By Kyle McCaskey

Kyler Steadman has always been the one to orchestrate Derby’s strategy on the court. There he was this past Friday, pointing and commanding his teammates to their assigned roles.

This time, it was meant as a distraction at the free throw line for Maize’s JC Sturgeon.

Down 58-55, Sturgeon had heaved a desperation 3-pointer to try to send the game to overtime. He missed, but in the process, was fouled by Derby’s Tyler Chambers. Sturgeon toed the line with less than a second on the clock, sinking his first two attempts from the charity stripe. His third would send the game to overtime.

“I don’t know about anybody else, but I was pretty certain he was going to make all three,” said Brett Flory, Derby coach. “In my head, I was going over plans for overtime.”

With Steadman energetically directing traffic, Sturgeon lifted his shot. It jumped off the back of the rim and time expired, locking in a Panther victory.

“I told the guys, ‘We have to talk a lot at the line,’” Steadman said. “You have to get in his head. I guess we did.”

The game appeared put to rest early in the third quarter. After a 26-26 tie at halftime, Derby assembled a 19-1 run capped by a 3-pointer from Garrett Dinsmore to open the second half. 

Maize began its own rally that led to a tie game at 52 with less than two minutes to go in the fourth. Derby led 57-55 with 22 seconds remaining. Outside of Sturgeon’s free throws, Maize also missed two other free throws and turned the ball over in the waning seconds. 

“I just told the guys, ‘Don’t apologize for winning in the league on the road in February,’” Flory said. “A win on the road in the league in February – it counts just as much if you win by 40. We’re not disappointed in that.”

Steadman led Derby with 22 points, including all 12 Panther points in the second quarter. He also hit 5-of-6 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. Sturgeon finished with 17 for the Eagles.

“They came out here and almost gave us our first loss in the league. They’re a hard-working team,” Steadman said. “We knew we had the heart to bring it back. We just had to stay relaxed and play defense. It was a hard finish.”

On Feb. 7, the Panthers picked up a win at Newton. The matchup was tight through three quarters, with Derby clinging to a two-point edge. 

Derby’s defense ratcheted down in the fourth. Newton missed all eight of its shot attempts from the floor, allowing Derby to pick up a 69-54 victory.

Newton’s Jenson Kingsley produced 16 points to lead all scorers. Steadman had 14 points for Derby, and Dinsmore came off the bench to drop 14 on 5-of-7 shooting.

The Panther bench produced 24 points.

“James Conley came off the bench, and he really gave us some energy,” Dinsmore said. “The whole team came together and we really worked as a team. We needed to shut down (Kingsley) because we knew he was their prime-time player.”

Derby (13-4, 9-0 as of Monday) has an opportunity to write itself into a high seed in sub-state competition.

“Some of those games that we lost against McPherson and Andover Central, we wish we had them back because we know we can beat those guys,” Dinsmore said. “We’re going to try to win out the season and see how it goes.”

Derby hosts its final home game of the regular season on Friday against Hutchinson. 

Derby 58, Maize 57

Feb. 10 at Maize

            1   2   3   4     Final

Derby   14 12 23  9       58

Maize   15 11 10 21      57

Derby: Steadman 22, Chambers 9, Dinsmore 8, Ray 5, Dunham 4, Schieber 4, Littleton 4, Osborn 2 

Maize: Sturgeon 17, McBroom 15, Pontius 10, Colby White 8, Shaw 4, Strunk 3

 

Derby 69, Newton 54

Feb. 7 at Newton

            1   2   3   4     Final

Derby   16 16 18 19      69

Newton 16 16 16  6       54

Derby: Steadman 14, Dinsmore 14, Ray 11, Dunham 8, Schieber 8, Osborn 6, Chambers 4, Conley 4

Newton: Kingsley 16, Walker 14, Krogmeier 8, Grosch 8, Wright 3, Drinnen 3, Lawrence 2

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