COLBY – Gavin Wahl sees himself as a guard by nature. 

The South Gray 6-foot-2 sophomore grew up playing exclusively on the perimeter before hitting a growth spurt in high school and being asked to play inside more frequently. 

As the Rebels’ tallest player, Wahl was a key figure as South Gray tried to combat a size disadvantage against Lawrence-Bishop Seabury in the Class 1A Division I state championship game. 

Though Wahl may feel more comfortable outside, he had no trouble taking over the game down low when it mattered most, scoring 17 fourth-quarter points to help the Rebels pull away for a 76-63 win in Saturday’s title game at the Colby Event Center. 

“This year’s been hard for me because the last five years I’ve been a point guard,” Wahl said. “I came to high school and I’m 6-foot 2, and coach (Mark Applegate) wants me to play post, so I try to do both. 

“He’s such a good coach. He taught me everything I know about the post.”

Wahl scored 26 to match South Gray senior Joey Dyck and Seabury’s Jace Smith for game-high honors. 

Wahl went 6 of 7 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the foul line in the fourth as South Gray outscored Seabury 25-17 in the final frame after leading by five at the end of the third. 

“I kept making moves and my teammates found me with good passing. I was just in the right spot at the right time,” Wahl said. 

“He was huge,” Dyck said. “The last quarter, he was getting it down low and scoring. He was playing strong. That’s what we’ve been telling him all season. Yeah, he’s a shooter and he plays guard, but he’s got the size to be a post. He can do both. I was happy and proud of him.”

Dyck capped a tremendous career with a monster all-around game, recording 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 steals to go along with the 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting. 

“He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached,” Applegate said. “He just puts his heart out there.”
 

The Rebels (24-2), which captured its fifth state title in program history, showed early they wouldn’t be fazed by the height disparity. They grabbed offensive rebounds and limited second chances for Seabury, led by 6-foot-7 Chase Honarvar and versatile guards Jace Smith and Aidan Page. South Gray won the battle on the boards by seven. 

“It was a great confidence booster, because that’s what we worried about, we wouldn’t get those rebounds,” Dyck said. “Once we started getting them, we realized, ‘Hey, we could do this.' ”

Applegate said this year's team might be the best shooters he’s ever coached. The Rebels finished the regular season shooting over 40 percent from 3. They hit 12 3-pointers in the semifinal against Olpe.

However on Saturday, South Gray struggled from the field for most of the game, going 19 of 51 through the first three quarters before finding success in the paint and making 8 of 10 shots in the final frame.

Seabury went 27 of 56 from the field. The Seahawks turned the ball over 14 times compared to just three from South Gray.

South Gray, which led 30-29 at half, also helped its cause by getting Honarvar in foul trouble. 

“Defensively, I thought we did a good job of staying in front of their drivers because they were real quick getting to the basket,” Applegate said. “We tried to take it at (Honarvar) and get him some fouls and that was successful. We didn’t shoot the ball as well from the outside as we did (Friday) but we got it inside and did damage in there.”
 

With South Gray up by five late in third quarter, Honarvar picked up his fourth foul on a charge driving to the bucket. 

The Seahawks were without head coach Trey Johnson from then on after he drew back-to-back technicals while upset at the call on Honarvar. 

Honarvar played most of the fourth quarter before finally fouling out, but said he was forced to limit his agressivness with four fouls. 

Smith kept the Seahawks within striking distance but Seabury was unable to string stops together or contain Wahl down the stretch. South Gray then iced it at the line. 

“We didn’t play our best game. (South Gray) played pretty good,” Honarvar said. “They hit some shots down the stretch and some calls didn’t go our way. That’s just how it went.

“We knew they could shoot and we knew they could rebound. We didn’t really execute on the rebounding. I think we did a pretty good job on their shooters, but we had to rebound better.”

Honarvar added the future is bright for the Seahawks, who were playing in their first state championship game in program history. Seabury is set to return all four starters except for the senior Page.

