Olathe North, Shawnee Mission South (& more) punch tickets to state basketball tournament

Jaalan Watson and his Olathe North teammates will finish their season in a familiar place — the state tournament.

For the fourth straight year, the Eagles advanced to the Kansas Class 6A state tournament with a 66-58 win at Blue Valley in their sub-state final on Friday night.

Watson, Olathe North’s star guard, finished with a game-high 23 points. Olathe North (16-6) will face Derby (21-1) in the first round at Koch Arena in Wichita on Wednesday.

The Eagles held a 29-22 lead at halftime, then Sam Simmons scored seven of his 16 points to help push the North lead to 44-32 entering the fourth quarter. Watson helped ice the game by sinking 9 of 10 free throws in the final period, as North connected on 12-of-14 from the line in the last stanza.

Brendan Walsh scored 15 points for Blue Valley, which finished its season at 18-4.

Here are other results from Friday’s action...

Shawnee Mission South 79, Olathe South 53

For the first time since 2019, Shawnee Mission South will be heading to Wichita for the Kansas Class 6A state tournament

The Raiders topped Olathe South 79-53 in a sub-state final on Friday night at Shawnee Mission South. SM South (21-1) clinched the No. 1 seed and opens against Maize (16-6) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Koch Arena.

“We’re just going to go down there and have fun. We’re going to play our game to win it all,” said Raiders junior Ben Allen. “It’s going be great competition and we have to go out there and play like we did today.”

The Raiders held a 30-24 halftime lead, but came out of the locker room with an 11-0 run to open the second half. The run fueled a 27-8 third period, as Allen scored 10 of his team-high 24 points in the quarter.

Sophomore Conor Kerrigan also erupted with 12 of his 20 points in the third period.

“We just knew that if we could just get a decent lead we could just keep pushing up, and we came out hot,” said Raiders head coach Brett McFall. “But most importantly we got four stops right away, which set the tone. And then we just ran away in the third quarter”.

Nic Anderson tallied a game-high 28 points for Olathe South, which finished 15-7 this season.

The Raiders will seek their first state title since winning the Class 5A title in 2013.

Mill Valley 63, Olathe West 48

Reece Riedel scored 22 points to boost Mill Valley back to the state tournament.

The Jaguars will return to the Kansas Class 6A tourney after a 63-48 win against Olathe West on Friday night. Mill Valley (18-4) finished third place a year ago and will face defending state champion Shawnee Mission Northwest (19-3) in the quarterfinals at Koch Arena on Wednesday.

Mill Valley opened hot, with four 3-pointers in the opening frame to take a 24-9 lead, and never looked back. Senior Carter Kaifes connected on two from long range en route to 12 points.

Meanwhile, Riedel drained four of his five 3-pointers after intermission to keep Mill Valley’s cushion over the Owls, who finished 11-10 for the year.

Shawnee Mission Northwest 81, Blue Valley Northwest 50

Shawnee Mission Northwest looked the part of a defending champion on another state title march.

The Cougars (19-3) blew the doors off Blue Valley Northwest with an 81-50 romp at home in their sub-state final on Friday night.

Senior star Keaton Wagler netted a game-high 25 points, including 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, as the Illinois commit tallied a double-double with 10 rebounds. He also had five blocks and five assists.

Tyler Salmon added 18 points as five Cougars reached double figures, including Van Collins (12) and Aivan Riley (10). Junior center Ethan Taylor also notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Trevor Garlington scored 12 points to lead Blue Valley Northwest, which finished 15-7 for the year.

Shawnee Mission Northwest, which finished with a 25-0 record and Kansas Class 6A state title in 2024, will try to avenge one of its losses against Mill Valley in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at Koch Arena in Wichita.

For updated brackets, online broadcasts, stories and more, visit 810Varsity.com.