When Derek Bevan took over the Bucklin boys basketball program before the 2018-19 season, the Red Aces had won just nine games over the previous six years.  

Bucklin continued to take its lumps during a four-win season in Bevan's first year, but the freshman class gave the Red Aces reason for optimism.  

"They were determined at that point that it was going to stop," Bevan said. "They were going to be the ones that did the work and put in the hours to make sure that (the losing) tradition was going to stop, and we were going to start a new one." 

Those same players that were tasked with changing the culture spent last weekend leading Bucklin to one of their biggest athletic achievements in the last 15 years.  

After taking down previously unbeaten and top-ranked South Gray the night before, Bucklin captured its first Southern Plains Iroquois Activity Association tournament championship since 2006 with a 53-47 victory over Hodgeman County in the title game on Saturday night at United Wireless Arena in Dodge City.  

"It was just amazing," Bucklin guard Scott Price said. "It was pretty awesome to be out there on the floor."

Bucklin went 13-9 in Bevan's second year and 12-10 last year before breaking through this season and emerging as a contender with a 10-4 mark. 

The Red Aces, now ranked No. 6 in Class 1A Division II, were led by their senior backcourt of Price and Nate Bowman on Saturday. Price scored 20 points and hit five 3-pointers while Bowman added 14 points with four 3-pointers. Price, Bowman and Colton Stein comprise the Red Aces' three-player senior class.  

"We took a lot of thumpings their freshman year, being young," Bevan said. "This has been the year we kind of targeted for this (success). To see them work for it at the beginning of the year, and the whole team rally behind with them and just go out and get it, it's just awesome. I'm so happy for those guys and what we've been able to do so far this year." 

"We just had the want and the drive, and just bought into the process," Price said. "We take a lot of pride in that, because that was our goal growing up. We didn't have a very good season my freshman year, but we were in a lot of games that Bucklin hadn't been in for a very long time. We knew that it would be a process for sure, but I think we started realizing that in a few years we'd be a team to beat." 

Hodgeman County (10-4) led 36-35 heading into the fourth quarter of the championship game. A bucket by Price started an 8-0 run to give the Red Aces a 45-38 lead. The Longhorns were within three at 48-45 before a steal and two free throws from Andrew Bowman helped restore a five-point lead with 1:50 left.  

The Longhorns hurt Bucklin inside for the first three quarters, but the Red Aces buckled down and got key stops in the fourth.  

"We just cleaned some stuff up," Price said. "We didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare for them, but at the end of the day we just played defense like we know how to and came out on top." 

Hodgeman County 6-foot-3 sophomore Owen Reece scored a game-high 23 points.  

"Reece is a great, great player," Bevan said. "Even for a sophomore, he's tremendous at getting inside, using his body to get around guys. We tried to focus on keeping our feet more and not leaving him to give him an open shot – make him hit one over the top of us." 

Bucklin went 10 of 33 from 3-point range. Price hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Kolson Cook also hit clutch trey.   

"When I was in college (at McPherson) we kind of ran that dribble drive with two in the corners," Bevan said. "I've kind of taken that and morphed it into some modern stuff that you see in the NBA somewhat." 

Price and Nate Bowman helped keep turnovers to a minimum. Price said that he and Bowman have developed a strong chemistry on the court after years of playing together.  

"We grew up together, basically brothers," Price said. "We've been playing out in our backyards and stuff like since we could walk." 

Price averages 21.3 points. Nate Bowman and Andrew Bowman put up 13.2 and 11.4 points per game while Jaron Lindsey averages nearly 10 points a game. 

"Scott and Nate here lately have been kind of our workhorses,"  Bevan said. "Andrew Bowman stepped up big in this tournament. And Jaron's really coming along. It's been awesome these last couple of games." 

In Friday's 68-64 semifinal win, Nate Bowman scored 22 points while Price and Andrew Bowman added 17 and 16, respectively. Bucklin avenged its 78-74 loss at South Gray on Jan. 14.  

"It was pretty awesome. We came into that game really wanting that one," Price said. "After beating the top-ranked Division I team in the state, going into this game. we felt like we could really do anything." 

Bucklin's four losses are to South Gray, Class 3A Hoisington, Class 2A Ellis and Wichita Homeschool.  

"I've tried to focus on getting our non-league (schedule) to be really competitive," Bevan said. "We may take some losses early in the year, but we take a ton from that. We learn and we see what we need to fix, and we fix it. We try to get prepped for this, and obviously our league is extremely tough.

"We make take some thumps early, but we keep the mindset that it's all to prepare us for games like this weekend, and games come February and March." 

 

Hodgeman County girls hold off South Central, remain unbeaten  

The Hodgeman County girls, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A Division I, used key defensive stops down the stretch and free throws to hold off South Central 52-48 and win the SPIAA tournament championship.  

Hodgeman led 42-33 early in the fourth quarter after two buckets in transition by junior Malynn Beil. South Cental went on a 13-4 run to knot it up at 46 but couldn't grab the lead. 

The Longhorns, now 14-0, led 49-48 with under two minutes left. Beil helped clinch it by hitting three of four free throws in the last 17 seconds.  

"On the last couple possessions we were able to force them into some tough shots that they probably weren't comfortable taking," Hodgeman County coach Trent Bright said. "We always talk about finishing possessions off with rebounds, and we were able to do that." 

Beil and Morgan Ruff scored 13 apiece for Hodgeman County, and Kaylee James added 11. 

"It's big for us to get that balance," Bright said. "On any given night we can have two or three girls score in double figures, so that's huge for us." 

Hodgeman County, which went 20-5 and reached the state semifinals last year, has relied on tough man-to-man defense throughout this season.  

"Our girls don't like playing zone," Bright said. "It's in their minds they want to play man. From Day 1, I've always told them the best teams always play man-to-man defense." 

South Central dropped to 11-3, taking its second loss of the season to Hodgeman County.  

"We made too many unforced errors, especially defensively," South Central coach Tim Rietzke said. "I thought they were a little bit more physical in their man defense than we were, and over the course of the game, that added up. Having said that, we had plenty of chances at the end to turn the game our way and just couldn't get a goal."

Sierra Jellison led South Central with 16 points while Kodi Herd added 14. 

Dodge City girls win Newton Invitational  

The Dodge City girls outscored Andover Central 17-7 in the fourth quarter to notch a 48-40 win on Saturday in the Newton Invitational championship game.  

"I'm very proud of how our girls battled in the NIT against really tough competition," Dodge City coach Kelley Snodgrass said. "It was a great team effort.  I believe it was our tenacious defense and having less than 10 turnovers each game that brought home the championship. We did a great job of taking care of the basketball." 

Senior Camree Johnson capped off a tremendous tournament for the Red Demons with 24 points in the title game. 

Johnson went over 1,000 points for her career during Saturday's game. She finished the tournament with 74 points over the three games.  

"Camree Johnson had an outstanding weekend," Snodgrass said. "… We had various other girls step up and hold our opponents to season lows, and make big shots when we needed them to." 

Victoria Gonzalez joined Johnson in double figures with 11 points.  

Dodge City, ranked No. 9 in Class 6A, moved to 12-2 with a 48-43 win over Garden City on Tuesday.