WICHITA – The magnitude of Olathe North’s challenge in the Class 6A boys basketball championship game surfaced on the opening possession Saturday.
 
Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 7-foot junior center Ethan Taylor backed the Eagles’ 6-foot-4 Derrick Cooper into the lane and took the game’s first shot. It missed, but the rebound caromed into Taylor’s hands and he maneuvered through three shorter defenders to score the game’s first points.
 
The Cougars had no shortage of weapons to try to defend their 6A title this season. But Taylor, who missed a regular-season victory over Olathe North while mending torn ligaments in his thumb, was a thorn in the Eagles’ side in round 2. He scored 19 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and added six assists in Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 63-56 victory in the all-Sunflower League final at Koch Arena.
 

A year after winning their first state championship with a 25-0 record, the Cougars repeated a jubilant celebration that began like the 2024 party started – with senior Van Collins launching the ball skyward as the buzzer sounded. Shawnee Mission Northwest finished 22-3, winning its final 13 games after a 2-2 midseason stretch without Taylor.
 
“I felt I could make a difference, but they’re still a great team,” Taylor said. “They still gave us a great run. Great energy, great defensive team. But I just felt like our guys were better, so we went out there and dominated.”
 
Perhaps not total domination, as the Cougars’ biggest lead was just 11 points at 42-31 midway through the third quarter. But Shawnee Mission Northwest led wire-to-wire, using a 39-21 rebound advantage and 14-of-15 free-throw shooting to keep the scales tilted in its favor.
 
The Cougars also got a solid performance from senior point guard and Illinois signee Keaton Wagler, who shook off flu-like symptoms to score 17 points and grab 10 rebounds. Collins, a Missouri Southern State signee, added 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
 

Washburn-bound Tyler Salmon scored nine points and stonewalled Olathe North junior Cameron Love for three quarters before Love scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the fourth. But Taylor was the Cougars’ X-factor.
 
“He’s like their security blanket,” Olathe North coach Adam Olerich said. “Any time that they get a little bit sideways offensively or stagnant or they haven’t made some shots, they’re going to throw it right into him. They’re going to design something to get him the ball, whether it’s a high-low set or clearing out a side to get him some room.
 
“I thought for the most part our guys did a good job. They made him work, but ultimately he made some big-time plays, big-time duck-ins and post-ups, and scored at the right time for them.”
 
Olathe North, which weathered a furious fourth-quarter charge Friday from Wichita Heights before holding on for a 65-58 semifinal victory, became the hunter on Saturday. Playing in their first state title game, the Eagles trailed by 10 points with 4:31 remaining when they launched a mini-run.
 
Love’s three-point play cut the deficit to 52-45, and a 3-pointer by Cooper – who finished with 14 points – made it 54-50 with 2:47 to play.
 
But as Shawnee Mission Northwest often displayed in a semifinal victory over Maize, it had plenty of answers. Taylor caught an entry pass amid a double team and redirected the ball out to senior Aiven Riley, who hit a 3-pointer from the right wing.
 
Love got the Eagles as close as they would come, stealing the ball from Riley and converting a two-handed dunk with 1:40 left to make it 57-54. But on Shawnee Mission Northwest’s next possession, Wagler knifed his way into the lane and freed himself for a layup.
 
Wagler added four free throws in the final minute, finishing 9 of 9 for the game.
 

Olathe North, which dropped the late January meeting 64-60 to the Cougars, saw its final shred of hope to avenge the loss vanish when Love missed a left-handed dunk attempt. For Eagles like Jaalan Watson, a four-time state qualifier who experienced his first two state tournament victories this season, the run ended with an 18-7 record.
 
“For 25 games, they’ve never disappointed me in terms of how hard they play, their effort, their intensity,” Olerich said. “We remind them that’s the bare minimum to get into the ring.
 
“You’ve got to have that, and they’ve always brought that to the table. At the end of the day, it comes down to making a few more shots.”
 
 Olathe North’s last shot landed in the hands of Taylor, who passed  it to Riley. Riley shared it with Wagler and eventually Collins, whose ball toss became a common thread to two magical seasons that had distinct differences for five returning starters.
 

 
The Cougars’ 2024-25 campaign started with a humbling 76-44 loss to Missouri powerhouse Oak Park, which is coached by former Kansas standout Sherron Collins. During Taylor’s injury absence, Shawnee Mission Northwest lost to nationally ranked Link Academy of Branson, Mo., and dropped a 77-75 thriller to Mill Valley on a buzzer-beating shot from beyond halfcourt by the Jaguars’ Carter Kaifes.
 
