Check out the boys high school basketball recaps from 810 Varsity Showcase 34

With postseason play on the horizon, some of the Kansas City area’s best boys high school basketball teams competed in Saturday’s 810 Varsity Showcase 34 event at Lee’s Summit West.

Here are recaps from those games:

Lee’s Summit West 50, Oak Park 47

The hyped clash between the top two metro teams on the Missouri side lived up to its billing.

Lee’s Summit West, ranked No. 3 in the 810 Varsity Top 25 and top five in the Missouri Class 6 rankings, knocked off Oak Park, which came into the weekend ranked No. 1 in both.

Oak Park built a 26-22 halftime lead, but Lee’s Summit West battled back for a 38-38 tie entering the final quarter. Logan Bishop opened the fourth period with a 3-pointer and Bryce Mitchell later scored inside to make it 43-38 with 5:44 left.

“It was amazing,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been waiting for this game all year. Just great to see the crowd and fans here, it was an amazing atmosphere.”

A flurry of scoring followed. Caleb Estes drained a 3 on the left wing and Mitchell countered with a dunk and it was 45-41. Star Oak Park wing Corbin Allen finished a baseline scoop under the backboard to make it 45-43 with 3:37 left. Allen, who finished with 10 points, then had a steal and half-court pass to Zeek Brown for a layup to tie it at 45.

Brown’s left-handed lay-in gave Oak Park a 47-45 lead with 2:12 left. And the score stayed that way until the 1:05 mark, when Bishop took an outlet pass at midcourt for a spinning layup.

Oak Park ran the clock down to 23.7 seconds, then attempted an inbound pass from its own sideline. But Titans junior Tavyeon Simms stole the ball and jetted for a layup and one, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

Simms hit the free throw for the final margin with 20.1 seconds left.

Estes scored a team-high 12 points for Oak Park, which dropped to 18-2. Chaz Watson’s 14 points and Mitchell’s 12 paced Lee’s Summit West (17-4).

“It took a lot of guts — it was a great high school basketball game, and both teams were throwing haymakers,” said interim Lee’s Summit West coach Kevin Harrison. “We had fun, and it was a team effort.”

The game’s attendance marked the second highest in the 810 Varsity Showcase series, behind only a 2016 game featuring Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter of Tolton Catholic against Blue Valley Northwest at Johnson County Community College.

Lee’s Summit 71, Louisburg 46

The Tigers, who have played annually in the 810 Varsity Showcase series since the first edition tipped off at Municipal Auditorium in 2015, opened the floodgates against Louisburg.

Junior Cameron Yows netted 15 points and Jaylen Lockhart 14 for the Tigers (8-11).

“We came off a loss yesterday and picked up our energy today,” Lockhart said.

“We played together, we guarded and we had fun,” Lee’s Summit coach Blake Little said. “During the course of the long season, we don’t get a chance to do that.”

Louisburg, making its first appearance in the 810 Varsity Showcase, held tough through one quarter, trailing 18-12, and trimmed a 12-point deficit to eight (28-20) by halftime. But the Tigers’ athleticism in the open court proved too much in the second half.

Senior Brady Hickey led the Wildcats with 15 points.

Basehor-Linwood 71, St. Michael the Archangel 57

Breckin McBride put on a first-half shooting show to rewrite the event’s record books.

McBride, a Basehor-Linwood junior, drained seven 3-pointers — including two and-ones — in the first half. That was an 810 Varsity Showcase record for a player in a single half.

The Guardians led 20-16 after one quarter, but by halftime the Bobcats were in front 42-26. McBride finished with 34 points, going 13 of 14 at the free-throw line.

“I just decided to come out and have fun for once,” McBride said. “I hesitated earlier in the season but thought, ‘I’ll go ahead and shoot it.’ Seven 3s — I’ll take it.”

Mike McBride, Breckin’s father and Basehor-Linwood’s head coach, was pleased with the team’s effort.

“We’ve been working on figuring out how to play 32 minutes,” the elder McBride said. “We worked on tonight not to give up that 3- to 4-minute spell.”

Micah Gibbs added 14 points for Basehor-Linwood, which evened its record at 7-7.

Michael Weis and Shea Gaffney paced St. Michael with 13 points apiece.

Belton 57, St. James Academy 53

Belton made its debut in the 810 Varsity Showcase series a thrilling — and victorious — one.

Junior Kordell Williams led the way for the Pirates with a game-high 22 points. Cooper Shrum added 11 as Belton won its fourth straight game.

After a sluggish first quarter that finished 8-8, both teams warmed up and it was 32-29 Belton by halftime.

The Thunder weren’t quite done, as junior Evan Dejmal scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the final quarter. But Williams hit two big buckets and JW Johnson sank a 3-pointer in the final minutes to put it away.

The Kansas City Star and 810 Varsity have partnered for coverage of high school sports around the KC metro. For more scores, rankings and broadcasts, visit 810Varsity.com.