WICHITA – Maybe the basketball gods recognize the bright future the Blue Valley North girls appear to have with a mostly underclassmen lineup and decided to put the weight of Saturday’s Class 6A state championship game on a senior’s shoulders.
 
The more logical reason, however, is that sophomore Jaliya Davis saw her teammate, Nyla Hale, flash to an open spot in the lane, fed her the ball and watched Hale earn a trip to the free-throw line when Washburn Rural’s MaRyah Lutz fouled her on a shot attempt.
 
“I didn’t think it was going to be me,” said Hale, the lone senior in the Mustangs’ regular player rotation. “But I’m glad it was.”
 
Blue Valley North was perilously close to running out of time to complete a comeback from a dreadful first 13 minutes against the reigning 6A champion. But given the chance to be the heroine with 17 seconds remaining, Hale sank two free throws that stood as the winning points in the Mustangs’ 35-34 victory at Koch Arena.

 
Hale, born two months after Blue Valley North’s previous state title in 2005, helped halt the championship drought and gave coach Ann Fritz her fourth 6A crown – all with the Mustangs. After winning a game in which her team led for only 65 seconds, Fritz yelled, “Can you believe that?” moments after the final buzzer sounded.
 
“We just kept talking about have some dog, don’t quit, keep fighting,” Fritz said. “It was going to start on the defensive end.”
 
With points at a premium, only sophomore Logan Parks reached double figures for Blue Valley North (21-4), scoring 12 on 6-of-9 shooting. But in the early going, none of the Mustangs could get on track as Washburn Rural built a 20-6 lead with 3:02 left in the first half.
 
“They threw a little bit of a junk defense at us early, which made us hesitant,” Fritz said. “It just took us awhile to get aggressive.”
 
Washburn Rural, which finished 18-6, seemed to be following the blueprint it used to shut down Derby 40-23 in last year’s 6A championship game. The Junior Blues went on a 16-1 run that included 3-pointers from Chloe Carlgren and Tenly Bunck.
 
Brooklyn DeLeye, Rural’s 6-foot-2 senior forward, scored nine of her game-high 14 points during that stretch, while the Mustangs were plagued by 10 first-half turnovers. But Blue Valley North began chipping away at the deficit before halftime, scoring the final seven points as DeLeye was called for her second and third fouls in the final 1:35 before the break.
 
“We were trying to protect Brooklyn a little bit,” Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. “Not having her in there all the time kind of affects us a little bit because she never comes out. I don’t know if we were extra passive. We had some looks. We just didn’t finish plays.”
 
Rural pushed its lead back to double digits midway through the third quarter, when Bunck hit another 3-pointer to make it 24-14. But Hale soon countered with a baseline drive for a basket that launched the Mustangs’ rally in earnest.
 
When Parks closed the third with Blue Valley North’s last six points, the Mustangs were within 26-25.
 
“I don’t think there was doubt, there was just a little bit of nerves,” Parks said of Blue Valley North’s slow start. “But I think we still knew what we needed to do and we knew what to do, so it was good no matter what.”
 
Rural had overcome a lot in its bid to defend its title, most notably a season-ending ACL injury to junior starter Zoe Canfield. But on Saturday, free-throw issues that concerned Bordewick after Friday’s semifinal victory over Blue Valley continued to leave the Junior Blues vulnerable.

 
Rural made just 8 of 19 in the title game, including 4 of 9 in the fourth quarter. After Katie Hinck missed two with 31 seconds left, Blue Valley North finally capitalized.
 
Hale, whose recurring assignment this season was guarding the other team’s best scorer, scored 12 points in a semifinal victory over Derby. She was 2 of 4 from the line in that game, and 2 of 4 against Rural when she stepped to the line with the Mustangs down one.
 
“I just needed to be calm and shoot the ball,” Hale said.
 
“I felt confident in her for sure,” Parks added.
 
After Hale hit both to give Blue Valley North the lead, Rural bypassed using a timeout. Lutz kicked out on the right wing to Carlgren, who drove in for a shot that was challenged by Davis. The ball rolled off the front of the rim and Davis rebounded. Rural again fouled Hale, who had caught Davis’ outlet pass.
 