Honarvar (15), Page (12) and Jace Hoffman (10) joined Smith in double figures. 
 

South Gray has four seniors – Dyck, Dominic Martin, Conner Salmans and Max Moore.  The Rebels finished third last year after falling to Olpe in the 2021 and 2022 title games. 

South Gray’s previous championships came in 1997, 2007, '08, '18 -- all under Applegate, who is the state’s all-time leader in wins on the boys side with 792. 

“It really means everything to have (Applegate) as my head coach,” Dyck said. “I’m so blessed and thank God for him every day.”
 

THIRD PLACE 

OLPE 46, QUINTER 32 – Blake Skalsky scored 17 and Brecken McGuire added 10 as Olpe regrouped from Friday’s six-point loss to South Gray to nab third place. 

Olpe (22-4) did most of its damage in the first quarter, racing out to an 18-6 lead. Quinter never mounted a big run to get back within striking distance. 

Olpe’s third-place showing comes on the heels of last year’s fourth-place finish following state championships in 2021 and ‘22.  

Quinter closed its campaign at 21-5. Caedmon Bridges scored seven to lead the Bulldogs. 

CLASS 1A DIVISON CHAMPIONSHIP BOX SCORES

CHAMPIONSHIP 

SOUTH GRAY 76, SOUTH GRAY 63 

Seabury … 11 … 18 … 17 … 17 … – … 63 
South Gray … 13 … 17 … 21 … 25 … – … 76 

Seabury (21-5) – Hoffman 4-11 0-0 10, Page 4-7 3-3 12, Smith 10-23 3-4 26, O’Hara 0-1 0-0 0, Honarvar 7-12 1-11 15, Brockhoff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 7-8 63. 

South Gray (24-2) – Moore 1-6 0-0 3, Salmans 3-4 2-2 9, Moore 1-2 0-0 2, Dyck 10-20 7-8 26, Martin 3-16 4-7 10, Wahl 9-13 4-4 26. Totals 27-61 16-20 76. 

3-point goals – Seabury 6-19 (Smith 3, Hoffman 2, Page). South Gray 6-21 (Wahl 4, Moore, Salmans). Rebounds – Seabury 26 (Honarvar 6), South Gray 39 (Dyck 14). Assists – Seabury 9 (Smith 6), South Gray (Dyck 14). Turnovers – Seabury 14, South Gray 3. Total fouls – Seabury 20, South Gray 13. Fouled out – Honarvar. 

THIRD PLACE 

OLPE 46, QUINTER 32 

Olpe … 18 … 10 … 6 … 12 … – … 46 
Quinter … 6 … 9 … 7 … 10 … – … 32

Quinter (21-5) – Gruenbacher 2-9 1-2 5, Salyers 2-5 0-0 5, Kinderknecht 1-3 0-0 2, Briggs 1-11 0-0 3, Packard 1-6 0-0 2, Catura 3-4 0-0 6, Hargitt 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Havlas 0-0 0-0 0, Deaton 0-0 0-0 0, Bridges 3-3 1-3 7. Totals 14-42 2-5 32. 

Olpe (22-5) –  McGuire 3-9 3-4 10, Lienemann 1-3 1-5 3, Skalsky 8-11 1-2 17, Redeker 2-5 3-4 9, Bailey 1-6 0-0 3, Markowitz 0-0 0-0 0, Kuhlmann 0-0 0-0 0, Cole 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Whitmore 1-2 2-3 4, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Kurzen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-36 10-18 46. 

3-pointers – Quinter 2-13 (Salyers 1-3, Briggs 1-5, Gruenbacher 0-2, Kinderknecht 0-2, Catura 0-1). Olpe 4-12 (Redeker 2-5, McGuire 1-3, Bailey 1-4). Rebounds – Quinter 31 (Salyers 9), Olpe 19 (McGuire 2, Skalsky 2, Bailey 2). Turnovers – Quinter 12, Olpe 7. Total fouls – Quinter 16, Olpe 8. Fouled out – none.