WICHITA – Jason Jones Jr. did what he was supposed to Saturday, crashing the boards from his spot along the baseline.
 
But the Bonner Springs senior had a hunch of what was going to happen as teammate Kelan Gruver sent a shot skyward from well beyond the 3-point line in the Class 5A boys state championship game at Koch Arena.
 
“I had confidence he was going to hit that shot,” Jones Jr. said. “He’s done it all year. I had no doubt he was going to hit it. It was exciting. We just had to get back to the other side and play defense.”
 
Gruver’s rainbow 3-pointer from just left of the key splashed through the net, putting the Braves in front of top-seeded Kapaun Mt. Carmel for the first time since early in the second quarter. But Bonner Springs still had roughly 100 seconds of playing time to protect the one-point lead that sent its fans into a frenzy.
 

The Braves were up to the challenge. Holding Kapaun scoreless for the final 2:41, Bonner Springs prevailed 53-50 for its first state title in 42 years while ending the two-time defending champion Crusaders’ 44-game winning streak.
 
Gruver, a senior and the son of Braves head coach Drew Gruver, scored a game-high 21 points to help Bonner Springs complete a 27-1 season. The Braves also replicated the drama of their 1984 state-champion predecessors, who edged Parsons 56-55 for the 5A crown at Emporia’s White Auditorium.
 
Bonner Springs made the extra miles it traveled down the interstate for title No. 2 totally worth it.
 
“We knew going into it that Kapaun was going to be the toughest team we faced,” said Kelan Gruver, who boosted the Braves into the final with a 32-point effort in a semifinal victory over Topeka West. “I think anytime you face a team at state, it’s going to be tough. We just knew it was going to be a battle.”
 
Kapaun, which also finished 27-1, put Bonner in the danger zone early in the second half. Junior Cole Rapp, who led the Crusaders with 15 points, opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer that ignited a 7-0 run and gave them a 32-21 lead. The Braves responded, but so did Kapaun as it still led 37-26 on junior Jordan Maingu’s follow shot with 3:58 to play in the third.
 

But Gruver hit two 3-pointers and Jones Jr. stuffed home a fast-break basket to pull Bonner within 39-34 at the end of three quarters.
 
“In the timeouts, we just kept saying to each other, ‘Keep believing. We’re right there,’” Gruver said. “We just needed to string together a couple stops and get a couple buckets, and that’s what happened. It ultimately led to us winning.”
 
Kapaun, which won a one-point overtime game against Wichita Heights during the regular season and survived a desperation 3-point attempt in Thursday’s semifinals to edge Seaman 54-52, finally got too close to the fire.
 
The Crusaders still led 44-36 after Jude Porter’s 3-pointer and a steal and layup by Rapp. After Porter, who finished with 11 points, added another basket in the lane to make it 46-38 with 5:08 to play, the Braves’ defense got stubborn.
 
Drew Gruver implored the Braves to get “turkeys” – their term for keeping opponents from scoring on three consecutive possessions.
 
“They’ve got good players and their size was kind of hurting us a little bit,” Drew Gruver said. “We just preached all year we’ve got to get multiple stops in a row.
 
“We talked about it in a timeout. We’ve got to get some turkeys here. Our guys just dug in on the defensive end, made them take some tough shots and the finish the play with a box-out and rebound.”
 

Kelan Gruver’s third 3 of the game cut Kapaun’s lead to 48-45 with 3:52 to play. The Braves forced turnovers on Kapaun’s next two possessions, but Bonner turned it back over on one possession and Gruver missed a 3 on the other.
 
Kapaun countered with senior Rocco Keller’s basket in the lane for a 50-45 lead. Instead of the spark toward the Crusaders’ third consecutive state title, it was Kapaun’s final points.
 
Bonner Springs junior Prince Donnell started the Braves’ game-ending 8-0 run with a 3-point play, scoring on a spinning layup as he drew a foul on Rapp. After Kapaun’s Blaise Dalian missed a driving shot on the ensuing possession, Bonner Springs came down for what would be its signature moment.
 
