‘The most fun’: Maize boys win first high school basketball state championship
To trace where the Maize boys basketball team feels the historic run to its first state championship began, you have to go on a bus ride home from Dodge City last January.
Last season Maize was trying to replace 10 seniors with a new varsity team and it wasn’t going well, highlighted by two blowout losses in the tournament that dropped it to a 4-7 start.
“We knew we had too much talent on the team,” Maize senior Jacob Hanna said. “We knew 4-7 can’t cut it.”
“I just remember coming back from Dodge knowing we’ve got to get better,” senior Winston Bing said. “We were so much better than what we were playing like.”
Ever since getting off that bus from Dodge City, Maize has been a different team. The Eagles cemented their place in the history books on Saturday by completing the program’s first state championship run with a 55-43 win over Topeka West in the Kansas Class 5A championship game at White Auditorium in Emporia.
“It’s really special to do it as a team,” Bing said. “We came in every day and we worked hard from the top of our roster to the bottom. From the starters to the bench guys. Everybody worked hard and came together and we just achieved the ultimate goal.”
The turnaround began last season when Maize finished its season winning eight of its final 10 games following the Dodge City turnaround. That momentum carried over to this season, when most of the same players returned and the team added star sophomore Avery Johnson.
The team’s chemistry reached new heights this season, as the Eagles shared the basketball (15 assists per game) better than almost anyone and played team defense like they were connected on a string. It also helps when you have three different players (Hanna, Johnson and Kyle Grill) capable of throwing down highlight-reel dunks over defenders each night.
“This has been the most fun I’ve ever had on a team,” Hanna said. “And this was definitely the most fun I’ve had in a game. It didn’t matter if I scored 25 points or five points, I was so happy to be playing with these guys. We finally got it done, the one thing that’s eluded Maize.”
“I wouldn’t want to play with any other group of guys,” Bing said. “When you have each other’s backs like we do, it’s a lot of fun to play together. You don’t have to depend on one person. You feel good about passing it to anybody on the court.”
That balanced attack was on full display in the title game, as all five starters scored between seven and 17 points. Johnson led the way with 17 points, five rebounds and five steals, while Bing added 11 points, Jaden Gustafson had nine points and six rebounds, Hanna had seven points, seven rebounds and three blocks and Grill had seven points, four rebounds and five assists.
The players said the key was buying into the system of coach Chris Grill, who convinced a team loaded with individual offensive talent to maybe sacrifice a few shots over the course of the season for the greater good. Maize’s go-to player was the open man and that proved difficult to stop this season.
“There’s some real hoopers on this team and I love playing with these guys,” senior guard Keegan Harrod said. “We’ve been working for this for a couple years now, so we had to bring it home for the school.”
Against Topeka West, Maize started to pull away in the second quarter when it limited Topeka West to three points to build a 22-15 halftime advantage. The Eagles used a 32-17 rebounding advantage to slowly extend their lead and hold on for the win.
Campus boys lose a heartbreaker
After waiting two years for their shot at winning the school’s first state championship, the Campus boys lost a heartbreaker in the Class 6A championship game in a 67-59 loss to Blue Valley North at Koch Arena in Wichita.
The Colts came agonizingly close, holding a two-point lead with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But Campus (21-3) went cold and BV North turned it on, as the Mustangs (21-3) used an 18-5 run in the fourth quarter to pull away for the state title.
The aggressive Campus defense forced 19 turnovers, but it came at a cost: BV North made 61% of its field goals and 17 of 19 free throws. The Colts led 32-26 at halftime, but were outscored 41-27 in the second half.
Campus senior Stevie Strong scored a game-high 26 points and had five steals, while senior Sterling Chapman, a Tulsa signee, finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, nine rebounds and four steals. Fellow senior Jayden Hall chipped in 12 points for Campus, while Isaac Patterson led BV North with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
While Campus came up short of the state title, it did achieve the program’s first state title game appearance since 1988 and brought back an excitement to the Haysville community about basketball that has been missing for decades.
This story was originally published March 14, 2021 at 6:20 AM.
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