Mill Valley boys rally, but come up a bit short in Kansas 5A quarterfinal loss

Mill Valley trailed by 14 points entering the fourth quarter against No. 1-seeded Maize South, but then the Jaguars nearly pulled off the upset.

Mill Valley closed its deficit to two points with just more than 2 minutes left, before losing 60-52 on Thursday in a Kansas Class 5A boys quarterfinal game at the Kansas Expocentre.

“That has been our mantra all year,” Mill Valley coach Mike Bennett said. “We had to fight all year. We put ourselves in a pretty big hole, but I am so proud of them on how much they gave, especially this game.”

Mill Valley finished its season 14-9, but the future looks bright. Freshman Cooper Kaifes came off the bench and hit six three-pointers on 10 attempts. He finished with a game-high 24 points.

Junior Logan Koch, who scored 16 points, was just as instrumental in helping Mill Valley turn a 48-34 deficit at the end of the third quarter to a 51-49 deficit with 2 minutes, 9 seconds left. Koch made the basket that made it a two-point game.

After Maize South scored the next four points, Kaifes gave the Jaguars hope again with a long, baseline three-pointer. That basket made the score 55-52, Maize South. During the final minute, Mill Valley missed a couple of rushed shots and Maize South made its free throws.

“We are a junior-laden team,” Bennett said. “We have a great group.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Mill Valley boys rally, but come up a bit short in Kansas 5A quarterfinal loss."