‘We want our own’: Derby girls basketball one win away from their own state title
Trying to stand out in the Derby girls basketball program can be a difficult thing to do.
The program has been a fixture at Koch Arena in the second week of March, as the Panthers are back again this week for the Class 6A state tournament for the seventh straight year and in the state semifinals for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
But this year’s team is on the verge of carving out its own special place in history after surviving a double-overtime thriller against Blue Valley, emerging with a 51-49 win on Friday afternoon. And now Derby will have a chance to win just the second state championship in program history when it plays either Olathe North or Washburn Rural for the 6A title in Saturday’s 4 p.m. final.
“We want ours,” Derby star junior Maryn Archer said. “Each team is different. Every time you graduate a class and a new one comes in, you’re always different. We want our own. We’ve only had one championship team in program history, so we want to be the next one.”
It’s been a perfect storm for Derby this season, as several key figures of the team are uniquely motivated by their own personal journey to win a championship of their own. Add up all of those individual pieces and they have come together to fit perfectly to power Derby to a 23-1 season that has a chance to finish with a dream ending.
It starts with first-year coach Dan Harrison, who took over the program from long-time coach Jodie Karsak after she had established the Panthers as a state power. Harrison felt personally responsible to make sure the program continued to play at a high level to continue Karsak’s work after she had left.
“We spent a lot of time together over the last three years and she was the reason why I came here,” Harrison said. “I became a part of this because I believed in what she was doing and how she was doing it. All I’ve tried to do this year is to extend it, to put my personality into it and just keep it rolling. What’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
Even though Karsak was unable to attend on Friday — she is planning on driving down from her new home in Olathe for Saturday’s title game — the former coach was glued to her phone on Friday afternoon watching a Facebook live feed of the team’s double-overtime thriller.
“I’m just so proud of all of them,” Karsak said in a phone interview. “It’s not an easy feat. I know Derby has been there and we have the talent to be there, but to put it all together you’ve got to get a couple of breaks and everybody has to stay healthy and maybe there’s some magic along the way. I’m just so happy they found a way.
“My heart was probably racing faster watching that game than any game I’ve ever coached them.”
There is also unique motivation for Derby’s leading scorer Addy Brown, the 6-foot-3 junior who is averaging 15.1 points and following in her older sister’s footsteps of becoming one of the top high school recruits in Kansas. After watching Kennedy, her older sister who is now a starter at Oregon State, win Derby’s first state title in 2018, Addy has been dreaming of winning one of her own ever since that day.
“It was so awesome to see her finally win one,” Addy said. “Her team was so great and it kind of reminds me of our team, honestly. To see her get that big trophy and see all of the emotions, I’ve been waiting for my turn and now we’re finally here. I’m going to try my best to get it (Saturday).”
Brown again delivered for Derby with a double-double in the win over Blue Valley on Friday, scoring a team-high 16 points to go along with 10 points. Harrison has been impressed by how she has carved her own path after following in such big footsteps left by her sister.
“Addy is her own person,” Harrison said. “She comes from a great family and I know they’re both very proud of each other and I think they push each other. Addy just refuses to lose. The girls assigned each other a dog type earlier this year and Addy was a Bullmastiff. She just sinks her teeth in and she won’t let go.”
Another player who has been waiting their turn is junior point guard Maryn Archer, an Arkansas commit, who has been unable finish out the first two seasons of her high school career. In 2020, Archer helped the Panthers reach the 6A state semifinals, only for the coronavirus pandemic to abruptly cancel the tournament. In 2021, Archer suffered two patella dislocations, the second of which ended her sophomore season after just five games.
Archer, who is averaging 10.7 points and a career-high 4.9 assists this season, believes her time away from action last season has helped her this season.
“I had to watch games from a different perspective,” Archer said. “Honestly, I have to give credit to that because I think it’s helped my game this season. I think I see the floor better and I find my teammates a lot better. If I’m able to get my teammates involved, I knew it was going to make us even harder to guard if everybody on the floor could be a threat.”
