Central basketball wins first district title in 15 years with dramatic win over Kickapoo

Tyrique Brooks has thrown down a handful of memorable dunks over his high school career. None may be more memorable than the one he threw down late Tuesday night.

Central's lone senior found himself alone running toward the basket. He jumped up and threw down a tomahawk slam to put the Bulldogs up by five points with 17 seconds to go in the district title game against Kickapoo.

"I couldn't hear myself yelling," Brooks said. "I couldn't even hear myself screaming and talking trash at the end."

Soon after, his teammates stormed the court. With a 57-54 victory, the Bulldogs were district champions for the first time since 2009.

"It means a lot," head coach Jordan Epps said. "I was telling the guys in the locker room that some coaches go a whole career without having a district championship and I just told them, 'Thank you for giving me that.' This was one of the goals we checked off of many this season. These guys are ready to keep pushing to see what our limit could be."

A thrilling back-and-forth fourth quarter saw four lead changes and unlikely heroes. A game between the Ozark Conference co-champions in the league's final season saw big shot after big shot.

Central didn't win it without having to overcome some adversity.

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Early in the second half, Central big man Bryce Walker picked up his fourth foul. Kickapoo focused on attacking the Bulldogs' top post player to give junior Jackson Shorter an advantage down low.

Brooks wasn't having any of that. With the game tied 25-25, Brooks responded with a pair of driving baskets through contact. He finished off two of the three-point plays for an eight-point lead and scored 10 of his game-high 17 points in the quarter. He also found himself defending in the post, where he excelled thanks to his elite athleticism.

At the same time, Central got contributions from its best football player. Trevor Wilson, a junior defensive end who was fourth in the area in sacks this past season, held his own when the Chiefs attacked down low. He played minimally in the Bulldogs' semifinal win over Glendale.

"I had a lot of adrenaline," Wilson said. "I wanted to be the bigger guy, so I went in there and shoved some people around. I like to assert my dominance; that's really fun for me. I'm not the greatest player but I'm going to go in there and do my best."

Kickapoo trailed by as many as nine but fouled out Walker early in the fourth quarter and used five straight points from Shaun Campbell to take its first lead of the second half with 4:56 to play.

From then until Brooks' breakaway dunk, the game stayed within a possession. Wilson knocked down a jumper from the elbow right after Kickapoo took the lead. After Kickapoo standout sophomore Reese Kimrey got a layup to fall, Wilson answered with a layup to give the Bulldogs the lead for good with just over two minutes left.

"He went in there and played a heck of a game," Epps said. "He's a kid that started out the year playing a lot of minutes and halfway through the season stopped playing a lot of minutes and got maybe one or two a game. I don't even know if he played in the last game but tonight, he embraced the moment. I can't be anything but proud of him."

Wilson finished with six points while hitting both of his shots and both of his free throws. He had the outlet pass to Brooks on the game-winning dunk. Rue Wells scored 16 points including Central's first eight of the game.

The Chiefs (25-4) were led by Campbell's 12 points, and Shorter added 11. Their two losses to the Bulldogs this season marked the first back-to-back defeats to Central since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

"We knew Kickapoo was going to be a tough opponent," Epps said. "They've been here and they know what it takes. Our guys stepped up and to win championships and to do anything in the postseason, you have to have players. I'm fortunate to have players that make plays, especially in crunch time. We played a little ugly, but sometimes you gotta win ugly to win championships."

Central (23-6) moves into a Class 6 state quarterfinal, where it will play at Rockhurst on Saturday. The Hawklets upset Lee's Summit West on Tuesday night in double overtime.

A win and Central would qualify for the state semifinals for the first time since 1963. The Bulldogs have had a handful of historic achievements during one of their best seasons in decades and a trip to Columbia would certainly be the latest.

First, the Bulldogs will celebrate their first district championship in 15 years.

"It's huge because we're starting a winning culture now for basketball and football," Wilson said. "We're turning it around at Central and we're making something out of our name."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Central basketball beats Kickapoo in Class 6 district championship