When it came time to help Andover Central win a championship, Haven Deckinger and Jaylee Jefferson were ready for the moment.
Neither player is a leading scorer for the Jaguars, but they each ran two of the biggest 3-pointers of the season in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Newton Invitational Tournament title game against undefeated and No. 2 Bishop Carroll of the team classification of class 5A.
Deckinger and Jefferson scored the two key hits to help deliver the NIT championship to Andover Central in a 41-34 win over Bishop Carroll, as the Jaguars (9-3) won their eighth straight game and handed out the Golden Eagles (12-1) their first loss of the season.
It was a championship-worthy game between two of 5A’s best, as the score was locked in a 25-25 tie early in the fourth quarter.
Deckinger drilled a corner three in the first 15 seconds of the fourth quarter to arm Andover Central with a lead that never gave up. As Carroll cut the deficit to 30-29, Jefferson hit a 3-pointer into the same left corner off a kickoff pass by Taylin Tabor to extend Central’s lead to 33-29 with 3:10 remaining.
Carroll’s Leah Henke hit two free throws to close the deficit and Carroll had a good impression on the court down 35-32 in the final minute, but missed and had to foul. Brynn Steven scored in transition to cut Central’s lead to 37-34 with 16 seconds left, but Deckinger hit back-to-back free throws with 13 seconds left to secure the win.
Central also had strong games from its two leading scorers in junior guard Haven Snodgrass (13 points, seven rebounds) and senior forward Maddie Amekporfor (eight points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals).
With the Kansas High School Girls’ Basketball Midseason Tournament Championships set to be decided on Saturday, here are three more Wichita-area winners to know:
The Maize South women’s basketball team finished the championship game with an 8-0 run by defeating Gardner Edgerton in a 44-43 win to reclaim the Lady Cat Classic title at El Dorado.
1. Southern Corn rallies to dramatic win to reclaim the El Dorado championship
Needing stops and scores behind Gardner Edgerton by eight points with under four minutes left in the Lady Cat Classic title game, Maize South found exactly what they were looking for.
The Mavericks finished the game on a 9-0 run, which culminated with senior Avery Lowe’s game-winning layup in the final minute, to a stunning 44-43 win over Gardner Edgerton to win the El Dorado tournament for the fourth time. in the last five years.
The comeback began at the foul line, as Amani Lipscomb and Ava Howie both hit a pair of free throws to cut Gardner Edgerton’s lead to 43-39 with 2:46 left.
It was then that Lowe, a recruit from Nebraska Kearney, took over.
A run for the loose ball was won by Maize South and the 6-foot-2 senior was left wide open at the top of the key, where he calmly buried a triple to put the Mavericks up 43-42 with 2:12 left. Seconds later, Lowe swarmed defense to force a turnover.
But a charge on Lowe swept what would have been a go-ahead field goal, meaning Maize South needed another stop in the final 90 seconds. Lipscomb, the Mavericks’ underwhelming junior point guard, concocted the big play to sweep a pass and force a turnover.
On the biggest play of the game, Maize South hit a pick-and-roll with Sophie Hurley as the ball handler and Lowe as the screener. Lowe was open on the shot, but Hurley didn’t have the corner, so she passed on top of the key to freshman Kaylee Brunton, who managed to find Lowe inside with a mismatch for an easy go-ahead field goal with 45 seconds left.
Gardner Edgerton missed a potential go-ahead three with 10 seconds left and gasped desperately from midcourt when the buzzer sounded, but both shots missed.
Lowe finished with a season-high 16 points and earned tournament MVP honors, while Hurley added eight points and Lipscomb and Brunton each had seven points for a Maize South (9-3) team to extend its streak of victories in six games.
Cheney’s women’s basketball team outlasted Central Plains league rival Garden Plain in the championship game of the Wildcat Classic to win the Haven Tournament.
2. Cheney overwhelms Garden Plain to take the Haven tournament title
Cheney looked every bit a Class 3A championship contender this week in Haven to capture the Wildcat Classic with three consecutive double-digit wins, including Saturday’s 45-31 victory over Garden Plain in the Finals.