Gruver walked Maingu, his defender, into the lane and then popped out to the top of the key off a screen from Jaiden Jones. Gruver took a short pass from Donnell and fired from 27 feet, turning away as it dropped through the net against a backdrop of hysterical Bonner Springs students.
 
“That was obviously a big 3,” Drew Gruver said. “Kelan’s put a lot of time and effort and hard work – the unseen hours in the gym – to make that shot. That shot didn’t happen tonight. It happened with all the hard work and time he’s spent shooting in the gym.”
 

The Braves then got the first stop they needed, as Dalian and Porter missed 3-point attempts. Bonner Springs senior Nate Ferrell, who finished with 12 points, hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 52-50 with 40 seconds to play.
 
After a Kapaun timeout, the Braves didn’t allow the Crusaders a shot on their next possession. Keller tried to throw down low, but Jones Jr. deflected it. After a scramble for the ball on the court, Porter got the ball on the right wing and tried to throw an off-balance entry pass, which Jaiden Jones intercepted and was fouled with 12 seconds to play.
 
Like Ferrell, Jones made 1 of 2 free throws, giving Kapaun a final chance. With 7.7 seconds remaining, Rapp inbounded to Porter, who dished to junior Reid Stuhlsatz on the left wing. Stuhlsatz’s lone field-goal attempt of the game caromed off the rim into the hands of Gruver, who heaved it up the court to salt away the remaining time.
 
“We had to fight,” Jones Jr. said. “They’re a great team, but we stuck on defense. Played great defense, didn’t foul, just got stops.”
 
By holding Kapaun to a season-low point total, Bonner Springs, the No. 2 seed, ignited a celebration that no doubt stirred memories of 1984 for older Braves. That year, Bonner Springs survived a 50-49 semifinal against Bishop Ward, then defeated Parsons and future University of Kansas player Mark Pellock by one point in the finale.
 
The Braves were led by Hughes Suffren, who went on to play football at Iowa State and later joined the Cyclone basketball team for one season. Bonner Springs got past Parsons on a elbow jumper by guard Mike Martin in the closing seconds.
 
While Drew Gruver’s son hit the shot that will likely stand the test of time for most who witnessed Saturday’s championship, the coach lifted up all his players as they celebrated around him.
 
“The team attitude of this group and how they’re just so selfless and just play for one another is special,” he said. “They don’t care who gets the credit. They just wanted to win basketball games and they were going to do whatever it takes to win.
 
“And that came true again tonight in a state championship game.”
 

CLASS 5A BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP
 
BONNER SPRINGS 53, KAPAUN MT. CARMEL 50
 
Bonner Springs … 11 … 10 … 13 … 19 … – … 53
Kapaun Mt. Carmel … 12 … 13 … 14 … 11 … – … 50
 
Bonner Springs (27-1) – Donnell 1-3 1-1 3, Jones 4-7 1-2 9, Ferrell 3-8 4-5 12, Jones. Jr. 4-8 0-0 8, Gruver 5-11 7-7 21, Nez 0-0 0-0 0, Cruse 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-37 13-15 53.
 
Kapaun Mt. Carmel (27-1) – Maingu 3-5 0-0 6, Porter 4-8 0-0 11, Keller 2-5 0-0 4, Rapp 6-7 1-2 15, Dalian 5-15 0-0 10, Gooch 0-1 0-0 0, Cary 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 2-3 0-0 4, Stuhlsatz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 1-2 50.
 
3-point goals – Bonner Springs 6-15 (Gruver 4-9, Ferrell 2-4, Donnell 0-1, Jones Jr. 0-1); Kapaun Mt. Carmel 5-14 (Porter 3-5, Rapp 2-3, Stuhlsatz 0-1, Dalian 0-5). Rebounds – Bonner Springs 22 (Jones 9); Kapaun Mt. Carmel 22 (Maingu 5). Assists – Bonner Springs 8 (Donnell 4); Kapaun Mt. Carmel 12 (Keller 5). Turnovers – Bonner Springs 14, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 11. Total fouls – Bonner Springs 12, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 15. Fouled out – None.