Hoyt, KS

It was the third meeting between the Royal Valley and Perry Lecompton boys, this time with a spot in the 3A sub state championship game on the line.

In the first frame these teams went back and forth trading the lead 5 times before Perry would gain control closing the first quarter on a 6-2 run led by Junior Parker Stone who had six in the quarter to lead 20-16. In the second, the Kaws continued to maintain the lead for over half of the stanza led by Junior Brad Robb who had two three's. However the Panthers would finish the first half on a massive run of 12-5 over the final three minutes, led by their Senior forward Komesh Spoonhunter who drained a pair of big triples to close the half and led 32-29.

The Panthers grabbed the lead heading into the half and would never give the lead up throughout the second half. In the third quarter, Royal Valley relied on a player who has helped carry this team to where they are in Sophomore guard Nahcs Wahwassuck who dropped eight of the Panther eleven in the frame leading Royal Valley to a 43-37 lead going to the final quarter. In the fourth, it was all Panthers once again led by Wahwassuck and Junior guard Brevin Canady as Royal Valley outscored Perry 20-12 in the final frame to win 63-49 and move on to the sub state championship game on Saturday night.

Perry Lecompton (15-7) came out going punch for punch with the Panthers, but after a hot start shooting the ball, the defense and quickness of Royal Valley slowed the Kaws down. Perry found success early attacking the middle of the Panther zone and kicking the ball out for open jumpers, but in the second half the lane was bottled up by the Panther bigs making it extremely difficult on the Kaws. Perry's season had seemed to make a turn in the right direction down the stretch with the Kaws winning 5 of their final 7 games, but a third match up against the fourth ranked team in 3A ends their season two wins shy of their third straight state tournament appearance.

SCORING – P. Stone 15, B. Robb 14, B. Farmer 12, D. Williams 5, B. Welch 3

Royal Valley (21-1) has now won fifteen games by 10 points or more and has done it focusing on what they do, and not what their opponents do. The phrase “OneRV” is plastered everywhere in the gym, t-shirts and every hashtag out there. Reminding everyone who sports the purple to not worry about the opposition, just worry about what they do. Coach Trent Oliva has his program headed in the right direction and with a full head of steam.

Led by Wahwassuck, the Panthers have taken the area and state by storm with their “defense first” mentality and the ability to score from anywhere. They proved once again that even on a night when they find themselves down early, they can and will find a way to win with great defense and salting the game away from the foul line as they hit 9/10 tosses in the fourth quarter. Royal Valley has now won 14 straight in a season where the ceiling continues to get shattered. The Panthers have won the Big 7 league title for the first time ever, they have set the school record for most wins in a season and now look to make it to the state tournament for the first time in program history. They will first have to get through #6 seed St. Marys on Saturday night, facing off with a Bears team that took out the ninth ranked team in class 3A Riley County in the opening round and the second ranked team in 3A Rock Creek in the semi final 68-57. That game will take place Saturday night in Hoyt at 7:30 with live coverage on the MSC Sports Radio Network.

SCORING – N. Wahwassuck 23, B. Canady 13, K. Spoonhunter 10, M. Thomas 8, B. Klotz 7, J. Wamego 2

Citizen's State Bank & Trust Company of Hiawatha “Player To Bank On” - Nahcs Wahwassuck with 23 points, 18 points in the second half.