BonnerSprings.com

BALDWIN — Austin Laing might have won the game for the Bonner Springs boys’ basketball team Tuesday, but he needed some help or, as his coach calls it, luck.

The Bonner Springs junior made a wide-open layup with 2 seconds remaining in the first-round game of the Baldwin Invitational Tournament to give his team a 62-61 victory. That wasn’t luck.

“All of our guys were surprised we ended up pulling that one out,” coach Ryan Hull said. “We were hooting and hollering in the locker room, but we were all in shock.”

Sophomore Brett Steuart stole an overthrow by Kansas City Christian during the waning seconds. He saw Laing open at the other end of the court and delivered the winning assist.

Seconds before the steal, junior Juan Pichardo drained a 3-pointer to cut the KC Christian lead to 60-59. The Braves missed many 3-point attempts during the final quarter that would have closed the Panthers’ lead.

Bonner Springs forced many turnovers, but the Braves were unable to convert many into points. Hull even admitted luck had to be on their side during the final minutes to make the game interesting.

“I think we hit one 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and that was the one at the very end,” Hull said. “We missed a 3-point play where we ended up getting zero free throws and that would have tied the game. Nothing was going right for a long time. We will chalk this up to luck being on our side, because there’s nothing else that could be said for some of those crazy things that happened.”

The luckiest play of the game came during the final minute. Sophomore J.J. Jackson attempted to lob a pass into Laing, who was outside the paint and double-teamed. The pass deflected off Laing and his defender, kissed off the glass and went through the rim.

“I think a tipped pass going into the bucket and those two late steals could be attributed to a little bit of luck there,” Hull said. “We’ll take it. We’re giving J.J. the assist. I do the stats, so we’re giving J.J. an assist for that bucket.”

The Braves trailed by 15 points during the second half. Their intensity increased after Hull was whistled for a technical foul. While the coach said luck helped them win Tuesday, he also admitted his team made those lucky changes possible.

“We made luck happen,” Hull said. “They were taking care of the ball and making their shots, so we thought there was no way to get back into the game unless there was a little bit of luck. Our guys kept working really hard and made plays.”

Pichardo led BSHS with 14 points, Laing had 13, B.J. Watson scored 12 and Steuart added 10 in the victory.

Bonner Springs (2-7) will play No. 2-seeded Augusta at 7 p.m. Friday in the championship semifinals.

Baldwin and Perry-Lecompton will meet at 8:30 p.m. in the other semifinal. The championship game is slated for 5:30 p.m. Saturday and the third-place game is at 4 p.m.

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