Team No. Ranked #4 in Class 3A, the Cardinals improved to 12-1 and won their 11th straight games of the season, including two against their Central Plains league rival Garden Plain, who fell to 8-5 on the season.
Always gritty, Garden Plain held Cheney scoreless for the first six minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 12-10. But the Cardinals would end the half on an 8-0 run, as Campbell Hague scored or assisted in seven points to give Cheney up 20-12 at halftime.
The Owls still had a point to spare, as Madelyn Rolfs drilled a three to narrow Cheney’s lead to 27-21 with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter. But Cheney once again had an immediate response.
Within 20 seconds of Rolfs’ 3-pointer, Cheney answered with a 3-pointer when Anna Martin hit a corner third to start an 8-0 run to close out the fourth. Reagan Ayres (a career-high 14 points) finished the rally with three more points to give Cheney a 35-23 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Cheney once again found success in his post combination of Hague (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Leah Durr (10 points), while Madelyn Rolfs led Garden Plain with nine points and Ryleigh Stuhlsatz added eight.
The two teams will meet for the third time this season, this time in the league, in just three days when Garden Plain hosts Cheney on Tuesday.
The Wellington women’s basketball team continued their undefeated season with a win over Mulvane in the championship game of the Wildcat Classic to improve to 13-0.
3. Wellington has little trouble keeping the season undefeated with the Mulvane title
There was little turmoil in keeping Wellington’s perfect season alive at the Wildcat Classic.
The Crusaders snapped a three-game hitting streak to capture the tournament title in Mulvane, culminating with a 39-23 win over host Mulvane on Saturday.
Val Norwood scored a season-high 12 points, as the Crusaders methodically pulled away from Mulvane to improve to 13-0 this season. Norwood was named tournament MVP, while Britt Zeka and Kylan Gregory were both named to the all-tournament team.
Kansas High School Women’s Basketball Midseason Tournament Game Scores
Edge of the Glaciers (Emporia)
1st: Topeka Seaman 46, Emporia 43
3rd: Derby 50, Wichita Heights 33
5th: SM West 57, BV Southwest 39
7: corn 47, SM east 41
Firebird Winter Classic (Lawrence)
1st: Topeka 56, Blue Valley 51
3rd: Lawrence 50, Goddard Eisenhower 38
5: Wichita NW 59, Topeka W 53
7: Great Bend 64, Lawrence Free State 19
Classic Thunderbird (Shawnee Heights)
1st: SM 53 South, Wichita South 48
3rd: Washburn Rural 44, Hutchinson 28
Mid America Classic (McPherson)
1st: St. James Academy 49, Wichita Southeast 38
3rd: McPherson 62, Clearwater 39
5: Manhattan 46, Dodge City 35
7: Olathe South 51, Valley Center 29
Newton’s Invitational Tournament
1st: Andover Central 41, Bishop Carroll 34
3rd: Olathe NW 31, SM NW 22
5: Newton 40, Garden City 30
7: Trinity Academy 35, Olathe East 30
Lady Cat Classic (El Dorado)
1st: South Corn 44, Gardner Edgerton 43
3rd: Wichita East 40, Goddard 32
5: Kapaun Mt. Carmel 57, Augusta 43
7: Mill Valley 52, El Dorado 20
Classic Wildcat (Mulvane)
1st: Wellington 39, Mulvane 23
3rd: Conway Springs 33, Arkansas City 31
5th: Winfield 34, Wichita North 26
7: Collegiate 52, Campus 26
Wildcat Classic (Shelter)
1st: Cheney 45, Garden Plain 31
3rd: Andale 31, Refuge 29
5th: Circle 35, Halstead 29
7th: Nickerson 57, Rose Hill 33
Eli J. Walter Tournament (Berean Academy)
1st: Sunrise Christian 73, Little River 65
3rd: Berean Academy 46, Ell-Saline 13
5: Hutchinson Central Christian 52, Wichita Homeschool 41
