By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- With Seaman on the doorstep of history, the Vikings knocked that door down, claiming the first boys basketball state championship in school history with a decisive 66-47 romp past De Soto Saturday at White Auditorium.
Ending the season with an 11-game winning streak and four straight double-digit postseason victories, 18-7 Seaman outscored De Soto in all four quarters, including a 36-22 edge in the second half to turn the game into a rout down the stretch.
The win capped an amazing postseason run for the Vikings, who entered the state tournament as the No. 8 seed in the eight-team field.
"All the hard work we put in every single practice -- coach said we had I think about 80 of them -- and every single one we worked to get better and all that hard work finally paid off,'' Seaman senior Ty Henry said. "Going out my senior year as a state champ there aint any better finish than that.''
Seaman celebrates after Saturday's 66-47 win over De Soto in the Class 5A state championship game at Emporia's White Auditorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
For the third straight state game, Seaman got off to a hot start, leading 14-10 at the end of the opening quarter.
De Soto (20-5) opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take an 18-14 lead at the 5:40 mark of the second quarter, but the Vikings outscored the Wildcats 16-7 to end the half and take a 30-25 advantage.
For the second straight day Seaman junior Kaeden Bonner drained a long, long 3-pointer to end the half and send the Vikings to the locker room with momentum.
De Soto, which will be Seaman's league rival in the United Kansas Conference next season, got no closer than three points in the third quarter and senior Mateo Hyman canned two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the quarter to give the Vikings their biggest lead of the game at 45-35.
The Vikings opened the final period with hoops by Henry and senior Dreighton Griess and De Soto got no closer than 11 the rest of the way while Seaman went up by 21 (66-45) with two minutes remaining.
"The guys get all the credit for having themselves ready to play, to be focused, especially when you get in an invironment like this,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "It could be easy to be distracted and they were dialed in and just came out of the gates swinging and then I just loved our defense.''
Seaman junior Aron Davis scored a game-high 17 points in Saturday's 66-47 win over De Soto in the Class 5A state championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Kaeden Bonner scored 15 points and hit three of three 3-pointers in the Vikings' 66-47 win over De Soto in the Class 5A state championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman junior Aron Davis led all scorers with 17 points and added 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots while hitting all eight of his shots from the field.
"I try to find my spot and see what I can do best,'' said Davis, who missed nearly half the season with an ankle injury. "Get to the rim, pass it around, get rebounds especially and hold down on the defensive end.
"My teammates were finding me today and I have trust in my teammates.''
Bonner finished with 15 points while hitting all three of his 3-point attempts and Hyman had 9 points, a game-high 8 rebounds and a game-high 4 assists.
The Vikings shot 64.7 percent from the field (22 of 34) and 73.9 percent from the free throw line (17 of 23).
Senior Gavin Wilhelm had eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, but his biggest contribution was on the defensive end.
Wilhelm drew the defensive assignment on De Soto standout David Cobin, who had scored 32 points, including the game-winning hoop, in the Wildcats' semifinal win over St. James Academy on Friday.
Cobin managed just 10 points Saturday while going 3 of 11 from the field and 1 of 5 from 3-point range.
"I knew I would (guard Cobin), I have done this multiple times throughout the year,'' Wilhelm said. "I was obviously worried because having a 32-point game is pretty scary, but I knew in myself I could do it.
"Yesterday I had 10 rebounds and I was doing everything I could to get to the boards. Today was more about not letting him touch the ball. That was my main goal.''
Tyler Schultze led De Soto with 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range while Trent Johnson added 10 points.
Cox won his third career state championship while never losing in a state final.
Cox's Shawnee Heights team won 5A state crowns in 2000 and 2002.
"I think the big difference here is it's the first one for Seaman High School in boys basketball, so that makes it extra special,'' Cox said. "It's pretty cool.''
SEAMAN BOYS 66, DE SOTO 47
De Soto 10 15 10 12 -- 47
Seaman 14 16 15 21 -- 66
De Soto (20-5) -- Johnson 4-8 1-1 10, T. Schultze 5-13 0-0 15, E. Schultze 3-5 0-0 6, Cobin 3-11 3-4 10, James 1-2 0-1 2, Hicks 0-3 0-0 0, Lang 1-2 0-0 2, Dow 0-0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, McBride 0-0 0-0 0, Chappel 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-46 4-6 47.
Seaman(18-7) -- Hyman 2-3 5-6 8, Henry 3-8 2-2 8, Bonner 5-9 2-2 15, Wilhelm 2-3 2-2 8, Davis 8-8 1-5 17, Freeman 0-0 0-0 0, Griess 2-3 5-6 9, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Chapman 0-0 0-0 0, Barta 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-34 17-23 66.
3-point shots -- De Soto 7-21 (T. Schultze 5-8, Johnson 1-5, Cobin 1-5, E. Schultze 0-1, Hicks 0-2, Seaman 5-7 (Bonner 3-3, Wilhelm 2-3, Henry 0-1). Total fouls -- De Soto 18, Seaman 14. Fouled out – E. Schultze, Hicks. Technical fouls -- none.
