WICHITA – Shawnee Mission Northwest has made many trips to the state high school basketball tournament over the last 50 years, but none like the one that culminated Saturday.
 
Never had a player like junior Van Collins raised his arms triumphantly, only to realize he needed to catch an outlet pass and dribble out the final few seconds before flinging the ball skyward.

 
Never had a coach like David Birch looked up at the scoreboard, then turned and paraded down the sideline to celebrate with every assistant and player on his bench.
 
And the Cougars had never ended a season in a dogpile on the court. But there they were, celebrating their first state championship, a 25-0 season and a 47-39 victory over perennial power Wichita Heights in the Class 6A state tournament at Koch Arena.
 
“This feels crazy. It feels amazing,” said Deven Bolton, one of four senior reserves who teamed with an all-underclassmen starting five to make the Cougars’ first state championship game appearance a success. “It’s my last season and I’ve had some injuries. But we came out and got the job done.”
 
Making its 14^th state trip since 1973, Shawnee Mission Northwest exorcised a few demons of years gone by to collect the championship trophy. Often toppled by teams from the Greater Wichita Athletic League, the Cougars turned back Cinderella candidate Wichita East in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

The tournament path then went through a familiar foe, Mill Valley, and like the Cougars did in making an unbeaten run through the Sunflower League this winter, they defeated the Jaguars in the semifinals.
 
The final test came from Wichita Heights, a tradition-rich program that had foiled Cougar title hopes in the past with stars like Darnell Valentine and Antoine Carr in 1977, and Perry Ellis in 2009.
 
The history meant little to Shawnee Mission Northwest on Saturday.
 
“There was definitely pressure,” said junior Aiven Riley, who had his best game of the tournament with a game-high 13 points. “But we knew that we were going to come into this game and give it our best. Like the past 24 games, that’s just how it is.”
 
Wichita Heights, which finished 23-2, breezed into its third consecutive title game by rolling up 86 points in a quarterfinal victory over Campus and 74 in a 42-point thrashing of Wichita Northwest in the semifinals. But the Cougars found the neutralizer with a zone defense that frequently frustrated the Falcons.
 
Outside of junior guard Aven Mboule, who hit four 3-pointers for 12 points, and forward Amalachi Wilkins, who added 11 while battling Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 7-footer Ethan Taylor, Heights had trouble connecting on offense. The Falcons made 15 of 48 shots for 31%.
 
“What makes it difficult is the amount of space they eat up,” Heights coach Joe Auer said of the Cougars’ zone. “It’s not something that they do very often, so credit to them for going to it. They knew it was going to be tough to guard us man-to-man in the half court, so they went to Plan B.”

 
Shawnee Mission Northwest also avoided the early blitzkrieg that Heights has often unveiled at state. Instead, the Cougars hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter – two by junior guard Keaton Wagler, who had 10 points – and led 14-10.
 
“Most people thought that Wichita Heights was going to win, and we kind of had a chip on our shoulder,” Wagler said. “This was our first time being here. We were like, ‘We’re here. We might as well get it.’”
 
With Heights senior standout TJ Williams hitting just 3 of 11 shots and junior Chase Robinson going 2 of 11 after missing just one of 19 shots in the first two tournament games, the Cougars had a recipe for success. The Falcons made just one field goal in a six-minute stretch of the third quarter as Shawnee Mission Northwest built its biggest lead at 35-23.
 
But like they did in last year’s championship before falling 55-50 to Blue Valley Northwest, Heights put together a run. Mboule hit a 3-pointer and Williams followed in a missed free throw that cut the Cougars’ lead to 35-30 after three quarters.
 
The run reached 11 unanswered points as it continued into the fourth. When Williams hit a scoop shot and Wilkins followed in a dunk in the opening minute, Shawnee Mission Northwest’s lead was 35-34 and the Heights crowd was rocking.
 
But the Cougars never surrendered the lead.
 
Shawnee Mission Northwest got a dunk from Taylor on its first possession out of a timeout for a three-point lead. Both teams then went through a lengthy drought that saw three Heights players – Mboule, Jalihn Timmons and Williams – shoot air balls. Taylor also blocked a shot by Wilkins.

 
Wagler broke the scoring drought of nearly five minutes by both teams with a shot in the lane. When Riley added a goaltended basket with 1:24 remaining, the Cougars led 41-34 and the championship was coming into focus.
 
“Our schedule and then our summer schedule really prepared us for this,” said Birch, whose team reached the state quarterfinals in the Covid-19 season of 2020-21 and lost in the quarterfinals in Wichita in both 2022 and 2023. “We played Springdale, Arkansas, and Staley (Mo.) in the summer and all these tough teams. And it that big moment, there was a time when we probably would have thrown it away a couple times.
 
