Friday Madness: Upsets and Upstarts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>March won't produce a lot more madness than what happened Friday night, particularly what took place at Washburn Rural.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's take a look at the developments of Friday:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Washburn Rural Downed by Technical Foul:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was an epic game but one that was tainted by a decision by the officials. Rural held off Derby on a last second shot at the end of the second overtime. The ball went out of bounds, and the buzzer sounded. Rural players left the bench to celebrate, only to learn that the officials planned to put a fraction of a second back on the clock. Next, the officials awarded two free throws to the Panthers, who forced a third overtime. In the fourth overtime, with some of Rural's key players out with fouls, sophomore guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2169844' first='Jack' last='Ulwelling']</strong> hit the biggest shot of the game to send fifth-seeded Derby to state. [player_tooltip player_id='1454148' first='Kaeson' last='Fisher-Brown'] (pictured) led the Panthers with 23 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cinderella's Slipper fits #12 Clay Center:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cinderella of this playoff season is Clay Center. The Tigers entered sub-state with a 7-13 record. But they have had some favorable draws and have upset Augusta and Pratt to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1968. Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1962886' first='Cole' last='Pladson']</strong> has been huge in the postseason, sniping from the perimeter, while big man <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1080197' first='Kaden' last='McDaniel']</strong> dominates the painted area.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Junction City Beats Top-Seeded Garden City:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Junction City is another Cinderella heading to state. The Blue Jays came to sub-state with an 11-9 mark, but they were battle-tested from a challenging schedule. In what looked like a rebuilding season, the Blue Jays got a nice first-round draw in Free State and rolled. Then with a trip to state on the line, they upset the West's best team, Garden City 46-43. Once again, Junction City plays a small lineup and relies on guards. <strong>Deontae Baker, Austin Jackson</strong> and <strong>TJ Jones</strong> were big in the upset.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Young Shawnee Mission Northwest Grows Up:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aside from mercurial senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1080177' first='Malik' last='O'Atis'], this team is one of the youngest still playing. Almost every contributor is a sophomore. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1962889' first='Van' last='Collins']</strong> has been a consistent producer, and [player_tooltip player_id='1588348' first='Keaton' last='Wagler'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1588406' first='Aiven' last='Riley'] are dynamic talents. The fact that 6-foot-9 freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2209736' first='Ethan' last='Taylor']</strong> keeps improving gives the Cougars another facet. Though they entered the tournament at just 13-7 there was no question this was one of the most talented teams around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->