Hale actually missed the final free throw of her high school career. But with just two seconds remaining, the best shot Rural could get was a one-handed, three-quarter court heave from DeLeye, which sailed right.
 
“We all fought back together and we all knew what we needed to do,” Hale said. “I have a great group of teammates. They’re like family and I love them all.”

DERBY 43, BLUE VALLEY 30 – After finishing second last season, Derby took third by limiting Blue Valley to two second-half points, rallying behind 19 points and 16 rebounds from Iowa State signee Addy Brown.
 
Junior Jadyn Wooten scored 16 points for Blue Valley, which led 28-22 at halftime. But the Tigers, who lost in double overtime to Derby in the 2022 semifinals, went more than 11½ minutes without scoring. When Wooten hit a jumper with 4:37 remaining, it stopped a 17-0 Derby run and left Blue Valley trailing 39-30.
 
  
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
 
BLUE VALLEY NORTH 35, WASHBURN RURAL 34

Blue Valley North ... 5 ... 8 ... 12 ... 10 ... -- ... 35

Washburn Rural ... 7 ... 13 ... 6 ... 8 … -- ... 34

Blue Valley North (21-4) – Parks 6-9 0-1 12, Hale 1-5 4-7 6, Shaw 2-6 0-0 4, J. Davis 3-4 3-6 9, T. Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Alverson 1-5 0-0 2, Gregory 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-32 7-14 35.
 
Washburn Rural (18-6) – Lutz 0-8 0-2 0, Hinck 2-9 1-6 5, Carlgren 1-7 5-6 8, Bunck 2-6 1-3 7, DeLeye 6-9 1-2 14, Ochs 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-41 8-19 34.
 
3-point goals – Blue Valley North 0-6 (Parks 0-1, Shaw 0-1, Hale 0-2, Alverson 0-2); Washburn Rural 4-13 (Bunck 2-5, Carlgren 1-1, DeLeye 1-1, Hinck 0-2, Lutz 0-4). Rebounds – Blue Valley North 28 (Shaw 11); Washburn Rural 30 (DeLeye 12). Assists – Blue Valley North 6 (Hale, Alverson 2); Washburn Rural 5 (Lutz 3). Turnovers – Blue Valley North 15, Washburn Rural 10. Total fouls – Blue Valley North 17, Washburn Rural 13. Fouled out – None.
 
 
THIRD-PLACE GAME
 
DERBY 43, BLUE VALLEY 30

Derby ... 10 ... 12 ... 10 ... 11 ... -- ... 43

Blue Valley ... 11 ... 17 ... 0 ... 2 … -- ... 30

Derby (22-3) – D. Smith 1-10 2-2 5, Kelley 0-0 0-0 0, Rickords 0-4 0-0 0, Wilson 5-8 0-0 12, Brown 7-14 3-4 19, Demel 1-2 2-2 4, Lansang 0-0 0-0 0, Carpenter 0-0 0-0 0, M. Smith 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 15-42 7-8 43.
 
Blue Valley (16-9) – C. Bax 2-10 0-0 5, E. Bax 1-4 0-0 3, Sogard 2-7 0-0 6, Lister 0-5 0-0 0, Wooten 6-16 3-3 16, Jarrell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-44 3-3 30.
 
3-point goals – Derby 6-16 (Wilson 2-3, Brown 2-5, M. Smith 1-2, D. Smith 1-5, Rickords 0-1); Blue Valley 5-21 (Sogard 2-4, C. Bax 1-4, E. Bax 1-4, Wooten 1-5, Jarrell 0-1, Lister 0-3) . Rebounds – Derby 36 (Brown 16); Blue Valley 25 (Sogard 6). Assists – Derby 10 (Brown 3); Blue Valley 6 (E. Bax, Wooten 2). Turnovers – Derby 7, Blue Valley 6. Total fouls – Derby 8, Blue Valley 13. Fouled out – None.