By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Kickapoo Chiefs didn’t have the typical roster of a team you’d see in the Class 6 state championship game.
Not that the Chiefs needed a reminder – they’ve felt doubted for the past nine months.
Motivating would be an understatement.
“We had to scratch and claw for everything we got and to get here. Nothing was handed to us,” said Chiefs senior center Harrison Doennig.
But the Chiefs found themselves in the championship spotlight on Saturday afternoon.
And Kickapoo, as it has throughout this postseason run, gave a championship-worthy effort in an underdog role.
There would be no movie-like ending though as Staley’s talent eventually won out in a 49-32 outcome at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.
Despite the loss, the Chiefs weren’t left second-guessing themselves.
“Losing’s never fun. We don’t like losing,” said Chiefs coach Mitch McHenry. “All these guys are the ultimate competitors. It very much stings right now, but we’re going to be at peace with how this season played out and how we competed. We were able to sit in the locker room and look at each other and know that we all gave each other everything we had. We don’t have any regret.”
Point guard Kyan Evans (16) and forward Kayden Fish (11) combined for 27 points to lead the Falcons to the title. Staley outscored Kickapoo by 16 in the second half after the Chiefs were in position to pull a major upset through two-and-a-half quarters.
The sour ending doesn’t delude a season where Kickapoo finished 23-9 overall and reached its second final four in three years, this time with a new cast of players.
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Kickapoo, unranked in the final Class 6 state poll of the regular season, also beat four straight ranked opponents (Republic, Nixa, Lee’s Summit West and Troy Buchanan) over the last two weeks to reach Saturday’s title game.
“It was so much fun,” said Kickapoo senior forward and leading scorer Brayden Shorter. “I can’t say enough about this group, these coaches. I’m just really proud of our team. We’re such a different group than we were in the Tournament of Champions. We’ve grown so much since then. I’m having so much fun right now and I’m sad it’s coming to an end, but I’m proud of our season.”
Even two weeks ago, few people outside of the Kickapoo camp had the Chiefs making it this far.
But the doubts really sparked up last summer when Kickapoo’s best player at the time, Marquette commit Zaide Lowery, moved out of state to attend national powerhouse La Lumiere in Indiana.
Shorter and the Chiefs refused to be written off.
“Everyone thought just because Zaide left that we weren’t in the picture anymore. That was just fuel to our fire,” Shorter said. “I loved playing with Zaide and we had a really good year my junior year, but that motivation from losing him is what got us here. We connected so much better – not because he was gone – but because we had to.”
In a game that was closer than the final score shows, Staley overtook Kickapoo for good late in the third quarter. The Falcons erased a four-point deficit with a 13-2 run.
The surge continued into the fourth quarter, where Staley outscored Kickapoo by 10. The exclamation point came with 2:46 remaining when Evans fed Cam Manyawu for an alley-oop dunk that put Staley ahead 46-32.
But early on, the game was developing in Kickapoo’s favor.
Staley was sluggish out of the gates, shooting just 8-for-23 in the first half. The Falcons led 19-18 at halftime.
Offense was a challenge for the Chiefs against a Staley team stacked with four future Division I players. Staley limited Kickapoo to 11-for-38 shooting from the field.
Shorter led Kickapoo with 14 points and Trae Oetting added 11 points.
“(Shorter) was doing everything he could to try to win the game for them. He played so hard and so well,” said Staley coach Chris Neff. “He had to play against five Staley Falcons every possession. That was the key to the game.
“At the same time, Oetting is the head of the snake. I love that kid. He can play for me any day. He’s so good. Those two players were the focal point for us for sure.”
Kickapoo’s 32 points were a season low; Staley also held the Chiefs under 40 points in their blowout win two months ago at the Tournament of Champions.
“We needed some more shots to fall, but that’s beyond our control,” McHenry said. “We only had 12 turnovers tonight, we turned it over a lot more the first time, we just needed to make some more shots.”
It’s the first state championship in boys’ basketball in Staley’s young history – the northern Kansas City school opened 14 years ago.
It’s also a career milestone for Staley’s head coach. Neff had never won a state championship in his eight previous final four appearances, most of those coming at nearby Lafayette (St. Joseph).
“It feels good to have the biggest trophy finally,” Neff said. “All it really says is how lucky I am to have these kids here… This is just a culmination of really hard work.”
Kickapoo graduates four seniors in Shorter, Doennig, Oetting and Landon Keisker. All four were starters.
McHenry said the group leaves a big legacy within the program.
“We can look, in the future, to this group and these guys and know that this is the blueprint of what it should look like,” McHenry said. “These four seniors are the blueprint of what it means to be a Kickapoo basketball player.”
Staley 49, Kickapoo 32
Kickapoo 5 13 9 5 — 32
Staley 11 8 15 15 — 49
Kickapoo (23-9 overall) – Brayden Shorter 14, Trae Oetting 11, Harrison Doennig 5, Drew Akins 2
Staley (30-2 overall) – Kyan Evans 16, Kayden Fish 11, Xavier Wilson 8, K.V. Stone 7, Jared Lee 4, Cameron Manyawu 3
