City League basketball standings: Wichita Northwest boys take lead with Kapaun win
Few high school basketball teams in Kansas can match the offensive firepower of the Wichita Northwest boys, but coach Andy Hill knew the Grizzlies would have to prove at some point they could win with their defense.
The first test came Tuesday night, when Kapaun Mt. Carmel, the defending Class 5A champion led by the legendary Steve Eck, limited Northwest to 11 points in the first half and opened an 11-point lead.
Four days after the poorest performance of the season, in Hill’s words, in a sloppy win over West, the Northwest coach was curious to see how his team would respond in the final 16 minutes after such a frustrating first half. To his delight, the Grizzlies never panicked, buckled down on defense and pulled out a come-from-behind 45-41 victory over the Crusaders at home on Tuesday.
The victory improved Northwest, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A, to 7-0 and solidified its spot as the main challenger to Heights, the other unbeaten team, in the City League championship race, while Kapaun, ranked No. 5 in 5A, dropped to 4-2.
“We needed a game like this to prove to ourselves that we could win a tough, gritty basketball game,” Hill said. “Hats off to West, but our defensive mentality and effort in that game was probably the worst we’ve had in seven years at Northwest.
“So we had two real tough, physical practices leading up to this game and we had a difficult film session and those guys really responded well. I am real proud of that. We’ve been telling them they’re going to have to win games when the ball isn’t going in and be tough enough and mature enough to still go out and play hard. We did that.”
After trailing 22-11 at halftime, Northwest managed to claw back to within 28-24 by the end of the third quarter. Following a Kapaun basket to extend its lead to 30-24, Northwest reeled off an 11-0 run to flip the game, sparked by back-to-back 3-point plays by Liam Calvert and finished on an offensive rebound put-back by D.J. Brown (13 points).
Brown’s 3-point play with 3:14 remaining put the Grizzlies up 38-32, but Kapaun immediately answered back with a 3-pointer by Corbin Johnson and a layup by Rocco Keller (game-high 19 points). A block by Calvert led to a fast break for Northwest, finished by a dunk from River Peters (13 points) for a 42-37 lead with 1:48 left.
But Kapaun showed its championship DNA with a quick jumper by Keller to trim the deficit to 42-39 followed by a defensive stand. With a chance to tie the game in the final minute, Keller had an open look on a transition 3 at the top of the key and the shot was halfway down before it rattled out. After Peters scored at the other end for Northwest, it proved to be Kapaun’s last real shot in the game.
“We were really struggling to score the ball and the guys did a good job of listening at halftime and we made some adjustments and we got a little more aggressive there,” Hill said. “And then we were really good defensively all night, which was huge for us.”
While Northwest had grand expectations entering the season, it had yet to go up against a ranked opponent. To be able to withstand an off-shooting night, which Kapaun deserves credit for, and take down a defending state champion, it felt significant in Northwest’s quest to win its first City League title in decades.
But Tuesday’s game was just the beginning in what is the most difficult stretch of the season: the Grizzlies will take on Derby (No. 9 in 6A) in the GWAL-vs.-AV-CTL Challenge on Friday, then have its first crack at Heights (No. 2 in 6A) on Jan. 17 followed by three straight games in the always-difficult January Jam in Valley Center from Jan. 23-25.
“I don’t necessarily believe in statement wins because I think every time you take the floor is a new night, but (the Kapaun win) is definitely big for our own confidence and belief in ourselves,” Hill said. “We told the guys after these next three weeks, we’re going to really know who we are and hopefully at the end of it, we like the answer to who we are. This was a good first step in that direction tonight.”
Wichita Greater Athletic League basketball scores (January 7)
Boys
Carroll 71, North 25
East 36, South 33
Heights 59, West 27
Northwest 45, Kapaun 41
Girls
Carroll 64, North 29
East 58, South 41
Heights 80, West 8
Kapaun 67, Northwest 15
City League basketball standings
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 6:02 AM.
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