Kansas high school basketball scores: Maize boys rally to take down 5A No. 1 Andover
There’s no question the foundation of the Maize boys basketball team is made up of the four returners from last season’s Class 5A state championship squad.
A lot of attention is paid to Kyle Grill, Avery Johnson, Mason Belcher and Jaden Gustafson after they helped win the Eagles’ first state title in program history.
It’s time to add Sam Schmidt to that list, a senior who scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including the game-sealing layup, to help Maize take down Andover, 44-40, on Tuesday night in the Trojans’ first game as the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A. It was the first loss of the season for Andover (7-1), while No. 6-ranked Maize (7-1) bounced back in a big way after a bizarre loss to Salina South last Friday.
“Sam is a guy that needs to stay involved offensively,” Maize coach Chris Grill said. “We have a couple of guys that draw a lot of attention and draw extra help, so he found a way to assert himself and be effective. We’ve been talking about him making those cuts and staying active and he did it right when we needed it the most.”
Schmidt wasn’t in Maize’s rotation last season, but earned the promotion as team’s fifth starter this season, joining a veteran group hungry to defend its title. The senior guard has been a steady presence, making defenses pay when they load up to try to stop Maize’s more-established weapons.
On Tuesday, Schmidt was a difference-maker with his off-ball movement in the fourth quarter. Three times he made timely cuts and scored on layups, most notably on an in-bounds play which extended Maize’s lead to 42-38 with 1:47 remaining. And when Andover’s B.J. Redic missed a potential game-winning three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, Schmidt was there to secure the victory on a run-out in the closing seconds.
“The atmosphere was great and it was great competition,” Grill said. “Anytime you play against these guys, it’s going to be an awesome game. I was proud of our effort. Even when guys made mistakes, they came back in and tried not to make the same mistakes over again. That’s where I was impressed the most. I thought we improved as the game wore on.”
Instead of the two heavyweights trading blows right away, the first half played out to almost a crawl. Andover stayed back in a zone defense and Maize was content to run more than a minute of clock each possession, eventually taking a 19-14 lead into halftime.
It didn’t take long for things to heat up in the second half when the game began to open up.
Andover blitzed Maize in the third quarter, out-scoring the Eagles 16-4, to open up a 30-23 lead. But Maize showed the resolve of a champion, reeling off an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter, including two straight key baskets from Belcher, to establish a four-point cushion it used to close out the game.
“This was a big game for us because we have a lot of juniors who haven’t played in front of a big crowd like that,” Andover coach Martin Shetlar said. “I think we’ll learn from this and we’ll get better. Right now our offense isn’t very good. We’ve got to get better executing offensively. For the most part, I thought we played pretty good defense. So we’ve just got to be more efficient on offense.”
Redic led Andover with 11 points, while Eli Shetlar added 10 and Brad Harris scored eight. Johnson scored a game-high 13 points for Maize, while Gustafson added 10 and Grill had six before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Maize boys 44, Andover 40
Maize 13 6 4 21 — 44
Andover 9 5 16 10 — 40
MAIZE (7-1): Johnson 13, Gustafson 10, Schmidt 8, Belcher 7, Grill 6, Hanna 0, Williams 0, Reyes 0. Team 18 (2) 6-12 44.
ANDOVER (7-1): Redic 11, Shetlar 10, B. Harris 8, C. Harris 6, Kim 2, Strausz 1, Klein 1, Neal-McFarthing 1. Team 14 (4) 8-12 40.
Kansas high school boys basketball scores
City League
5A No. 4 Kapaun Mt. Carmel 53, Wichita West 17
6A No. 6 Wichita Heights 52, Wichita East 23
6A No. 10 Wichita Northwest 68, Bishop Carroll 59
Wichita Southeast 47, Wichita North 41
AV-CTL
4A No. 8 Andale 51, Rose Hill 41
5A No. 3 Andover Central 60, Arkansas City 38
4A No. 2 Buhler 78, El Dorado 74
Circle 79, Winfield 41
Clearwater 38, Mulvane 36
Derby 67, Campus 64
Goddard Eisenhower 51, Goddard 33
5A No. 6 Maize 44, 5A No. 1 Andover 40
Maize South 64, Hutchinson 63 (OT)
4A No. 7 McPherson 71, Augusta 56
Salina South 69, Newton 47
5A No. 9 Valley Center 74, Salina Central 54
3A No. 5 Wichita Collegiate at Wellington (postponed to Feb. 8)
Central Plains League
3A No. 3 Cheney 71, Garden Plain 31
Other area teams
Cunningham 62, Burrton 31
Haven 53, Larned 27
3A No. 1 Hesston 83, Nickerson 27
2A No. 1 Hillsboro 58, Hoisington 28
Hutchinson Central Christian 41, Attica 40
Norwich 65, South Barber 29
Pratt 64, Lyons 31
Sedan 55, West Elk 36
Sedgwick 31, 2A No. 10 Berean Academy 23
Smoky Valley 66, Halstead 38
Kansas high school girls basketball scores
City League
5A No. 8 Bishop Carroll 51, Wichita Northwest 21
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 60, Wichita West 22
6A No. 9 Wichita Heights 62, Wichita East 44
Wichita Southeast 54, Wichita North 14
AV-CTL
4A No. 5 Andale 55, Rose Hill 2
5A No. 3 Andover Central 69, Arkansas City 18
Buhler 53, Mulvane 22
4A No. 6 Clearwater at Mulvane (postponed)
Circle 40, Winfield 34
6A No. 3 Derby 75, Campus 21
5A No. 5 Goddard 55, Goddard Eisenhower 30
Hutchinson 47, Maize South 35
5A No. 10 Maize 53, Andover 41
McPherson 47, Augusta 21
Newton 47, Salina South 43
5A No. 2 Salina Central 71, Valley Center 40
Wichita Collegiate at 4A No. 3 Wellington (postponed to Feb. 8)
Central Plains League
2A No. 8 Garden Plain 51, 3A No. 4 Cheney 40
Medicine Lodge 43, Douglass 38
Other area teams
2A No. 4 Berean Academy 49, Sedgwick 20
2A No. 10 Bluestem 33, Neodesha 23
Burrton 41, Cunningham 20
Haven 47, Larned 32
Hillsboro 32, Hoisington 17
1A-II No. 5 Hutchinson Central Christian 46, 1A-II No. 6 Attica 36
3A No. 2 Nickerson 55, Hesston 40
Pratt 42, Lyons 28
3A No. 9 Smoky Valley 51, Halstead 31
West Elk 47, Sedan 44
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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