After cruising to a victory of 82-46 over Blue Valley North in Quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 24, the team was ready to move on to sub-state. According to sophomore JaKhai Carter, the team desired nothing more than to move on to state.
“We wanted to get to state so badly,” Carter said. “We just came out really hot and were scoring well. We just wanted to come in, really try, and move on to sub-state.”
The Jags won sub-state, 54-48, against Blue Valley West. Sophomore Reese Riedel explains why getting a good start in the game was significant to the team.
“I was feeling good going into the game,” Riedel said. “We’ve really been battling adversity all year so it felt really good to come out of that.”
The Jags fell behind in the first quarter leaving the score at 0-10. Throughout second quarter the game stayed at a close tie. It wasn’t until halfway through the third quarter that the Jags came though and took the lead. From there the game was back and forth until the very end. In the final seconds of the game senior Bryant Wiltse finished out the game with a steal and shot, securing the score at 54-48.
Leading up to the game, the team worked hard to prepare. Senior Mason Kemp notes the team’s hard work leading up to substate.
“We had continuous practices and were trying to perfect everything,” Kemp said. “We really wanted to know what they were going to do at every moment of the game. We knew that we had to be really locked in throughout the game.”
The season is not over yet, the Jags begin competing for the 6A state title on Thursday, March 7. Carter shares the team’s practice strategy leading up to the state game.
“We just have to keep practicing hard and perfecting our strategies for on the court,” Carter said. “We really have to remember to keep a good mindset before and during the game. If we do that, I’d say we have a pretty good shot at state.”
