Wyandotte County schools are heading to the 5A boys’ basketball state tournament in force. Bonner Springs, Piper and Washington captured three of the four 5A East region substate championships on Friday night, punching their tickets to this week’s KSHSAA state tournament. It will be the second consecutive trip for Bonner Springs, and the third for Piper, which went all the way to the state title game in 2024.

All three teams will open state tournament play on Tuesday, Mar. 10, in the quarterfinal round. Under KSHSAA’s new state tournament structure, quarterfinal games will be played at regional sites rather than a single state venue. Bonner Springs and Washington will face off at the KCK Community College Fieldhouse at 6:00 p.m., while Piper will take on Topeka West at 8:00 p.m. in Emporia’s White Auditorium.

Semifinals and finals will follow Thursday through Saturday at Koch Arena at Wichita State University. As the bracket is laid out, an all-WYCO final is still in the cards if Piper plus either Bonner Springs or Washington win through.

Bonner Springs 82, Blue Valley Southwest 67

The top-seeded Bonner Springs Braves (24-1) rolled past the Blue Valley Southwest Timberwolves (12-13) in their 5A East substate championship game Friday night at Bonner Springs, challenging Southwest’s tall, physical lineup and not backing down.

Senior Kelan Gruver led the Braves scorers with 27 points, hitting three 3-pointers and going 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Senior Jason Jones added 22 points, including a first-quarter 3-pointer. Senior Nate Ferrell knocked down three 3-pointers, all in the first half, and finished with 13 points. Sophomore Jaiden Jones chipped in 12 points, most of them on put-backs and hustle plays around the basket.

The Braves jumped out to a 15-7 lead in the first quarter, with Ferrell connecting on a pair of 3-pointers and Gruver capping the period with a corner triple. Southwest’s Beckett Carlisle answered with a buzzer-beating half-court 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 25-20 at the end of the first.

Bonner Springs stretched the lead in the second quarter. Deion Cruse buried a corner 3, and Ferrell’s third triple of the half pushed the advantage. A late steal and layup by Ferrell gave the Braves a 44-35 lead at halftime.

Bonner Springs broke the game open in the third quarter. Gruver was relentless, driving the lane for layups into the arms of the defense, earning baskets or trips to the line. Junior guard Prince Donnell burst to the rim with a driving layup. Ferrell swatted away a 3-point attempt by BVSW’s Wesley Abraham, and the Braves pushed the lead to 57-41, prompting a Southwest timeout. By the end of the third, Bonner Springs led 63-43.

The fourth quarter was intensely fought, but the outcome was not in doubt. Gruver continued to attack, scoring on a scoop layup and converting from the line. Jason Jones added a mid-range jumper and a runner in the lane. Cruse finished a long pass from Gruver on a fast break for good measure.

For Blue Valley Southwest, senior guard Eli Mick matched Gruver’s 27 points, draining three 3-pointers and going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Beckett Carlisle added 17 points on four 3-pointers.

After the victory, Bonner Springs head coach Drew Gruver reflected on what has been a remarkable season for the Braves.

“This is the goal, or one of the goals at the start of the season — to get to state,” Gruver said. “You work all season for this opportunity, the chance to play in a substate championship and a chance to go to the state tournament.”

The Braves opened the season with more than 20 consecutive wins before suffering their lone defeat. Gruver credited his team’s experience from last year’s state tournament run — and the work his players put in over the summer — as key factors in their success.

“The guys had a taste of it last year and they wanted to get back,” he said. “They worked so hard during the summer, and then obviously all season long. It was just a great win for us to have a chance to now go compete for the ultimate prize of a state championship.”

On the physical nature of the game against a tall BVSW team, Gruver said his group was prepared. “They had some good-sized guys, guys that crashed the boards hard and went after the rebound. We knew that going in, we stressed that in practice. As you go throughout the playoffs, it’s going to be more physical. I think our guys remembered that a little bit from last year, being a little more physical in the playoffs, and they responded well and fought hard, especially in the second half.”

Looking ahead, Gruver said the team’s plan is simple. “We’ll enjoy this tonight, and then we will see who we play. One game at a time. We got here last year, got to the quarterfinal game, and we just have to prepare the best we can in a short time and try to go get another win on Tuesday.”

