Robert Lewandowski scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists to lead the Blue Valley West Jaguars past the Leavenworth Pioneers, 55-42, in the Class 6A boys championship game.
Blue Valley West used an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to take control of the game after Leavenworth had cut it to one at 34-33. Lewandowski capped the run with a thunderous dunk off an alley-oop pass from Jake Wolfe that made it 45-33 with 2 minutes, 15 seconds left.
The Jaguars closed out the game by going 8-of-10 from the free-throw line, while Leavenworth made just two field goals in the final 7 minutes, 26 seconds.
Taylor Embree and Josh Copp each added nine points for Blue Valley West.
The Pioneers’ Antoine Branch finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including a 6-for-10 performance from behind the three-point line.
Branch was seemingly unstoppable from the field in the first half, single-handedly keeping Leavenworth in the game by scoring 17 of the Pioneers’ 20 points at halftime on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, all threes, plus two free throws.
But despite Branch’s best efforts, Blue Valley West was able to take a 27-20 lead into the break thanks in large part to the passing and shooting skills of Lewandowski. He had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in addition to his three assists in the first half despite facing constant double teams.