Blue Valley North enacted a bit of revenge Saturday. 

Having lost to Blue Springs South three straight years in the 810 Varsity Viking Classic, the Mustangs broke through for a 74-69 win against the Jaguars, overcoming 33 points from KJ Robinson and claiming the tournament championship at Shawnee Mission West. 

“We’ve lost to them three years in a row in the semifinals here, so we wanted to get back at them,” North coach Ryan Phifer said. “I’m really proud of our effort. Our guys were locked in.” 

The Mustangs finished the game on an 11-2 run over the final 2 minutes, 9 seconds, South’s lone basket coming with 3 seconds left and the game’s outcome already decided. 

Keilon Hunter provided the game’s biggest play, making a steal in the South backcourt that led to an easy layup, giving the Mustangs a 68-67 lead with 1:40 to play.  

Colby Bullock, who led North with 28 points, scored on a key backdoor cut moments later and hit four free throws in the final 18 seconds to clinch the win. 

“Colby did a great job tonight,” Phifer said. “We talked about being aggressive coming off ball screens and not settling for jump shots.” 

Bullock helped give the Mustangs momentum heading into the fourth, hitting a half-court shot at the third-quarter buzzer to tie the game at 52. 

“We’ve hit a couple of those this year, so it’s fun,” Phifer said. 

Joey Dolan drilled a three-pointer to open the fourth for North as it built a six-point lead before South started to rally. 

Robinson and Tyler Clark made three-pointers and Briley Moore-McKinney’s basket at the 2:27 mark put the Jaguars back in front, 65-63, but Moore-McKinney’s free throws moments later marked South’s last meaningful points of the game. 

“This was a real competitive game,” South coach Jimmy Cain said. “All the credit has to go to Blue Valley North for making the plays when they needed to. You can look at the small things and their execution as the difference.”

Playing their third game in three days due to weather postponing the tournament’s first round until Thursday, both teams started slowly, the first quarter ending tied at 9. 

North used a 13-1 run during a four-minute stretch spanning the opening two frames for a 17-10 lead. Then, Robinson went off. The Nebraska-Omaha commit scored 15 of South’s next 17 points, his fast-break layup at the buzzer keeping the Jaguars within 33-27.  

“We knew coming in that KJ and Briley were great players,” Phifer said. “We wanted to limit the second chances for their other players. Keilon and Nick Kagy's defense was outstanding all game.” 

Tyler McKay tallied 15 points and Moore-McKinney finished with 14 for South (12-3). Daekwon Gross added 16 for the Mustangs (8-3), who won despite senior starting forward Alex Blake missing the game due to a football recruiting trip. 

“We’ve only played two games this season with our entire roster,” Phifer said. “We kind of just have a ‘next man up’ attitude.”