by joanna (Follow me on Twitter — @joannachadwick)

10:53 p.m. — Maize coach Chris Grill came over to me as I was working just now and said thanks for all the coverage. It’s a rare coach who does that.

Leavenworth-Maize box is below. I will add Nino Williams video to the video post.

Williams ended up with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Schultz had 12 points, 8 rebounds.

Leavenworth (17-6) 17 15 8 11 — 51

Maize (17-6) 20 13 9 7 – 49

LEAVENWORTH: Dean 2-2 0-0 4, Wiggins 4-9 3-4 13, Greenberg 6-9 2-3 14, Williams 7-16 3-3 18, Dougherty 0-2 0-0 0, Zeck 1-1 0-0 2, Padgett 0-2 0-0 0, Brundy 0-0 0-0 0, Banach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-41 8-10 51.

MAIZE: Sturgeon 0-5 0-0 0, Langley 5-12 0-0 10, Davis 0-2 4-4 4, Schultz 5-9 2-4 12, Lee 3-10 3-5 10, McCarthy 2-3 0-0 5, Hammack 0-0 2-2 2, Hosman 3-4 0-0 6, Wolgamott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-45 11-15 49.

Three-point shooting _ Leavenworth 3-9 (Williams 1-2, Wiggins 2-5, Greenberg 0-1), Maize 2-9 (McCarthy 1-1, Lee 1-2, Hosman 0-1, Sturgeon 0-2, Langley 0-3). Rebounds_Leavenworth 19 (Williams 5), Maize 33 (Schultz 8).

10:19 p.m. — Leavenworth wins 51-49. Nino Williams blocks a Ryan Schultz shot, sends it into the crowd. It’s Maize ball, 6 seconds to go. Schultz another shot, no good. Tip-in is off, too.

It will be Leavenworth and Heights on Friday night, 8:15 p.m.

This was another great game in a day of great games. So fortunate to be here to watch these games.

10:16 p.m. — Maize has the ball with 1 minute to go. It doesn’t take a shot until about 15 seconds remain, a three from beyond NBA. It’s off, Schultz gets the ball, it’s a jump ball. Now 10.4 seconds to go and Maize still down 51-49 with the ball.

10:05 p.m. — Ryan Schultz basket inside for the lead. Williams answers on the other end. Maize turnover on a carry. 49-48 Leavenworth, 3:34 to go.

Williams has 16, Schultz 12. Williams 4 rebounds, Schultz 9.

10:03 p.m. — Kyle Wiggins steals the ball from Maize after Nino Williams’ three-point play, and Wiggins scores for the 47-46 lead with 4:27 to go. Maize timeout.

10 p.m. — Poor Jeffrey Lutz. His deadline stinks. All these games have come down to the wire, pretty much. Or just run late.

Derek Lee just had a sweet rebound. So strong, and picks up a Leavenworth foul. Maize 46-42 over Leavenworth, 4:52 to go.

And then Nino Williams drives in and makes it and is fouled. 4:38.

9:58 p.m. — Ryan Schultz scores inside on a putback on his own miss. Nino Williams follows with a basket in the lane. 44-42 Maize, 6:35 to go.

9:56 p.m. — Maize is up 42-40 heading into the final period. This game has been tight. Derek Lee leads Maize with 9, Luke Langley and Ryan Schultz each have 8.

Nino Williams has really been a non-factor. Has not played as well as K-State commit Will Spradling did for SM South.

9:46 p.m. — It’s 38-all midway through the third period.

First-half stats — Leavenworth 56.5 percent shooting, Grant Greenberg has 14 points.

Maie, 50 percent shooting, Derek Lee 9 points, Ryan Schultz 8 points. Maize 16-9 on the rebounding.

9:29 p.m. — Maize is up 33-30 with less than a minute to go in the half after a Tyler Hosman basket. Kyle Wiggins brings Leavenworth back to within one.

22 seconds to go, Maize up 33-32. Blake Sturgeon’s three is off. Halftime.

9:22 p.m. –Maize has a 29-24 lead with 3:21 to go. Maize’s Derek Lee had a three-point play moments ago.

9:11 p.m. — a three by Kyle Wiggins of Leavenworth cut the Maize lead to 18-17. But Tyler Hosman scores inside with 7 seconds to go and Maize leads 20-17 after the first quarter.

9:05 — Maize is pumped. Ryan Schultz has screamed about five times. Maize just forced Leavenworth to call timeout after the Pioneers committed two straight turnovers. Maize is now up 17-12 with 2:56 to go in the first.

9:03 p.m. — Maize has a 13-10 lead with 3:45 to go in the first. Derek Lee has five points and Ryan McCarthy has a putback.

8:57 p.m. — Early 2-2 tie for Maize and Leavenworth. Leavenworth has Nino Williams, a K-State commit. Ryan Schultz now has two baskets for Maize, he’s at the free-throw line and misses. 4-2 Maize.

8:50 p.m. — Maize-Leavenworth is about to start.

The Manhattan-Wichita Heights box is below.

Manhattan (12-11) 12 4 8 17 — 41

Wichita Heights (21-2) 14 9 15 18 — 56

MANHATTAN: Nelson 6-14 0-0 13, Brooks 3-8 2-2 11, Francis 1-2 0-0 2, Stitt 1-6 0-0 2, Francis 101 909 2, Wilkinson 0-1 0-0 0, Burton 0-0 0-0 0, Jung 0-0 0-0 0, Perbeck 1-1 0-0 2, Payne 1-2 0-0 3, Kern 3-6 0-1 6, Connet 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 2-3 41.

WICHITA HEIGHTS: Dobbins 2-3 2-2 7, Wessel 3-10 1-1 8, Smith 6-9 2-5 14, Moore 2-5 2-4 6, Ellis 5-8 7-9 17, DeGrafenread 0-1 0-0 0, Countee 0-0 0-0 0, Owens 0-0 0-0 0, Riley 0-1 2-4 2, Cross 0-1 0-0 0, Jefferson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-39 16-25 56.

Three-point shooting _ Manhattan 5-18 (Payne 1-1, Brooks 3-8, Nelson 1-6, Stitt 0-3), Wichita Heights 2-6 (Wessel 1-1, Dobbins 1-2, Smith 0-1, Moore 0-1, Ellis 0-1). Rebounds _ Manhattan 22 (Kern 4), Wichita Heights 31 (Wessel 8).

8:29 p.m. — Heights defeats Manhattan 56-41 and will face the winner of Maize-Leavenworth at 8:15 Friday night.

Maize is taking the floor for warmups.

8:24 p.m. — All new lineup for Heights — Aaron Jefferson, Jay Bradley, Taylor Countee, Jalen Owens, Keith Riley. Manhattan does the same. Ya’ll made the box score. Congrats. A Keepsake!

It’s 52-34, Heights with 1:25 to go. Riley at the line, he hits a free throw.

8:20 p.m. — Manhattan timeout with 2:31 to go in the game. Heights leads 50-34 after a Perry Ellis steal and layup. He’ll be at the line after the timeout.

8:17 p.m. — Heights now leads 46-29 over Manhattan, 4:23 to go in the game.

8:11 p.m. — Manhattan’s three-point shooting ability sure keeps it in games. The Indians just hit a three with Connor Brooks. It’s 41-29 Heights. 6 minutes to go.

8:10 p.m. — Heights leads 38-26 with 7 minutes to go in the fourth. It was 38-24 at the end of the third.

Weird, weird play. Terrence Moore goes to the basket strong on a baseline drive. He’s tied up, is strong on the layup and it goes in. But the ref calls it a jump ball. Isn’t that weird?

8 p.m. — Wessel hits a jumper, Heights up 34-22 with 2:17 to go in the third. Now it’s 36-22 after an Ellis basket in the lane. Manhattan is desperately trying to stop Heights and Ellis in the lane with its zone and doubling or tripling Ellis. He’s awfully strong in the lane, though, and Heights is not slowed by much.

7:58 p.m. — Jeff Lutz thinks Dreamius Smith hurt a finger when it jammed into the ball on a pass. Wessel just made a nice play on a fastbreak after an Ellis rebound.

7:55 p.m. — Wessel misses again. This time Smith there and scores. A.J. Stitt from Manhattan scores on the other end. 28-20 Heights.

7:54 p.m. — Evan Wessel strong to the basket, misses, rebounds, misses, but Ellis is there to tip it in. Heights 26-18, 6:34 to go in the third.

7:45 p.m. — Stats from halftime of Manhattan-Heights:

Manhattan 7-of-20 shooting from the floor (35 percent), 2 of 8 from three (25 percent), 0 of 1 from free throw. Zach Nelson has 7 points, William Kern 6.

Heights 9 of 18 shooting from the floor (50 percent), 2 of 4 from three (50 percent), 3 of 7 from free throw (42.9 percent). Dreamius Smith 8 points, E.J. Dobbins five, Perry Ellis four.

7:41 p.m. — Heights leads 23-16 at the half over Manhattan. Maize coming out to warm up right now.

7:35 p.m. — Heights’ Perry Ellis is surrounded by four Manhattan guys in the lane but still drives to the basket for the shot. Up 19-14, 2:03 to go in the period.

Then Evan Wessel gets wide open at the top of the key and hits a three. 22-14, 1:53 to go in the half.

7:31 p.m. — Manhattan within 16-14 after Kern scores inside. He misses a free throw. 4:46 to go in the first half.

7:27 p.m. — Smith on the baseline drive for the basket, 16-12 in the second quarter.

7:24 p.m. — Heights and Manhattan tied at 12-all with 7 seconds to go. Terrence Moore steals it and scores on fastbreak layup as the buzzer sounds. Are you kidding me?

Interesting game so far. Heights really wants to push it and Manhattan’s possessions are long. For Heights to win, it has to be patient on defense. and not get panicky.

Manhattan’s three-point shooting is key. Zach Nelson leads Manhattan with 7 points, Dobbins has five.

7:20 p.m. — Dreamius Smith drives baseline and makes a sweet spinning basket. He’s fouled. At the line, he misses. 8-8.

7:18 pm. — Jeff Lutz, who’s writing on this game, believes that this one is going the same way the Manhattan games with East and Southeast went — Manhattan gets offensive rebounds, long possessions and hits threes.

Manhattan up 8-4 with 3:32 to go in the first. Now Dobbins scores, 8-6 Manhattan.

7:16: Heights gets first field goal, a three by E. J. Dobbins.

7:14 p.m. — Connor Brooks opens the game with a three-pointer for Manhattan.

Followed by a steal by Zach Nelson and a fastbreak basket for the 5-0 lead.

7:05 p.m. — Check out the SMS-BV North box score below:

BV North (15-8) 18 6 7 20 11 _ 62
SM South (17-6) 11 13 14 13 8 _ 59

BV NORTH: McCarthy 0-2 0-2 0, Lawless 0-1 0-0 0, Ehlers 5-14 2-6 15, McLerran 7-14 5-9 21, Crooker 5-11 2-4 12, Dolan 2-5 7-7 11, Elliott 0-0 0-0 0, Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 1-2 1-2 3, Boehler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 17-30 62.
SM SOUTH: Spradling 11-24 10-15 34, Reid 2-5 0-0 5, Winkler 0-2 0-0 0, Fredrick 2-6 0-0 5, Christie 03 0-0 0, Weber 0-0 0-0 0, Moyer 2-7 0-1 6, Bergner 0-0 0-0 0, Stacker 4-7 1-1 9. Totals 21-54 11-17 59.
Three-point shooting _ BV North 5-15 (Ehlers 3-7, McLerran 2-5, Dolan 0-1, McCarthy 0-2), SM South 6-24 (Moyer 2-6, Spradling 2-8, Fredrick 1-2, Reid 1-4, Winkler 0-2, Christie 0-2). Rebounds _ BV North 36 (Crooker 11), SM South 39 (Stacker 13).

6:44 p.m. — SM South loses to BV North 62-59. Alex Moyer hits a three with 6 seconds to go, then BV North misses two free throws and then Moyer’s half-court shot at the buzzer hits off the front of the rim. Great, great game.

Will the next two live up to it? We’ve got Heights and Manhattan next, then Maize and Leavenworth. I can’t wait for some more good basketball.

6:42 p.m. — I’m going to miss the SM South fans. Up 62-56 with 12 second to go. Moyer hits a three 6 seconds, down by 3, 62-59 with 3.1 seconds to go.

6:38 p.m. — Spradling is obviously tired. He’s been short on three straight shots. BV North leads 58-53, 35 seconds.

6:35 p.m. — BV North leads SM South 56-53 with 1:21 to go in OT.

6:30 p.m. — It’s OT, baby. Great defense by BV North on Spradling. Rayner Fredrick had to take the shot with 2 seconds to go. It was off.

Great, great game.

6:29 p.m. — SM South did it’s cheer, “I believe, I believe that, I believe that we will win…”

Heights fans do the same one. It’s such a joyful cheer.

6:28 p.m. — 15.4 seconds to go, McLerran at the line after an SM South foul after Moyer misses the front end. McLerran makes the first and ties it with the second.

Spradling with the ball, it’s tipped away from him, still SM South ball, timeout with 4.4 seconds to go.

6:26 p.m. — 17.1 seconds to go after McLerran misses a three, SM South has the ball with Alex Moyer at the line for a one-and-one.

6:24 p.m. — After BV North’s Sean McLerran ties the score with a basket inside, Spradling dribbles the length of the floor and scores. Now timeout BV North with 28.1 seconds to go and SM South up 51-49. Spradling has 34.

6:21 p.m. — Kyle Crooker from BV North just missed a wide-open layup, but got his own rebound and made the basket and was fouled. He just missed the free throw. But it’s 49-47 SM South with 1:34 to go. Spradling, who has 32 points, is back at the line.

6:17 p.m. — SM South is up 46-44. BV North turns it on after being down by 11 late in the third.

6:12 p.m. — After a way too long break for ridiculousness, there’s 4:36 to go with SM South up 43-38.

My impressions: Will Spradling is a legit player with the ability to drive, handle the ball as a point guard — passing like one, too — and hits the three and rebounds.

Another impression: John McFall is still a head coach. Well, at least he acts like one. Does it ever leave your blood? He stands nearly as much as his son, the refs keep motioning him back. Funny.

6:08 p.m. — SM South fans singing, ‘Oh baby you, got what I need. And you say he’s just a friend, you say he’s just a friend.’

6:07 p.m. — SM South fans are yelling: Let’s play ball, let’s play ball.

6:06 p.m. — Can we play? That’s McFall to the refs. Another long delay, another long discussion about the official book. Get this game moving! 6:16 to go.

6:04 p.m. — We’ve got some more official book problems, says BV North’s Lawless has five fouls. Stats crew will over-ride this, as well. Then again, they all seem to agree. He’s out.

5:58 p.m. — SM South’s Will Spradling hit a three and now has 21 points. But that three put SM South up 38-29. It’s now 38-31 with the fourth quarter about to start.

Great SM South fans. BV North tries to get SM South to take an early shot to end the quarter, counting down too early. Well, SM South fans overwhelmed them and started calling the right time.

Wait, now there’s 37 points for SM South. This is crazy. A point was taken off the scoreboard. Now they’re fixing it. Brett McFall is over here asking me what the score is and what I have. I told him I was right.

I don’t think he remembered me from when he was a Wichita Eagle All-State player at Olathe South. I’ll remind him later.

5:47 p.m. — SM South’s lead is now 29-24. I like Spradling. He’s so aggressive on the offense and defense and has forced BV North to go into a zone because he drives so well. And teammate Jake Reid makes BV North pay with a three for 32-24 lead, 5:12 to go in third.

5:33 p.m. — SM South and BV North are tied at the half. Stats are below.

BV North: 39.1 percent shooting from the floor, 3 of 6 from three, 3 of 10 from free throw. Weston Ehlers has 12 points.

SM South: 34.6 percent from the floor, 0-9 from three, 6 of 8 from free throw. Will Spradling 13 points.

5:27 p.m. — SM South now leads 24-20 with 1:21 to go in the first half. Spradling has 13 points.

5:21 p.m. — SM South’s Brandon Stacker just had two of the sweetest alley-oop dunks. They were things of beauty. Wish you could have seen it. But trust me, my eyes were smiling.

It’s tied at 20-20.

5:18 p.m. — SM South now trails 18-16 with 5:50 to go in the half. BV North calls a timeout.

5:14 p.m. — BV North leads SM South 18-11 after the first quarter. BV North hit three threes.

5:04 p.m. — BV North is on fire. Up 10-4 with 4:23 to go in the first quarter. Weston Ehlers has scored all but two of their points, hitting a three-pointer, too. Will Spradling has one basket for SMS. Spradling is a K-State signee.

4:55 p.m. — Getting ready for the BV North-SM South boys game.

Quotes from Dodge City coach Dennis Hamilton is below. So is the box score:

On BV Northwest’s 52.8 percent shooting, 47.4 percent from three:

“We didn’t give them much space, but when they got a little separation, they made baskets. That was part of our downfall — as well as they shot it and the way they shot free throws. The two areas right there gave them the separation they needed to win by 20.”

BV Northwest was 22 of 28 from the free-throw line.

On Rico Hogan’s 19 points, including five three-pointers:

“He shot it well, but how many did they have shooting it well? They had more than one. They had three guys shooting it well.”

BV Northwest’s Brett Fisher scored 23, Tyler Brashears had 19 and together they were 7 of 12 from three.

Was it unbelievable how well BV Northwest shot?:

For the whole game. I know — we kept telling them at halftime that it wouldn’t continue. We couldn’t put them at the foul line in hopes they’d miss free throws. But they started the second half where they left off.

“We did make a nice run in the third

BV Northwest (16-7) 16 17 19 17 _ 69
Dodge City (19-4) 9 9 18 13 _ 49

BV NORTHWEST: Brashears 5-10 5-6 19, Smith 1-7 0-0 3, Fisher 5-9 10-11 23, Bugarinovic 2-2 2-3 6, Bond 0-0 0-0 0, Hatchett 1-1 1-2 3, McInerny 1-1 0-0 2, Fugate 0-0 0-0 0, Luebbert 1-1 0-0 3, Hooks 1-3 3-4 5, Miller 0-0 1-2 1, Lang 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 19-36 22-28 69.
DODGE CITY: Hogan 6-16 2-2 19, Hallman 0-3 2-2 2, Head 0-6 0-0 0, Williams 5-14 3-6 13, Morin 2-3 0-3 4, Taylor 1-2 0-0 2, Sotelo 2-2 0-0 6, Esquibel 0-0 0-0 0, Howarth 1-3 0-0 2, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Ridenour 0-1 1-2 1, Middleton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-51 8-15 49.
Three-point shooting _ BV Northwest 9-19 (Brashears 4-6, Fisher 3-5, Luebbert 1-1, Smith 1-5, Hooks 0-2), Dodge City 7-21 (Hogan 5-13, Sotelo 2-2, Head 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Brown 0-1, Williams 0-3). Rebounds _ BV Northwest 32 (Bugarinovic 12), Dodge City 26 (Head 5).

4:32 p.m. — It’s a final. BV Northwest advances, improving to 15-8. Dodge City loses and heads home, losing 69-49. Up next is BV North and SM South.

The SMS student section is huge already. They were packed in at about halftime. I’ll get them on video, which should be fun. They’re taking up the two sides that housed Dodge City and BV Northwest fans. I like it!

4:30 p.m. — 66-47 BVNW with 53 seconds to go.

4:22 p.m. — BV Northwest is up 64-43 with 2:45 to go.

4:19 p.m. — Dodge City’s Landon Head just got called for a foul and then T’ed up.

BV NW up 62-41, 3:47 to go.

4:17 p.m. — BV Northwest is up 58-41. 3:56 to go.

4:10 p.m. — BV Northwest now leads 54-37 with 6:50 to go in the game. BV Northwest has been so patient with the ball. Long possessions are key now for the Huskies.

4:07 p.m. — BV Northwest leads Dodge City, the No. 2 seed, 52-36 heading into the fourth.

4:05 p.m. — Some clock issues here. But the scoreboard is right. 52-34 BV Northwest over Dodge City with 24.2 seconds to go in the third. I’m about to lose my runner-up pick in 6A.

Sigh.

BV Northwest has played nearly flawless.

3:53 p.m. — First it was Tyler Brashears hot from three, now it’s teammate Brett Fisher, who has hit two straight. 39-25 BV Northwest.

3:50 p.m. — Dodge got to within eight points of BV Northwest after a three by Hogan, an alley-oop pass to Terrence Williams and a basket inside by Miles Morin.

But BV Northwest’s Fisher hits another three. It’s 36-24 with 4:35 to go in the third.

3:35 p.m. — BV Northwest cooled off a bit there at the end of the second quarter, but the Huskies still have a 33-18 lead at the break.

Stats are after the jump:

BV Northwest shot 47.4 percent from the field including 6 of 13 from three (46.2 percent). Tyler Brashears was 3 of 4 from three and has 13 points. Rico Hogan leads Dodge City with 13 points, hitting 4 of 9 from the field, 3 of 7 from three-point range.

Dodge as a team shot 26.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three.

Only six total turnovers in that half.

3:28 p.m. — So BV Northwest finally missed a free throw and then the Huskies get a rebound on the miss and Brashears hits again from three. This is getting ridiculous. 6 of their 8 field goals are threes.

BV NW wins this game. Unless the Huskies cool off drastically.

30 second time out, 2:51 to go in the half, BV NW up 31-14. I tell you, anyone can win at anytime if you get hot like this.

3:25 p.m. — When you’re hot, you’re hot. BV Northwest is hot from three. Brashears just hit another NBA three, swishing it, folks. It’s 27-14 BV Northwest. (Hogan hit a three for Dodge.)

3:24 p.m. — Tyler Brashears hit another BV Northwest three, this one from NBA range, for the 24-9 lead and a 12-0 run.

Rico Hogan hits two free throws to end the five minute scoring drought.

3:21 p.m. — After another BV Northwest three, this one by Bradley Luebbert, Dodge coach Dennis Hamilton calls a timeout down 21-9 with 7:08 to go in the half.

By the way, in case you didn’t see my earlier blog post, Andover Central’s Tiffany Bias is Kansas’ Gatorade Player of the Year. And rightfully so. No one in this state is better than her. A definite improvement on last year’s Kansas player of the year — an outstanding player in Taber Spani, but she lived in Missouri and was homeschooled.

3:20 p.m. — BV Northwest has blocked two Dodge City shots that probably should have been called jump balls. They’re getting to the Demons that quick in the shot and playing it well. 8 for 8 on free throws now for 18-9 lead. Another Dodge turnover.

3:15 p.m. — BV Northwest is up 16-9 with less than 30 seconds to go. BV Northwest is playing really well.

That’s the end of the period. BV Northwest has hit all six free throw attempts. Dodge City is committing turnovers and seems to be rushing things offensively and not getting back on defense.

3:11 p.m. — Dodge City is within 8-7 after a three by Rico Hogan. 2:54 to go in the first quarter.

Dodge City has a pretty good contingent. Oh my. There’s a parent standing in the stands, in front of everyone. Just standing. Sir, you can sit. It’s OK.

3:05 p.m. — The game has just gotten started, BVNW has a 3-0 lead two minutes in. I’ve put up videos on a separate post, and I’ll be doing that through the day. If you’re looking for info, comment and I’ll get back to you. Want to chat about your favorite venue at state basketball, let’s chat.

BV Northwest just hit another three, 2 of 2, for the 6-0 lead. Dodge is 0-3 from three.

2:15 p.m. — Honestly, everyone, this blog is the place to be if you’re not here at Emporia’s White Auditorium. I’m going to be blogging every game. I’ll be updating a video post, as well, just as I did on Wednesday.

Blue Valley Northwest fans have already been here 15 minutes. That’s real fans, everyone.

Wow, this BV Northwest kid has some big ‘ol dreads. And I always love the red-and-white striped warm-up pants worn by Dodge City.

Anyway, we’ve got Heights and Maize both playing later tonight in what should be good games.