The 5A boys state championship basketball game at White Auditorium in Emporia on Saturday would make history one way or another.
Neither team had ever won a state title, with Seaman making its first state game title appearance in program history and De Soto’s lone appearance coming in 1994.
No. 8 seeded Seaman (18-7) held an early lead over No. 3 De Soto (20-5), 14-10, after the first quarter.
The game remained close with Seaman taking a 30-25 lead after two quarters, but Seaman pulled away in the second half.
A 10-point lead after three quarters, 45-35, ballooned to 14 points to start the fourth, as Seaman capped off an improbable run with a 66-47 over De Soto to win the state title.
Bonner, Davis lead Seaman offense
Seaman had a short rotation, with six players seeing consistent minutes. Each one of them is capable of being “the guy” on any given night.
On Saturday, it was juniors Aron Davis and Kaeden Bonner shouldering the scoring load for Seaman.
Davis (17) and Bonner (15) combined for 32 of the team’s 66 points with Davis adding six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Bonner had six of the team’s 14 first quarter points, added five more in the second, including a three-pointer from well outside the arc right before halftime, to give Seaman a five-point halftime cushion.
“We’ve never told him not to shoot,” said Seaman coach Craig Cox. “He’s great and clutch in those moments being able to knock down those shots. That was a big boost going into halftime.”
In the third quarter, Davis had seven of the team’s 15 points with offensive rebounds, leading to tip ins or his teammates finding him for easy buckets around the rim.
Davis missed about half the season with an injury that saw him work back into form at the best time. Davis, one of four returning starters, played an integral role on the team this year as the one true post player.
“To get him back and into basketball shape and doing what you saw today is what he’s capable of,” said Cox. “He’s been great on the boards, defensively with his blocked shots.
“His timing is outstanding and so is his length around the rim, getting put back and scoring. Which we needed (today).”
Seaman would shoot 64.7% from the field on Saturday and 5-7 from behind the arc as they outrebounded De Soto (26-19).
Seniors Mateo Hyman and Dreighton Greiss had nine points each while Ty Henry and Gavin Wilhelm added eight each to round out the team scoring.
Hyman had a team high eight rebounds and four assists.
“It’s a great feeling, all the hard work we put in,” said Henry after the game. “Every single practice, coach said we had about 80 of them, every single one we worked to get better, and all that hard work paid off.
“Going out my senior year a state champ, there ain’t no better finish than that.”
Seaman’s Wilhelm shuts down De Soto’s Cobin
Cox said, in watching De Soto’s prior two games, their cutting action and movement stood out.
“When you see them on the court, how strong they are and how physical they are,” said Cox. “We just played extremely hard. The hardest 19 point victory I’ve ever been a part of.”
De Soto sophomore David Cobin carried the team to a 58-56 win the night before, scoring 32 points on 10-16 shooting including the game winner.
“Gavin Wilhelm being 6-5 and as athletic as he is,” said Cox. “Put them on (Cobin), did a great job the entire game and set the tone defensively for us that it was gonna be difficult for them to score.”
On Saturday, Cobin was held to 10 points on 3-11 shooting, guarded by Wilhelm.
“Today was about not letting him touch the ball, that was my main goal,” said Wilhelm. “If he did touch the ball, get close and play solid defense.”
The Seaman defense would hold De Soto to 18-46 shooting on the night and did so cleanly, with De Soto shooting just six free throws to 23 for Seaman.
De So senior Ethan Schultze had 12 of the team’s 25 points in the first half on 4-5 shooting from behind the arc but was held to just three points in the second half as he finished with a team-high 15 points.
Seaman ends year on 11 game win streak
The road to Seaman’s first state title in program history is one to remember.
“I knew we had some quality players,” said Cox on Saturday when asked if he saw the outcome from this group to start the year. “We have a bunch of guys that’ve played a lot of basketball and are committed to it.
“Steve Bonner, Kaeden’s dad, has coached most of these guys through the years, developed them and got them to this point where they were able to fulfill their dream of being state champs.”
A 6-2 start to the year was followed by a 1-5 stretch to give them a 7-7 record in early February.
“We were playing some really good teams at that time,” said Cox. “We weren’t where we needed to be defensive. The guys picked it up, and deserve all the credit and everything they got today with outstanding defense down the stretch.”
They would end the regular season with six straight wins before entering sub-states as the No. 9 seed.
“We play a lot of great teams in the Centennial League, shout out to them, they made us better,” said Henry. “The tough stretch, I thought that brought us together better as a team, really pushed us, and we went on a run to end the season.”
A win over No. 8 Maize South set up a substate championship against No. 1 Hays that resulted in a 61-44 win.
“We really set the tone when we beat Hays, especially by the big deficit we did,” said Hyman. “We punched them in the mouth and then we kept going.”
As the No. 8 seed in the state tournament, Seaman upset the No. 1 seed Kapaun Mt. Carmel on Wednesday and took down the reigning state champion Maize, the No. 4 seed, on Friday with a 66-54 win.
Seaman’s win on Saturday secured the programs first state title ever and an 11-game win streak to end the year.
“That makes it extra special,” said Cox, on bringing the first state title in program history back to Seaman. “I’ve got so many friends that graduated from Seaman, (they’ve) been texting me and talking about how much pride they have and how good it makes them feel about the school.”
Hyman will look back on the state-title run fondly.
“I’m gonna remember how fun it was, the chemistry we had and the buckets we got together,” said Hyman.
Henry said there was confidence from this group from the beginning.
“We kept our foot on the gas and kept going hard in practice and going game by game,” said Henry. “Once it got to substate, we went on a little run and got here. Now we’re state champs.”
Contact Seth Kinker at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker
