The crowd inside the gym fell silent when Olathe East senior Josiah Talbert reached for the ball. In fact, as he lined up his first attempt in an all-star dunk contest on Friday, he said he could feel the sudden hush.

A player who competed in the Kansas Class 6A state tournament sensed his nerves coming to life.

“All eyes on you, and it just goes quiet,” he said. “When it’s dead quiet like that, yeah, you feel the pressure.”

And then he delivered. Talbert won the dunk contest in the Kansas vs. Missouri High School All-Star Challenge at Shawnee Mission South, besting Barstow senior Shea Rush in the championship round.

Talbert, who has committed to Liberty University, passed the ball to himself off the backboard on his final two-handed slam.

“I don't think I brought my A-game. I’m not sure any of us dunked as well as we thought we were going to do,” Talbert said. “But I won, so I guess I can’t complain.”

It was hard to match the show from the past two seasons. When then-Park Hill guard Landry Shamet won the contest last year, he sealed a date to his senior prom as part of the celebration. Former Lee’s Summit West’s Monte Harrison won in 2014 with a between-the-legs slam.

Some highlights scattered Friday’s event, too.

In his first attempt of the championship round, Rush sent home a pass from Lee’s Summit senior Blake Spellman, who stood 15 rows up in the stands as he delivered the ball.

In the opening round, Shawnee Mission North senior Marcus Weathers dunked over a line of three of his taller teammates. He was awarded a perfect 10 from all seven judges.