Last year, the Braves fell to Andover 76-60 in the state quarterfinals. They last played Washington in the first round of the 2024 substate tournament.

Senior standout Kelan Gruver, who turned in another dominant performance with 27 points, expected the physical challenge posed by Blue Valley Southwest.

“We knew that the refs were gonna let things go coming into the game and we just had to adjust,” Gruver said. “And I thought in the second half we did a good job of doing that.”

As the Braves head to the state tournament for the second straight year, Gruver said the team’s approach won’t change. “We’ve just got to play our game, do what we’ve done all year, and if we do that we’ll have a really good shot.”

“We lost our last game and we took that to heart. But we bounced back — substate champions.”

Gruver didn’t hesitate about what a state title would mean to the school. “It would mean everything. The school hasn’t won since 1984, and I know for me that’s always the goal at the beginning of the season — to win that championship.”

The Braves’ last state title came in 1984, when Bonner Springs edged Parsons 56-55 in the 5A championship game, after also edging Bishop Ward by one point in the semi-finals. Forty-two years later, this group hopes to bring the title back.

Piper 58, Lansing 51

The Piper Pirates (18-7) earned their third consecutive substate championship with a hard-fought 58-51 victory over Lansing (12-13) at Piper on Friday night.

Senior Derrick Jackson Jr. led the way with 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter that helped Piper establish control. He also converted 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch. Senior Alamar Brooks added 17 points and went 3-for-5 from the line. Sophomore Jaylen Taylor contributed 11 points with a 3-pointer, and senior Cooper Crawford chipped in 7, including a 3-pointer of his own. Senior Johnny Vogel rounded out the scoring with 3 points on a 3-pointer.

Head coach Steve Wallace’s squad earned the #6 seed in the 5A state tournament and will face a tough matchup against #3 Topeka West (22-3) in the quarterfinals.

Washington 51, Basehor-Linwood 45

The Washington Wildcats (17-8) continued their strong postseason run with a 51-45 victory over Basehor-Linwood (14-11) in the substate final on Friday. The Wildcats earned the #7 seed in the state tournament after finishing the regular season 15-8. They dispatched the Highland Park Scots 68-38 in the substate semifinal.

Washington will now face Bonner Springs (24-1) in the state quarterfinals on Tuesday at KCKCC Fieldhouse.

5A State Tournament Preview

KSHSAA has implemented a new state tournament format this year. Quarterfinal games will be played Tuesday, Mar. 10 and 11 at neutral sites around the state, with the top seeds placed as close to home as possible. Semifinal and championship games will be held Thursday through Saturday, March 12-14, at Koch Arena at Wichita State University, where 5A and 6A championship games will be played on the same day for the first time since 1953.

Quarterfinal Matchups — Tuesday, Mar. 10

• #1 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (25-0) vs #8 Shawnee Heights (17-8), 6:00 p.m., Koch Arena, Wichita
• #2 Bonner Springs (24-1) vs #7 Washington (17-8), 6:00 p.m., KCKCC Fieldhouse, KCK
• #3 Topeka West (22-3) vs #6 Piper (18-7), 8:00 p.m., White Auditorium, Emporia
• #4 Maize South (21-4) vs #5 Seaman (21-4), 8:00 p.m., Koch Arena, Wichita

The bracket sets up a remarkable scenario for Wyandotte County basketball. Bonner Springs and Washington will meet at KCKCC Fieldhouse in an all-county quarterfinal, guaranteeing at least one local team in the state semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Piper travels to Emporia to face Topeka West, the third seed. If both the Bonner Springs–Washington winner and Piper advance to the championship game, Wyandotte County will see two of its own playing for a state title.

Undefeated Kapaun-Mt. Carmel out of Wichita enters the tournament as the clear favorite at 25-0. The Crusaders occupy the top seed and would face the Bonner Springs–Washington winner in the semifinals. On the bottom half, fourth-seeded Maize South and fifth-seeded Seaman, both 21-4, will battle at Koch Arena, with the winner drawing the Topeka West–Piper survivor.