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The Baldwin boys basketball team and the student section pose for photos with the team’s recently won state championship trophy after the Bulldogs defeated Rock Creek 66-60 in the 4A state championship game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
HUTCHINSON — A Cinderella run through the KSHSAA Class 4A boys basketball tournament culminated Saturday with Baldwin winning its first state title in program history.
The sixth-seeded Bulldogs showed championship mettle, erasing a late nine-point deficit to stun top-seeded Rock Creek 66-60 in a seesaw thriller.
“It’s such a fulfilling, resilient win for us,” Baldwin head coach Donald Blanchat said. “And an unbelievable feeling.”
Baldwin’s memorable tourney march saw the Bulldogs knock off the bracket’s top three seeds, including triumphs over previously undefeated Atchison and Rock Creek in the tournament semifinals and title game.
Baldwin dropped its first two games of the season while star point guard and senior leader Cooper Carr was on the shelf with an injury. But in the end, it seemed as though Baldwin was a team of destiny.
“We knew coming in, this our state championship to win,” Carr said. “Our guys believed, even through the adversity at the start of the year.”
Carr added that his injury may have been a blessing in disguise because “it showed each and every dude they could step up” in his absence.
And that they did during a dramatic final eight minutes against Rock Creek. Trailing 48-39, the Bulldogs opened the final frame on an 11-2 spurt that was bookended by driving scores from senior point guard Cooper Carr.
But at the start of the run and just a minute in the fourth quarter, Baldwin faced a setback that would force them to look to their reserves for some extra minutes down the stretch.
Sophomore Jackson Wheeler, who made the victory-sealing block in the final minute of the Bulldogs’ state quarterfinal victory over Pratt, drew a whistle while trying to deny Rock Creek’s Logan Klingenberg from driving to the basket. Wheeler picked up his fifth foul, ending his night with a stat line of four points, two rebounds and a steal.
In his absence, Baldwin needed and received vital scoring contributions in the fourth quarter from a couple players that the Bulldogs don’t typically rely on for offense.
Kreyton Frost, a junior guard who averages just 1.5 points per game, doubled up on that mark when he knocked down his one and only shot of the night. Frost hit a 3-pointer to cut Rock Creek’s lead to 50-48.
“Just ice water in his veins,” Blanchat said of Frost, who seemingly closed his eyes on the release of his knockdown jumper.
Senior guard Devyn Wadel, who entered averaging 3.5 points per game, supplied the Bulldogs with five 3-pointers on the night. Two of those came in the final frame, Wadel the go-ahead knockdown 3-pointer with 5:15 remaining.
A floating runner off the fingertips of senior forward Colton Collum, followed by Carr’s driving layup put the Bulldogs up 57-54 with 3:15 remaining. The lead was short-lived as Gavin Rosa came off a screen to sink a game-tying fadeaway triple.
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Baldwin’s Devyn Wadel shoots a 3-pointer over a closeout defender against Rock Creek during the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Rosa, one of the top long-range shooters in the state, entered the night averaging five 3-point makes per game, on a staggering 59.7% shooting clip.
With under a minute remaining and the game tied at 58, Carr drove the lane and kicked from left to right, finding a wide-open Wadel. In what could arguably go down as the biggest shot in school history, the southpaw Wadel cashed in the 3 for a 61-58 lead with 39 seconds remaining.
On the other end, Rosa deferred to Klingenberg for a game-tying 3-point attempt that was well off-target. The Bulldogs corralled the rebound and proceeded to salt the game away from the charity stripe.
In addition to Wadel and Frost stepping up big in the game, Baldwin also got the job done thanks to strong efforts from a few other players who did not stand out on the stat sheet.
Senior guards Ethan Smasal and Jackson Rood provided a combined 21 minutes of playing time in the final, primarily focused on playing scrappy defense on the perimeter. The Bulldogs’ collective effort on defense allowed them to limit a normally red-hot outside shooting team in Rock Creek to a slightly-less lethal 8 of 22 from 3-point range.
Baldwin (22-6) also got off to a sluggish start offensively as Rock Creek built an early advantage. Rosa’s buzzer-beating 3-ball capped an 8-0 run as the Mustangs ran out to a 15-6 lead through one quarter of play.
Rosa’s sharpshooting capabilities weren’t Baldwin’s only pressing concern over the first 16 minutes of play, as the Bulldogs struggled to contain forward Ethan Tonsor down low. Tonsor’s low-post offense helped Rock Creek stretch its advantage to 18-8 early in the second quarter.
But Baldwin finally began to thaw out offensively, sparked by back-to-back treys from Wadel to quickly slice the Bulldogs’ deficit to 18-14. With just under a minute remaining in the first half, star forward Leo Schoenberger muscled his way to the rim for a tough score, handing Baldwin its first lead at 21-20.
Schoenberger said that Rock Creek’s on-ball defense “made it tough on us to get the easy looks.”
Carr, who entered the night averaging a shade under 19 points per game, was limited to two points at the half, as Baldwin held a 24-23 edge.
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Baldwin’s Cooper Carr goes up for a layup attempt against Rock Creek during the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Close-range baskets from Collum and Schoenberger put Baldwin up 28-25 early in the third quarter, but Rock Creek began to take control as the frame wore on.
Schoenberger did all he could to keep things close, scoring tough low-post buckets on back-to-back possessions as Baldwin trailed 37-34. The teams traded 3-pointers late in the quarter, with both Carr and Hudson Edelman knocking down the big shots.
