Class 6A hoops: Blue Valley Northwest stops SM South; Olathe NW girls fall to Topeka

Blue Valley Northwest has seen just about everything during its three-year run of postseason success in boys basketball.

So the Huskies didn’t panic when their quest for a Class 6A three-peat was in peril after three quarters. Instead, Northwest came out swinging and muscled its way past Shawnee Mission South 61-57 in a Friday semifinal at Koch Arena.

The Huskies (22-2) play Washburn Rural, a 55-47 winner on Friday over Wichita Southeast, on Saturday at 6:15 p.m.

BV Northwest trailed the Raiders (19-5) by eight heading into the fourth quarter. But the Huskies responded with a 13-2 run, punctuated by a three-pointer from Jack Chapman, to grab a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We actually just started playing some defense,” BV Northwest senior forward Christian Braun said. “What got us going was just our defense and our effort.”

Braun led the way with a game-high 25 points, including the final two free throws with 4.3 seconds left to put the game away. BV Northwest also got 21 points from Markell Hood. They were the only two Huskies to score until well into the third quarter.

“In the third quarter we was taking it bit by bit, and in the fourth quarter they were folding and we just hit them in the mouth,” Hood said. “We just came out with it.”

Shawnee Mission South was led by 13 points apiece from Skylar Rhoads and Kennedy Rater. Jake Potthoff scored 112, and Ontario Bingley finished with 11.

“All credit to Shawnee Mission South. They played great, but our guys expect to win,” Northwest coach Ed Fritz said. “We hung in there enough to come back to win, so I’m proud of them for that.”

Class 6A girls

Topeka 52, Olathe Northwest 49

Olathe Northwest couldn’t seem to miss on Thursday in upsetting unbeaten Liberal.

On Friday, the Ravens couldn’t buy a basket — at least from the field — and that was ultimately too much to overcome.

Northwest (16-8) had 6.8 seconds to tie the game at the end of regulation, and a clean look from about 25 feet. But the shot came up short, ending the Ravens’ run at a state title. Olathe Northwest will play in the third-place game on Saturday against Derby, a 45-40 loser against Washburn Rural in the other girls 6A semifinal.

“We wanted a look and we had several options to potentially get the ball in the hands of some people,” Ravens coach Joel Branstrom said. “For (Riley Wade) to let it fly, that’s an OK thing.”

The Ravens trailed wire-to-wire yet were able to stay within an arm’s length of Topeka (22-2) despite shooting just 21 percent from the field. Topeka freshman forward Nijaree Canaday poured in 30 points.

Olathe Northwest hung around largely by hitting all but one of its 27 free-throw attempts.

“You’re not going to win many games shooting 21 percent. That’s not us. We missed a lot of shots that we don’t normally miss,” Branstrom said.

The Ravens got 18 points from Sarah Gueldner and 12 from Erika Boeh. Gueldner wasn’t shy about going hard to the rim, and she sported an ice pack on her right hand after the game.

“You make ‘em, you miss ‘em. Last game, I couldn’t miss,” Gueldner said. “This game was a little tougher. I didn’t have my legs under me. No one thought we’d be here, so it’s great to be here.”

This story was originally published March 8, 2019 at 7:13 PM.