“But we were composed because of what we had done leading up to that and because of some of the tough environments we have seen.”
 
The Cougars’ defense remained stingy until the end. Taylor recorded the last of his five blocked shots, denying Williams with 15 seconds to play. When Heights’ K’Mari Holt and Robinson came up empty on two desperation attempts, Taylor cleared the rebound ahead to Collins, who dribbled in a circle before tossing the ball toward the scoreboard above him.
 
“At the beginning of the year, we weren’t really ranked so we didn’t feel any pressure,” Wagler said. “Toward the end of the season, like the last five games, we kind of felt that pressure. It was like, ‘We’ve made it this far. It’s going to be devastating if we lose.’
 
“But I think we just worked through that, and that’s what got us these wins.”
 
MILL VALLEY 73, WICHITA NORTHWEST 58 – Mill Valley posted its highest state finish since it won the Class 5A title in 2016, getting 25 points from Carter Kaifes and 16 from Mason Kemp to win the third-place game.
 
The Jaguars shot 54% from the field, with Kemp going 7 for 7 with multiple dunks. He also added 13 rebounds as Mill Valley had a 44-32 edge on the boards. Kaifes hit 11 of 16 shots.
 
Wichita Northwest, making its first state appearance in 13 years, got 19 points from Tasean Williams, 13 from Eli Benning and 11 from Darian Hammond.
 
 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST 47, WICHITA HEIGHTS 39

Wichita Heights … 10 … 8 … 12 … 9 … – … 39
Shawnee Mission Northwest … 14 … 9 … 12 … 12 … – … 47
 
Wichita Heights (23-2) – Robinson 2-11 2-5 7, Williams 3-11 0-0 6, Timmons 0-7 0-0 0, Mboule 4-7 0-0 12, Wilkins 5-9 1-2 11, Holt 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 15-48 3-7 37.
 
Shawnee Mission Northwest (25-0) – Wagler 3-4 2-2 10, Collins 2-8 2-2 7, Riley 5-6 2-2 13, Salmon 2-6 2-2 7, Taylor 3-5 1-2 7, Bolton 1-1 0-0 2, Hoskins 0-1 0-0 0, D. Nixon 0-0 0-0 0, V. Nixon 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 16-32 10-12 47.
 
3-point goals – Wichita Heights 6-20 (Mboule 4-6, Holt 1-2, Robinson 1-3, Wilkins 0-1, Williams 0-2, Timmons 0-6); Shawnee Mission Northwest 5-13 (Wagler 2-3, Riley 1-2, Salmon 1-3, Collins 1-4, Hoskins 0-1). Rebounds – Wichita Heights 26 (Williams, Wilkins 7); Shawnee Mission Northwest 27 (Taylor 10). Assists – Wichita Heights 7 (Robinson 2); Shawnee Mission Northwest 10 (Collins 4). Turnovers – Wichita Heights 5, Shawnee Mission Northwest 9. Total fouls – Wichita Heights 14, Shawnee Mission Northwest 8. Fouled out – None.
 
THIRD-PLACE GAME

MILL VALLEY 73, WICHITA NORTHWEST 58
 
Wichita Northwest … 10 … 10 … 18 … 20 … – … 58
Mill Valley … 23 … 11 … 17 … 22 … – … 73
 
Wichita Northwest (18-7) – Williams 8-23 3-5 19, Hammond 4-7 2-2 11, Benning 5-13 0-0 13, Henderson 2-5 2-3 6, Calvert 3-10 0-0 9, Reed 0-3 0-0 0, Ekue 0-4 0-0 0, Dirting 0-0 0-0 0, Hopkins III 0-1 0-0 0, Blunt 0-1 0-0 0, Rogers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-67 7-10 58.
 
Mill Valley (19-6) – Drummond 2-4 1-2 5, Wiltse 2-5 2-4 7, Suderman 2-2 2-4 8, Gallimore 0-1 0-0 0, Kemp 7-7 2-4 16, Carter 1-5 4-4 7, Riedel 1-9 0-0 3, Kaifes 11-16 1-1 25, Hawkins 1-1 0-2 2, Ivey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-50 12-21 73.
 
3-point goals – Wichita Northwest 7-27 (Benning 3-6, Calvert 3-7, Hammond 1-1, Hopkins III 0-1, Blunt 0-1, Ekue 0-2, Williams 0-9). Rebounds – Wichita Northwest 32 (Henderson 8); Mill Valley 44 (Kemp 13). Assists – Wichita Northwest  11 (Williams 6); Mill Valley 22 (Riedel 8). Turnovers – Wichita Northwest 11, Mill Valley 20. Total fouls – Wichita Northwest 22, Mill Valley 11. Fouled out – Calvert.