Edelman’s 3-point make opened up a nine-point lead for Rock Creek, setting up the Bulldogs’ dramatic comeback victory.
Baldwin was lights out from the field, shooting 61% (25 of 41) while connecting on 50% of its 3-point attempts (7 of 14). Wadel, the game’s unsung hero, dropped in 17 points while hitting 5 of 7 from long range. Blanchat said it was a “rewarding feeling” watching Wadel rain 3s because of the hard work he’s put in over the years.
Schoenberger’s efficient offensive performance included a game-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 7 of 10 from the charity stripe.
“We just made winning plays down the stretch,” Schoenberger said. “And ultimately, we made more winning plays than they did in the end.”
Schoenberger, who often does much of his damage from the wing, was forced to adjust offensively as Rock Creek looked to pressure him on the perimeter.
“So I had to get in the paint and be a dog on the inside,” he said.
Carr, the Bulldogs’ steady floor general, displayed his all-around game — notching 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Collum chipped in 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
“Colton doesn’t get a lot of touches because people are clogging up the lane on us,” Blanchat said. “But man, when he got his opportunity, he played really well.”
Blanchat called Carr and Schoenberger “the best duo in 4A basketball.”
“Rock Creek is really good,” Blanchat said. “But the thing about Cooper and Leo is that they’re not going to be denied.
“Just the will that they have to get buckets late, finish teams off late, and get stops — that came through at the end.”
Outside of Tonsor’s strong first-half performance, Baldwin dominated in the post, outscoring Rock Creek 34-16. Baldwin also received a tremendous boost from its bench, outscoring the Mustangs 24-10 in that department.
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Baldwin’s Leo Schoenberger jumps into the air for layup attempt on a fast break against Rock Creek during the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Baldwin held Rosa to just nine points, well under his season averages in both scoring and 3-point makes. The Bulldogs were also able to clamp down on Tonsor, holding him to just four points in the second half after scoring nine over the first 16 minutes of play.
Blanchat said Rock Creek’s lineup was chock full of ”quick, fast, tough athletes.”
“And they’ve been in winning situations a lot,” he said. “So those guys weren’t going to back down.”
Rock Creek (27-1) concludes with a state runner-up finish for the second consecutive year. The Mustangs lost that final to McPherson team which won its second straight state title. Both of those years, the Bullpups also knocked off Baldwin en route to those state titles.
McPherson defeated the Bulldogs 60-59 in overtime during the state quarterfinals last year. In 2024, the Bullpups rolled to a 62-49 win over Baldwin in the state semifinals. Baldwin would end up finishing in fourth-place, losing to the same Atchison program that the Bulldogs would need to defeat in this year’s state semifinals.
Baldwin finally brought home the program’s first state title, after all those tough losses in recent years and after 12 previous trips to the state tournament over the last 123 years.
While the Bulldogs’ crowning moment came at the culmination of four straight trips to state, the Baldwin boys basketball program had large gaps between its first four state appearances.
The Bulldogs earned a spot amongst the state’s top eight teams in 1912, then moving up to top four with a trip to the semifinals in 1921. They lost to the eventual state runner-up in the first trip while losing to the eventual state champ in the second.
When Baldwin returned to state in 1935, Kansas had added a second classification. The Bulldogs again lost to the eventual state champs, albeit in the first round for Class B. Keeping the trend of experiencing larger gaps in state trips, Baldwin would not return to the state quarterfinals again until 1954.
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Baldwin’s Cooper Carr jumps into teammates Gavin Brittingham and Spencer Carr to celebrate defeating Rock Creek in the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The Bulldogs would use the momentum of that fourth-place finish to return to state just two years later, but would exit in the state quarterfinals that time. Then it took another 18 years before Baldwin returned in 1974.
Although it was comparatively short seven years before they returned to state in 1981, Baldwin would have another long wait before seeing this team return to state.
It was arguably worth the wait.
The Bulldogs ended a 19-year drought to return to state and earn what was then a program-best third-place finish.
But Baldwin only reached state just once more over the next 23 years, returning during the 2015-2016 season for another state quarterfinals exit.
Then the Bulldogs went through another seven year drought, ending with the team returning to state during Carr’s freshman campaign. The Bulldogs would end up losing to league rival Eudora 46-42 in overtime of the state quarterfinals.
Although that loss to Eudora would sting, the Bulldogs refused to let this be another great moment for the program, only to be followed by a long hiatus from state. Instead, the Bulldogs kept coming back until they finally got the job done.
“It’s not going to have one guy’s name across the state championship,” Carr said. “This is a Baldwin state championship.”
Baldwin will graduate eight seniors from this roster: Carr, Schoenberger, Collum, Wadel, Smasal, Rood, Homer Rice and Carter Trybom.
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Baldwin’s players celebrate a made 3-pointer against Rock Creek during the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Baldwin’s Leo Schoenberger jumps up into the air for the first of multiple fist pumps to celebrate defeating Rock Creek in the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Baldwin’s players celebrate as their names are called to receive their first-place medals after defeating Rock Creek in the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Baldwin’s fans cheer on the Bulldogs during the trophy ceremony after the team won against Rock Creek in the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
The Baldwin boys basketball team poses with the team’s recently won state championship trophy after the Bulldogs defeated Rock Creek 66-60 in the 4A state championship game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Baldwin’s student section celebrate a made 3-pointer against Rock Creek during the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
The Baldwin boys basketball team stands in the back with the Baldwin cheer team seated up front as the group poses after the Bulldogs defeated Rock Creek in the 4A state championship boys basketball game on March 14 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
