The 810 Varsity Showcase series concluded on Saturday with the fourth and final event of the season with the eight-game 810 Varsity Showcase 34 at Lee's Summit West. Below are recaps of the boys contests. 

The hyped game of the top two Metro teams on the Missouri side lived up to the billing.

Lee’s Summit West, ranked No. 3 in the 810 Varsity Top 25 and in the top five of the Missouri Class 6 rankings, knocked off Oak Park, which entered No. 1 in both rankings.

After Oak Park built a 26-22 halftime lead, Lee’s Summit West brought it back to 38-38 entering the final quarter. Logan Bishop opened the quarter with a three-pointer in the right corner for the Titans first lead since the opening stanza, followed by a Bryce Mitchell inside bucket for a 43-38 margin with 5:44 left.

"It was amazing - we've been waiting for this game all year. Just great to see the crowd and fans here. It was an amazing atmosphere," Mitchell said. 

Caleb Estes countered with a three on the left wing, but Mitchell countered with a flush for a 45-41 edge. Oak Park star wing Corbin Allen answered with a baseline scoop under the backboard for a 45-43 deficit with 3:37 left. Allen finished with 10 points. An Allen steal and half-court pass to Zeek Brown for a layup knotted the score at 45-45 with 2:59 left, then a Brown drive for a left-handed lay-in gave Oak Park a 47-45 lead with 2:12 left.

But following a Northmen timeout, Allen attempted a driving layup but missed with 1:10 left. Bishop then took an outlet pass at midcourt for a spinning layup to tie the game at 1:05.

Oak Park ran the clock down to :23.7, then attempted an inbound from its own sideline. But Titan junior Tavyeon Simms jumped the pass, stole the ball and jetted down for a layup and one, sending the sellout crowd to a ballistic frenzy. Simms hit the free throw for a 50-47 lead with :20.1 left.

After a Northmen timeout, Estes heaved a three-pointer with 6.5 ticks left, but the shot was tipped. Brown managed to grab an errant West outlet pass, but missed as the horn sounded.

Estes scored a team-high 12 points for Oak Park, which dropped to 18-2.

Lee’s Summit West boosted its record to 17-4 and was led by Chaz Watson’s 14 points, and Mitchell’s 12.

"It took a lot of guts - it was a great high school basketball game and both teams were throwing haymakers," stated interim head coach Kevin Harrison, as Michael Schieber has been out indefinitely due to health reasons. "We hope for him back, but we all talked, the kids made suggestions. We had fun, and it was a team effort."

The single-game attendance marked the second highest in the 810 Varsity Showcase series, behind the second event with Michael Porter Jr., Jontay Porter and Tolton Catholic facing Blue Valley Northwest at Johnson County Community College in 2016.

Lee’s Summit didn’t welcome the new kid on the block to the 810 Varsity Showcase very kindly.

The Tigers, who have played annually in the 810 Varsity Showcase series since the first tipped in Municipal Auditorium in 2015, opened the floodgates against Louisburg for a 71-46 romp in game six of 810 Varsity Showcase 34. Junior Cameron Yows netted 15, while Jaylen Lockhart tossed in 14 for the Tigers (8-11).

“We came off a loss yesterday, and picked up our energy today,” Lockhart said.

“We played together, we guarded, and we had fun. During the course of the long season, we don’t get a chance to do that,” added head coach Blake Little.

Louisburg, making its first showing in the events, held tough after the first quarter at 18-12, and brought a 12-point lead back to a 28-20 deficit at intermission. But the Tigers athleticism in the open court proved to be too much in the second half. Senior Brady Hickey led the Wildcats with 15 points.

Breckin McBride put on a first-half shooting show to rewrite the event’s record books, and St. Michael couldn’t recover in a 71-57 Bobcats win on Saturday.

The Basehor-Linwood junior drained seven three-pointers – including two and-one’s – in the first half, an 810 Varsity Showcase record for a player in a half. The Guardians had held a 20-16 lead after one quarter, but couldn’t overcome the Breckin Barrage, as the Bobcats prospered for a 42-26 halftime lead.

McBride finished with 34 points, including 13-of-14 from the free-throw line.

“I just decided to come out and have fun for once. I hesitated earlier in the season, but thought, I’ll go ahead and shoot it. Seven three’s – I’ll take it,” McBride said.

Head coach and father Mike McBride was pleased with the team’s effort.

“We’ve been working on figuring out how to play 32 minutes. We worked on tonight not to give up that 3-4 minute spell,” McBride said.

Micah Gibbs added 14 points for Basehor-Linwood, who evened its record at 7-7.

Michael Weis and Shea Gaffney led the Guardians with 13 points apiece.

Belton made its debut in the 810 Varsity Showcase series a thrilling – and winning – one.

The Pirates held off St. James for a 57-53 victory on Saturday in the first boys tilt of the 34th rendition of the 810 Varsity Showcases. Junior Kordell Williams led the way with a game-high 22 points for Belton, now winners of four in a row.

After a sluggish first quarter at 8-8, both teams warmed up as Belton held a slim 32-29 halftime lead over the Thunder. The Pirates looked to pull away after a 43-35 third quarter lead with 14 combined points from Williams and Cooper Shrum, who finished with 11.

But the Thunder roared back, as junior Evan Dejmal heated up for 11 of his team-high 16 points in the final stanza. However, Williams stepped up with two big buckets and JW Johnson added a three-pointer to hold off St. James in the final minutes.