But the Cougars steadied themselves in February. And on Saturday, as the final seconds ticked away, Shawnee Mission Northwest coach David Birch walked toward the end of the Cougars bench with two fingers raised, signifying the repeat.
 
“It’s hard to do,” Birch said. “You go 25-0 and then you have almost unrealistic expectations, guys online saying we’re going 50-0. We had guys who had good summers, committed and signed with big schools, and did a lot of great things. But then that creates jealousy and intensity for other teams.
 
“Having that target on your back and that fuel that other teams want to beat you, it can be tough. We got beat by 32 that first game. We came back and won a tournament, but then we got beat on a half-court shot that 1.3 million people see (online). It was a resilient group that never got down on each other. Guys trusted each other and we had a lot of chemistry with each other.
 
“We’ve been used to big games because we’ve been playing them all year. We had another big one today, and we made big plays at the end of the game.”
 

MAIZE 57, WICHITA HEIGHTS 52 – Maize avenged a 17-point January loss to Heights to capture third place, as senior Alan Hanna scored a game-high 24 points, including a run-out for a dunk in the closing seconds that sealed the victory.
 
Hanna, a 7-foot high jumper and Kansas State track signee, made several highlight plays for the Eagles, who finished 18-7. Charles Sharpe added 13 points for Maize as he and Hanna both went 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
 
Senior Chase Robinson scored 12 points for Heights, which finished 21-4. The finale marked the final game as head coach for Joe Auer, who is retiring after 30 seasons at Heights with a 491-198 record and six state championships.
 
 
CHAMPIONSHIP

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST 63, OLATHE NORTH 56
 
Olathe North … 15 … 10 … 13 … 18 … – … 56
Shawnee Mission Northwest … 17 … 11 … 16 … 19 … – … 63
 
Olathe North (18-7) – Simmons 4-11 1-2 9, Love 7-12 2-5 16, Watson 3-8 3-4 10, Boyd 1-3 0-0 3, D. Cooper 5-12 1-1 14, W. Cooper 1-1 0-0 2, Galindo 0-0 0-0 0, Rabbitt 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-49 7-12 56.
 
Shawnee Mission Northwest (22-3) – Wagler 4-13 9-9 17, Collins 5-9 0-0 10, Riley 3-8 0-0 8, Salmon 4-9 0-0 9, Taylor 7-11 5-6 19, Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, B. Klahn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 14-15 63.
 
3-point goals – Olathe North 5-21 (D. Cooper 3-10, Boyd 1-2, Watson 1-3, Rabbitt 0-1, Love 0-2, Simmons 0-3); Shawnee Mission Northwest 3-16 (Riley 2-6, Salmon 1-4, Jackson 0-1, Wagler 0-5). Rebounds – Olathe North 21 (D. Cooper 6); Shawnee Mission Northwest 39 (Taylor 15). Assists – Olathe North 9 (Simmons, Watson 3); Shawnee Mission Northwest 11 (Taylor 6). Turnovers – Olathe North 4, Shawnee Mission Northwest 6. Total fouls – Olathe North 13, Shawnee Mission Northwest 9. Fouled out – W. Cooper.
 
 
THIRD-PLACE GAME

MAIZE 57, WICHITA HEIGHTS 52
 
Maize … 14 … 13 … 13 … 17 … – … 57
Wichita Heights … 16 … 14 … 14 … 8 … – … 52
 
Maize (18-7) – Grill 3-7 1-1 8, Myovela 3-7 2-2 9, Hanna 10-17 1-3 24, Sharpe 5-9 0-0 13, Willits 1-3 0-0 3, Lerma 0-0 0-0 0, George 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-43 4-6 57.
 
Wichita Heights (21-4) – Timmons 4-16 1-2 9, O’Neal 0-3 1-2 1, Mboule 3-8 1-2 9, Wilkins 4-12 1-2 9, Holt 4-12 2-2 10, Robinson 6-7 0-0 12, Peeples 1-2 0-0 2, Carter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 6-10 52.
 
3-point goals – Maize 9-22 (Hanna 3-6, Sharpe 3-6, Myovela 1-2, Willits 1-3, Grill 1-5); Wichita Heights 2-18 (Mboule 2-4, O’Neal 0-1, Wilkins 0-1, Timmons 0-6, Holt 0-6). Rebounds – Maize 26 (Myovela 7); Wichita Heights 36 (Wilkins 11). Assists – Maize 17 (Grill 7); Wichita Heights 7 (Timmons 4). Turnovers – Maize 13, Wichita Heights 8. Total fouls – Maize 8, Wichita Heights 12. Fouled out – None.