Holcomb Wins TOC in Dodge City; Dodge’s Baker Wins Free Throw Contest

Dodge City, KS (westernkansasnews.com) It was the type of game championships are made of and for the Holcomb Longhorns a chance to prove they belonged on the same stage with the biggest schools in the state. They more than equated their invitation was warranted.

Holcomb overcame a two point deficit in the final seconds of regulation and a six point hole in the second overtime to beat Derby 65-61 in taking their first Tournament of Champions title and their first since 1987.

First Half Highlights

Second Half Highlights

Overtime Highlights

The last time they were called champions at the TOC was when Dave Novack patrolled the sidelines for the Longhorns.  Now with his Dad in attendance his son Chad matched what his dad did 30 years earlier winning the Tournament of Champions in only the third appearance for the team in school history.

While Connor Van Cleave was the team’s most valuable player, Guard Michael Roth had the most impact. 

Roth steal and driving layup with 30 seconds left tied the game at 49 with 30 seconds left and on the following possession Nyjee Wright’s missed jumped for Derby was claimed by Holcomb’s Zeke Leyva setting the stage for the final play of regulation.

Roth missed badly on his jumper in the final seconds, but Van Cleave’s letter high tip nearly made it in.  The missed opportunity forced overtime where both teams scored just three points, but once again it was Holcomb who had a chance to win it late.

Brandon Stegman’s dish to Van Cleave missed on a surging shot at the hoop, but he was fouled in the process with 3.2 seconds left and his team down one.  Van Cleave came into the tournament at 78 percent from the line, but missed long on his first three throw.  Now he needed the second to tie the game at 52 and make it he did forcing a second overtime.

A quick Grant Adler two point bucket, followed by a ten second call by Holcomb and resulting layup from Wright and another Longhorn turnover all came within the first minute of the second overtime.  Derby (8-3) then  scored with a Trevor Gordon layup on a pass that split the lane in half by Wright and the Panthers were out to a 58-52 lead.

Roth answered drilling a jumper to make it 58-54 Derby with 1;40 left in the second OT.   After Derby converted a free throw, Roth scored on a kickout three to knock the Panther lead down to 2 at 59-57. 

After two made free throws from Brett Bell for Derby, Van Cleave buried a three and Clavin turnover for Derby was cashed in for a Roth layup to give Holcomb the lead for good in the second overtime 62-61.

Wright would then try to convert on a double clutch layup and missed, Van Cleave claimed the rebound for Holcomb and was fouled with 14 seconds left.  Van Cleave nailed the two free throws and Derby’s desperation three missed from beyond NBA range with 1.1 seconds left. 

The championship featured nine lead changes and 5 ties.  The largest lead in the game was 7 points in the midst of a 11-0 run for the Longhorns in the second quarter before Derby closed the half on a 12-6 to close to within 29-28 at the intermission. 

Roth led the Longhorns in the championship game with 20 points on 8-11 shooting.  He scored only 13 points over the first two games.  Trey Gilbert added 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Connor Van Cleave added another double-double for Holcomb with 14 points and a whopping 17 rebounds.  Over the last two games the two time all state selection in three sports and KU baseball signee had 34 points and 29 rebounds.  

Derby was led by guard Nyjee Wright who scored 21 in the final game after back to back 20 point performances.  Josh Clavin and Trevor Gordon each added 10. 

Holcomb won despite having problems with Derby’s press all night.  The Longhorns doubled their average number of turnovers with 26 and forced only 10, but out rebounded Derby 55-22 in the process notching 20 offensive rebounds to the Panthers 7.

With the win Holcomb continues their stretches their win streak to 11 after losing in the opener of the season to Liberal 60-56. 

Post-game Holcomb Coach Chad Novack

Holcomb Guard Michael Roth Post-game

For the Dodge City Red Demons they ended TOC losing all three games and finished with their worst loss of the three games in the seventh place contest 65-38 at the hands of Newton (3-9) as the Railers took the seventh place game.

Ty Berry the freshman standout who made the all-tournament team out performed Hunter Heath’s 24 point performance in the opener against Wichita North by pouring in 25 including 8 of 8 from the free throw line. 

The Demons rivaled their sluggish start against Wichita North when they were down 21-6, by trailing through the first quarter.  Heath added 9 and Chris Baker had eight in the loss for Dodge City.   The Railers hit 8 of 13 shots while the Demons went 3 of 15. 

Game Highlights

One bright spot for the Demons was that Chris Baker won the tournament’s free throwing shooting contest.  He qualified by going 50 of 50 in the preliminaries and 24 of 25 in the finals against Junction City’s Kody Westerhaus 22 of 25 in the final. 

For the entire tournament including his 74 of 75 in the free throw shooting contest, Baker went 11 of 11 from the line in the games giving him 85 of 86 from the free throw line the entire weekend and in the process becoming Dodge City’s first champion in the event since Steve Kinsvater won it during Coach Dennis Hamilton’s first season in 1988.

Baker Interview

Quick summary of each game in tournament

3rd place

Wichita North 63, Shawnee Mission South 55

Peyton Hatter hit 8 of 10 shots for 20 points in the Redskins win.

5th place

Bishop Carroll 50, Junction City 38

JC’s A.J. Dickerson held to 2-12 shooting for 4 points in the loss.  Bishop Carroll pulled ahead with a 12-4 second quarter paced by Adam Theis 13 points.

Friday Games

Consolation Semi

Junction City 54, Newton 43

Newton’s Ty Berry had 17 in the loss.  Junction City had 38-16 advantage on the boards and were led by A.J. Dickerson’s 14 points.

Dodge City 41, Bishop Carroll 54

BC Eagles out scored Dodge 13-4 in the second quarter.  Chris Baker of Dodge had 20 in the loss going 3 of 8 from beyond the arc.  Cade Becker went 6 of 8 shooting for 16.  The Demons committed 24 turnovers to the Eagles 13.

Semifinals

Holcomb 63, Shawnee Mission South 58

Trey Gilbert and Connor Van Cleave scored 20 points each for Holcomb.  Van Cleave added 15 rebounds.  Nick Wissel finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Derby 71, Wichita North 58

Derby hit 13 of 26 three points, while North went 7 of 12.  Nyjee Wright had 20 for Derby.  Kace Vongsadka had 14 leading three Wichita North players in double figures

Thursday’s First Round Games

Derby 62, Bishop Carroll 47

Nyjee Wright had 20 for Derby and Trevor Gordon chipped in with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  The Panthers shot 47 percent from the field.  The Eagles were limited to 32 percent.

Shawnee Mission South 47, Junction City 42.

SMS won despite a six minute drought to begin the second quarter and outscored Junction City 13-8 when the game was tied at 42 entering the final quarter.  Elijah Gardner finished a point and rebound shy of a double-double for Junction City (9 pts, 9reb)

Holcomb 59, Newton 40

Trey Gilbert had a double-double for the Longhorns 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Ty Berry scored 19, but went 0-6 in his 3 attempts.

Dodge City 48, Wichita North 59

Hunter Heath scored 24 points and 12 rebounds for Dodge (8-19 FG, 8-10 FT).  Payson Hatter had 9 points and 10 rebounds for Wichita North.  The Redskins jumped out to a 21-6 lead through the first quarter.

All Tournament Team

Hunter Heath from Dodge City

Ty Berry from Newton

Jonah Carrasco from Wichita North

Kace Vongsadka from Wichita North

Nick Wissel from Shawnee Mission South

Connor Van Cleave from Holcomb (also most inspirational)

Kobe Dickson from Holcomb

Trey Gilbert from Holcomb

Nyjee Wright from Derby

Trevor Gordon from Derby