Game photos courtesy of Tanner Colvin

Salina South’s six seniors were not ready to give up on their season just yet, especially in their own gym against their crosstown rivals.

So, when Salina Central made a late charge Tuesday night and led South with less than two minutes left, the Cougars slammed the door, just as they had in two previous meetings this year.

“It’s kind of a mindset, for sure,” South senior center Gavin DeVoe said after the Cougars scored the game’s last five points to claim a hard-fought 60-56 Class 5A sub-state semifinal victory at the South gym. “I knew if we lose that game, it’s the end of my senior season, and we’ve worked so hard.”

Senior Gavin DeVoe

“I knew everything we’ve done this season has prepared us for that moment, so I felt pretty confident that I was going to do everything in my power not to lose that game. I felt like I did a good job of doing what I needed to do.”

Did he ever.

The 6-foot-7 overcame a pair of early fouls to score eight of his team-high 18 points and grab half of his game-best 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter as No. 8 West seed South improved to 16-8 while living to play another day. The Cougars travel to Wichita on Friday to take on No. 1 seed Kapaun-Mt. Carmel with the winner advancing to state.

In a back-and-forth game that featured seven ties and 11 lead changes, it was DeVoe who put South in front for good, 57-56, on an offensive rebound basket with 1 minutes, 23 seconds left. That play answered a driving layup by Gannon Cole that gave Central its last lead at the 1:48 mark.

Senior Jaxon Myers

“There were a lot of ups and downs,” said South senior point guard Jaxon Myers, whose basket at the one-minute mark pushed the lead to three points before adding a free throw with 24.5 seconds on the clock to make it a two-possession game. “It could have been better, but we did enough. We did all we needed to get the win.”

The third and final installment of this year’s South-Central rivalry went much the same way as the previous two, where the Cougars pulled out a 59-55 victory in December and then prevailed, 58-53, on Jan. 23 in the semifinals of the Salina Invitational Tournament.

“They were similar in some ways,” said Central coach Chris Fear, whose Mustangs finished with a 15-9 record after closing the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. “Three very tight games, and at the end of the day, they were able to make one or two more plays.”

“Credit to them.”

DeVoe picked up his two fouls, which helped Central close the first quarter on a six-point run to lead 19-14. But the momentum switched in the second period when the Mustangs turned the ball over six times and big man Greyson Jones was whistled for three fouls.

South took advantage by outscoring Central 17-9 in the period for a 31-28 halftime lead.

“They went on that little run at the end of the first quarter when Gavin went out with two fouls, and we decided we needed to play him in the second quarter and put him back in,” South coach Jason Hooper said. “He did a really good job of managing that situation and not picking up a third and got Greyson in foul trouble at the same time.”

“That was a big swing there, where we were able to get him to the locker room, and Greyson had three. That helped us for sure in the third quarter.”

Jones, who picked up a fourth foul early in the third quarter, made it to the end of the game, but it helped neutralize Central’s size advantage. Jones, a 6-6 senior who finished with eight points, came in as he Mustangs’ second-leading scorer at 16.4 points per game and the top rebounder with a 5.6 average.

Central, which shot 50% for the game, still had three double-figure scorers, led by Kaeden Nienke with 24 points, Cole with 11 and Grant Ostmeyer with 10. The Mustangs, who trailed 44-39 after three quarters, used a 7-2 to tie it with under six minutes left and took their first lead of the half, 52-51, on a Nienke basket at the 3:11 mark.

DeVoe then scored South’s next six points, including what proved to be the game winner. The Cougars also got 12 points each from Easton Wilcox and Kobie Henley, with Myers and Sawyer Walker both adding eight.

South shot 56.4% for the game, including 6-for-12 from 3-point range. The Cougars did struggle at the free-throw line, making 10 of 21 and missing five in the final 25 seconds that could have put the game out of reach.

Head coach Jason Hooper

“It was a battle of wills, and every possession mattered, and I’m just thrilled that our guys were able to make the plays necessary down the stretch to win,” Hooper said. “Our seniors have been through a lot.”

“They’ve been at the bottom of the heap, and they’ve had a lot of adversity, and we’ve gone through a lot of injuries and a lot of sickness and just a lot of crazy stuff. I’m really proud of those guys for hanging on getting our first sub-state win in a few years. Now we’ll see if we can get another one.”

The Cougars face a Kapaun team that is 24-0 after blitzing No. 16 seed Arkansas City on Tuesday, 70-31.