Blue Springs South rolls to Missouri Class 5, District 9 championship

Blue Springs South junior KJ Robinson knocked down a three-pointer for the first points Thursday evening in the Missouri Class 5, District 9 championship game against Columbia Rock Bridge.

And down the stretch Robinson had his way as well. At the start of the fourth quarter, Robinson drilled back-to-back three-pointers, which fired up the home crowd and left no doubt that a sore ankle wasn’t going to slow him down.

Robinson’s game-high 24 points helped propel Blue Springs South to a 70-62 victory.

The Jaguars, 25-2, advanced to sectionals and will play Jefferson City at 6 p.m. Wednesday at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Mo.

“That was big for me,” Robinson said of his first field goal of the game. “It gave me a lot of confidence. I knew I could play with (the injury).”

Blue Springs South certainly needed Robinson’s offense, as Rock Bridge, which finished its season 19-5, fought back several times from significant deficits.

“He rolled an ankle Friday,” Blue Springs South coach Jimmy Cain said. “He wasn’t ready to go Tuesday (in the semifinals). We had a lot of guys step up Tuesday. We welcomed him with open arms tonight.”

Robinson started off hot on Thursday. He made three three-pointers in the first quarter, staking the Jaguars to a 22-11 lead with 1 minute left in the quarter.

But the Bruins roared back and took their only lead at 24-23 midway through the second quarter. Blue Springs South quickly regrouped andwent into halftime ahead 38-30.

The Jaguars had a 48-39 lead after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Robinson made that cushion even more comfortable.

Robinson hit back-to-back three-pointers that increased Blue Springs South’s lead to 54-39. Rock Bridge made one more small push, closing to 62-56 with 1:23 left.

But thanks to six three-pointers overall by Robinson, Blue Springs South had too big of an advantage for the Bruins to overcome.

“My teammates gave me great passes on both of those,” Robinson said. “You have to give a lot of credit to them. And we got stops.”

Robinson definitely had help. Senior Kevin Puryear was strong inside and finished with 18 points. Senior guard Brandon Kilgore also hit timely baskets and put the game away at the free-throw line in the final minute. Kilgore scored 23.

“He (Kilgore) has been playing well all year,” Cain said. “I’ve been telling people there is a reason we have had so much success this year. It is because we have multiple guys who can play. Obviously, KJ and Kevin get a lot of attention, but we have a lot of guys who have made plays all year long.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 10:29 PM with the headline "Blue Springs South rolls to Missouri Class 5, District 9 championship."