Karsak recalled the look of determination on the face of Archer and Brown following their 25-point loss to Dodge City as a shorthanded team in last year’s opening round of the state tournament.
“I think the moment those two walked out of the locker room, they had decided in their minds that they were going to make it to the championship game,” Karsak said. “When your best players are the ones leading the way, it becomes so contagious for the other players and they want to follow. It’s been so cool to watch them be able to do that.”
On Friday, Derby shook off a cold shooting start to rally from an eight-point deficit late in the third quarter to take a 33-30 lead with 20 seconds left in regulation. But Blue Valley would send the game to overtime with the clutch shot-making of Jadyn Wooten, who finished with a game-high 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting.
In the first overtime, Brown scored with 18 seconds left to tie the score and force another extra period. The Panthers took control early in the second overtime when senior Tatum Boettjer, who had been 0-for-8, drilled a corner three. Derby never trailed after that, as Archer finished with 14 points and four steals and senior Jada Hopson also contributing to the win.
“It wasn’t pretty, but I don’t care,” Harrison said. “I’ve lost a lot of pretty games. I’ll win ugly every time.”
“It felt like I couldn’t breathe for a minute,” Brown added. “To hear that buzzer go off and know we’re going to the state title game, it’s such a great feeling. And what makes it special is that we did it together. It was not one person. We over me.”
And now the group is one win away from carving out their own special place in Derby girls basketball history.
“I think every little girl has dreams of playing in the state championship game,” Archer said. “All of the hard work, all of the unseen hours, the 5 o’clock mornings and the 6 o’clock nights, it all plays into this. All of the little stuff has all come together and led us here. Now that we’re in position and we want to take advantage of it.”
Friday Kansas high school state basketball tournament scores
Class 6A (Wichita)
Girls: No. 2 Derby 51, No. 6 Blue Valley 49 (2 OT)
Boys: No. 4 Blue Valley Northwest 51, No. 1 Lawrence Free State 42
Girls: No. 4 Washburn Rural 44, No. 1 Olathe North 43
Boys: No. 2 Wichita Heights 61, No. 6 Olathe West 46
Class 5A (Emporia)
Boys: No. 8 Topeka Seaman 66, No. 4 Maize 54
Girls: No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas 58, No. 6 Andover Central 42
Boys: No. 3 De Soto 58, No. 7 St. James Academy 56
Girls: No. 1 Salina Central 68, No. 4 Lansing 37
Class 4A (Salina)
Girls: No. 4 Bishop Miege 82, No. 1 Wellington 42
Boys: No. 3 Andale 49, No. 7 McPherson 42
Girls: No. 2 Eudora 49, No. 3 Wamego 41
Boys: No. 5 Bishop Miege 62, No. 8 Topeka Hayden 50
Class 3A (Hutchinson)
Boys: No. 1 Royal Valley 60, No. 4 Southeast-Saline 52
Girls: No. 4 Goodland 59, No. 1 Silver Lake 53
Boys: No. 2 Hesston 45, No. 6 Thomas More Prep 36
