North Kansas City Invitational (Boys)

For the second straight year, the student took his teacher to school.

Shawnee Mission Northwest handled North Kansas City, 63-48, in the championship game of the North Kansas City Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

Cougars head coach David Birch served as an assistant coach under NKC head coach Ed Fritz from 2016-19 at Blue Valley Northwest. In their first matchup as head coaches last year, Northwest beat the Hornets, 56-55, in the semifinals of the tourney.

"It's just good for our program to see different competition, and to beat another tough team in North Kansas City and was Coach Fritz does, says a lot about our kids," stated Birch.

The Cougars, No. 3 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, jumped out quick on buckets inside by sohpmore Ethan Taylor, and holding North Kansas City to a 17-7 deficit after the first quarter. The 7-foot Taylor hit the game-winning bucket at the buzzer in the semifinals over Grandview, and was named tourney Most Valuable Player.

Van Collins and Keaton Wagler scored 15 points apiece, and also were named to the all-Tournament team for the Cougars. Samuel Dada and Kameron Tate were named to the all-tourney team for North Kansas City, ranked No. 4 in the 810 Varsity Top 25.

Viking Classic (Boys)

Blue Valley North made the final of the Viking Classic look like a breeze.

The Mustangs blew the doors off Shawnee Heights with an 82-64 win on Saturday in the championship game of the boys tournament at Shawnee Mission West. Five Mustangs scored in double figures, including all-tournament honorees in seniors Jaron Lashley, Gregory Ballard and freshman Will Davis.

North notched a big win on Friday night over Olathe West, 58-43, to advance to the final. THe Owls entered as the No. 4 team in Kansas Class 6A.

"I'm proud of our team for how they bounced back over the last week," said head coach Ryan Phifer. "The EKL (Eastern Kansas League) is just so tough, but prepares us well. Today was just a total team effort."

Des Hinson scored a team-high 17 points for Blue Valley North, while Davis (14), Ballard (13), CJ Duson (12) and Lashley (10) also broke double digits.

Other boys championship games

CW Stessman Invitational (Liberty HS): Oak Park 72, Liberty 56

Summit Grill Classic (Lee's Summit HS): Raytown 80, Lee's Summit North 70 (OT)

Spring Hill Classic (Spring Hill HS): Olathe South 64, Junction City 55

Valley Center January Jam (Valley Center, KS): Maize South 55, Blue Valley West 43

Orange and Black Classic (Colby, KS): Olathe North 67, Beloit 49

Ralph Miller Classic (Chanute, KS): Shawnee Mission South 68, Andover Central 47

Bill Hanson Classic (Pittsburg, KS): Owasso (Okla) 52, Blue Valley Northwest 41