.
Minutes earlier, Tinsley’s Topeka Seaman girls basketball team had beaten Maize 54-44 in the Class 5A state quarterfinals. The players ran into the locker room with smiles on their faces with the hope of potential state champions.
The players had no idea of the news that was coming.
As many states across the country did this week, Kansas cut its high school state basketball tournaments short Thursday because of the spread of COVID-19 or coronavirus. The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) announced the news just before halftime of the final games across the state’s six championship sites.
The announcement brought understandable backlash. Although few athletes agreed with the decision, many coaches knew it was bigger than basketball. Some coaches even said they were happy with getting to play their first round game.
But for Seaman senior Riley Polter, she was trying to help the Vikings win their first championship in school history. Seaman hadn’t reached a final four since 2012. The Vikings hadn’t gone to a state championship game since 2001.
“I’ve never met a group of people that have been so determined and so on one page for one goal,” Polter said. “This year, we were going to make that goal happen. I know in my heart that this year, we were gonna do it.”
Polter is one of four seniors for the Vikings. She said Thursday night was one of the toughest things she has ever gone through, but she is glad she had that specific team to go through it with.
“It’s our journey,” Polter said. “Our journey has always been rocky. We just do it hand-in-hand. ... Not a lot of kids get to end their careers with a win, but also not a lot of people are this fortunate to be here with this group of people.
“I’m just happy - no, I’m not happy. This sucks. It flat out sucks. But I’m just happy who I’m here with.”
For 48 teams across Kansas, their season didn’t end because of defeat but because of forced cancellation. For 48 teams, a dream was gone not because of a missed shot but because of an invisible killer.
So when hope turned into heartbreak for Topeka Seaman, Tinsley delivered a speech that must sound familiar for the other 47 teams across the state.
“We don’t need a trophy to tell us that we’re champions,” Tinsley said. “These girls played with heart this year, and they captured our hearts this whole season. We’re very proud of what they accomplished.
“In my eyes, we’re the state champions. So when we get back to school tonight, we’re going onto the main court, and we are cutting down the nets.”
***
A similar scene played out in Wichita at the Class 6A semifinals at Koch Arena, where the Blue Valley North and Lawrence boys basketball teams battled in the Thursday night finale in what had become a canceled tournament.
Not that any of the players on the court had any idea. When BV North prevailed 72-66, the senior-laden team celebrated what they thought was a win that brought them closer to a state championship. In fact, senior Shawn Hendershot even raised a single finger to indicate the achievement of moving one game closer to his dream.
Then Hendershot saw his father waiting for him on the court. He was not wildly celebrating like the son thought he would be.
“He got very emotional and hugged me, and I thought it was just because he was really proud, which he was, but then he said, ‘That was a great last game,’” Hendershot said. “I just looked at him. I didn’t believe what he was telling me. Then I asked our coach and he shook his head and started tearing up. When I saw that, I just teared up and started hugging my brothers.”
It was a surreal scene to watch unfold in real time on the court.
In one moment, the seven seniors for BV North, many of whom had played basketball together since they were 5-year-olds, were wildly celebrating and already imagining pulling off an upset over undefeated Campus in Friday’s semifinals.
In the next, the cheers turned to sobs as the seniors came to the realization that their childhood dreams of winning a state championship together were not possible. Their season, and effectively their high school careers, were over.
“It’s bittersweet right now,” said BV North senior Jack Sheplak, who finished with 11 points. “We put in so much work all four years, not just this year, just to get to this tournament. It’s nice to end on a win, but we wanted to go all the way. I’ve been playing with these guys since I was 5-years-old. They’re my best friends and there is nothing more that I can ask for than to be playing with them, so for it all to end so suddenly like that, it’s really hard to deal with.”
KSHSAA’s official decision to cancel the tournament was released late in the second quarter of the game. Assistants on both teams were notified at halftime, but neither team informed their players of the decision at halftime. In fact, the Lawrence assistant decided to not even tell head coach Mike Lewis.
“I was worried about trying to find a way to beat the Mustangs in the second half,” Lawrence coach Mike Lewis said. “It felt like we were in the moment. We played hard. I thought our guys showed a lot of fight and didn’t seem to be distracted by any of that, even though it’s been a really distracting day. It’s been a long, long day.”
BV North head coach Ryan Phifer was made aware of the impending shutdown, but chose not to burden his players with the news. He admitted afterward it made for a bizarre game, knowing the entire second half that his seniors that he had come to form such a close bond with were playing their final game.
That’s why Phifer couldn’t fight back tears when discussing how proud he was of his team to rally late in the fourth quarter to win the game and end on a win.
“This has been the most fun season I’ve ever had,” Phifer said, tears streaming down his face. “All of these seniors, in practice every day for four years they gave it their all. This is a special, special group. It really is. We can say we went out on a win now. And what they’ve done for me... they’ve just done such a great job and I’m going to miss these guys so much. I wanted them so bad to go out with a win.”
Even 20 minutes following the final buzzer, reality had yet to set in for the seven BV North seniors — Jack Souder, Nick Blackford, Sheplak, Hendershot, Cade Bohannon, Andrew Orr and Gabriel Deng. Some had started their careers on varsity, some on the freshman ‘B’ team, but they had all wound up in the same place on the same team that truly believed a championship ending was possible.
Thursday produced an ending they could have never envisioned, but they will be able to take solace in the coming days, months and years that they experienced it together — like they’ve always had since they were 5-years-old.
“These are your brothers, your family,” Hendershot said, his eyes red from crying. “We have sweat, bled, even thrown up together. There’s so much camaraderie with how long we’ve been together and everything we’ve gone through. We showed how close we are by fighting there at the end to come out with the win, but it’s still hard to believe that’s the last time we’ll ever play together.
“I wouldn’t trade these dudes for anyone else in the world.”
***
Just south of Koch Arena in Haysville, one of seven teams to never lose a game had to swallow the fact that somehow they weren’t champions.
The Campus Colts were the only undefeated boys team left in Class 6A, the highest classification in Kansas. At 23-0, Campus had just knocked off No. 8 Manhattan 66-50 and was on the bus back to school.
The Colts’ high-flying style fit perfectly on the Division I court at Wichita State. Junior center Keither Florence even made it on ESPN because of a 360-degree dunk.
But five minutes from touching down on school grounds, Campus coach Chris Davis received a phone call from his athletic director, Josh Godwin.
“It’s not good,” Godwin told Davis. “I’ve got bad news.”
“That’s all you’ve got to tell me,” Davis said.
Davis hurried his team into the locker room before it learned the news. He said he wanted to be the one to tell them, and when he did, there were tears followed with a reason to smile.
“There is only one undefeated team in 6A, and that’s the Campus Colts,” Davis said.
Campus has never won a basketball state championship, boys or girls. The Colts have been building their athletic profile across all sports. A state title in baseball this past spring was a major step in that direction, and a 2020 basketball crown would have gone a long way in the paradigm of the school and its community.
Instead, without losing a game, the 2020 Campus team won’t appear in the record books.
Davis thought highly of his team, as the rest of the 47 coaches did in 2020. The Wichita Heights team of 1977 is considered the best to ever play Kansas high school basketball. Davis said he was there to watch every game that ‘77 Heights team played.
“And they had dudes, but Campus had dudes this year,” Davis said.
Campus and the other 47 programs might be back in 2021, but not all of them will. And that is what was hard for these teams Thursday night: The thought that it could have been all for nothing.
“I would rather lose in the championship game than go through what we had to go through tonight,” Davis said. “It was pure hell. It’s the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.”
2020 Kansas high school basketball unofficial state champions
Class 6A Boys
- No. 1 Campus (23-0)
- No. 3 Blue Valley Northwest (21-2)
- No. 4 Blue Valley North (20-3)
- No. 7 Olathe South (17-6)
Class 6A Girls
- No. 1 Liberal (23-0)
- No. 2 Topeka (23-0)
- No. 4 Derby (21-2)
- No. 6 Olathe East (18-5)
Class 5A Boys
- No. 1 Andover (23-0)
- No. 2 Basehor-Linwood (21-2)
- No. 3 Hays (16-6)
- No. 5 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (17-6)
Class 5A Girls
- No. 1 McPherson (22-1)
- No. 2 Andover Central (22-1)
- No. 3 Topeka Seaman (20-3)
- No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas (18-4)
Class 4A Boys
- No. 2 KC Piper (22-1)
- No. 3 Bishop Miege (19-4)
- No. 4 Augusta (19-4)
- No. 8 Rose Hill (13-10)
Class 4A Girls
- No. 1 Nickerson (21-2)
- No. 3 KC Piper (21-2)
- No. 4 Bishop Miege (21-2)
- No. 7 Clay Center (16-6)
Class 3A Boys
- No. 2 Collegiate (21-3)
- No. 3 Beloit (21-3)
- No. 4 Galena (19-5)
- No. 8 St. Marys (14-10)
Class 3A Girls
- No. 1 Nemaha Central (24-0)
- No. 2 Frontenac (22-2)
- No. 3 Halstead (21-3)
- No. 5 Cheney (21-3)
Class 2A Boys
- No. 2 Bishop Seabury Academy (21-2)
- No. 5 Sterling (20-4)
- No. 6 Garden Plain (19-5)
- No. 8 Hillsboro (15-9)
Class 2A Girls
- No. 1 Spearville (24-0)
- No. 2 Trego (23-1)
- No. 4 Valley Heights (22-2)
- No. 6 Garden Plain (19-5)
Class 1A Boys
- No. 2 Little River (23-3)
- No. 3 St. John-Hudson (23-3)
- No. 5 South Central (21-5)
- No. 8 Stockton (15-11)
Class 1A Girls
- No. 1 Central Plains (26-0)
- No. 3 Olpe (26-0)
- No. 4 Hanover (24-1)
- No. 7 Centralia (19-8)
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 6:21 AM.
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