Girls: No. 3 Hugoton 59, No. 2 Nickerson 52
Class 2A (Manhattan)
Girls: No. 1 Sterling 42, No. 4 Berean Academy 35
Boys: No. 2 Hillsboro 37, No. 3 Lyndon 28 (2 OT)
Girls: No. 7 Garden Plain 40, No. 6 Smith Center 38
Boys: No. 4 St. Marys 80, No. 1 Valley Falls 69
Class 1A Division 1 (Dodge City)
Boys: No. 1 Olpe 68, No. 5 Macksville 38
Girls: No. 5 Pretty Prairie 37, No. 1 Hodgeman County 32
Boys: No. 3 South Gray 79, No. 7 Solomon 46
Girls: No. 2 Centralia 53, No. 6 Burlingame 45
Class 1A Division 2 (Great Bend)
Boys: No. 2 Greeley County 59, No. 3 Northern Valley 54
Girls: No. 1 Golden Plains 33, No. 5 Hutchinson Central Christian 23
Boys: No. 1 Hanover 61, No. 4 Bucklin 54
Girls: No. 2 Central Plains 49, No. 6 Hanover 44
Saturday’s KSHSAA state championship basketball schedule
Boys
Class 6A (Wichita)
1st: No. 4 Blue Valley Northwest (21-3) vs. No. 2 Wichita Heights (22-2), 6:15
3rd: No. 1 Lawrence Free State (22-2) vs. No. 6 Olathe West (15-9), 2
Class 5A (Emporia)
1st: No. 8 Topeka Seaman (17-7) vs. No. 3 De Soto (20-4), 4
3rd: No. 4 Maize (19-5) vs. No. 7 St. James Academy (16-8), 12
Class 4A (Salina)
1st: No. 3 Andale (18-6) vs. No. 5 Bishop Miege (18-6), 6:15
3rd: No. 7 McPherson (14-10) vs. No. 8 Topeka Hayden (10-14), 2
Class 3A (Hutchinson)
1st: No. 1 Royal Valley (24-1) vs. No. 2 Hesston (24-1), 4
3rd: No. 4 Southeast-Saline (21-4) vs. No. 6 Thomas More Prep (20-5), 12
Class 2A (Manhattan)
1st: No. 2 Hillsboro (24-1) vs. No. 4 St. Marys (22-3), 6:15
3rd: No. 3 Lyndon (22-3) vs. No. 1 Valley Falls (24-1), 2
Class 1A Division 1 (Dodge City)
1st: No. 1 Olpe (24-1) vs. No. 3 South Gray (23-2), 4
3rd: No. 5 Macksville (22-3) vs. No. 7 Solomon (17-8), 12
Class 1A Division 2 (Great Bend)
1st: No. 2 Greeley County (23-2) vs. No. 1 Hanover (24-1), 4
3rd: No. 3 Northern Valley (22-3) vs. No. 2 Greeley County (23-2), 12
Girls
Class 6A (Wichita)
1st: No. 2 Derby (23-1) vs. No. 4 Washburn Rural (22-2), 4
3rd: No. 6 Blue Valley (20-4) vs. No. 1 Olathe North (23-1), 12
Class 5A (Emporia)
1st: No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (22-2) vs. No. 1 Salina Central (24-0), 6:15
3rd: No. 6 Andover Central (18-6) vs. No. 4 Lansing (20-4), 2
Class 4A (Salina)
1st: No. 4 Bishop Miege (22-2) vs. No. 2 Eudora (23-1), 4
3rd: No. 1 Wellington (23-1) vs. Wamego (21-3), 12
Class 3A (Hutchinson)
1st: No. 4 Goodland (23-2) vs. No. 3 Hugoton (23-2), 6:15
3rd: No. 1 Silver Lake (23-2) vs. No. 2 Nickerson (23-2), 2
Class 2A (Manhattan)
1st: No. 1 Sterling (25-0) vs. No. 7 Garden Plain (19-6), 4
3rd: No. 4 Berean Academy (23-2) vs. No. 6 Smith Center (20-5), 12
Class 1A Division 1 (Dodge City)
1st: No. 5 Pretty Prairie (24-1) vs. No. 2 Centralia (25-0), 6:15
3rd: No. 1 Hodgeman County (24-1) vs. No. 6 Burlingame (21-3), 2
Class 1A Division 2 (Great Bend)
1st: No. 1 Golden Plains (24-0) vs. No. 2 Central Plains (23-2), 6:15
3rd: No. 5 Hutchinson Central Christian (21-4) vs. No. 6 Hanover (20-5), 2
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 7:23 PM.
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