ShawneeDispatch.com

Last year at this time Jack Johnson sat in the stands as a spectator at the state tournament. Johnson made the trip to state so he could feel how bad it hurt not to be one of the eight teams that got to play on the biggest stage in high school hoops.

But the senior guard doesn't have to feel that pain this year. Last Friday night Johnson and his teammates made history, winning the first ever sub-state title for Mill Valley, with a 56-39 victory over Gardner-Edgerton.

"I just wanted to get there so bad and finally it's a realization now and we're going," Johnson said.

The 17-point margin of victory makes it look like Mill Valley cruised to victory, but that was not the case. Mill Valley opened the third quarter with a 28-20 lead but Gardner-Edgerton came out of halftime with the goal to end Mill Valley's magical one-loss season.

"First thing we said at halftime to our kids was ‘This is a good ball team; they're going to make a run,'" Jags' coach Justin Bogart said.

Bogart was right. The Jaguars went ice cold to start the second half -- missing their first seven shots -- while the Trailblazers also struggled to score but inched closer with their pressure defense. The Blazers pushed the Jags out of their offense and senior Kyle DeBerg, who led the team with 15 points, finally scored the first points for the Jags when he made two free throws with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

Gardner-Edgerton responded to Mill Valley's first points with a three-pointer of its own and that cut the Mill Valley lead to two points. After trading baskets, senior guard Alex Meddaugh drove to the basket on a broken play at the end of the quarter and scored to extend Mill Valley's lead to 34-30 entering the fourth quarter.

"I think the real difference in the ballgame is while we bent a little bit in the third quarter, we never broke. They never got the lead and our kids got tough," Bogart said.

In the fourth quarter, Mill Valley's five seniors took over.

"We didn't want this to be our last game," Johnson said.

The senior sharpshooter took it upon himself to ensure the Jags pulled away. Johnson opened the fourth quarter with a heavily contested three-pointer off a set play Bogart called between quarters. Johnson -- who finished with 10 points and three treys -- followed his first three with another after Gardner-Edgerton again had pulled within four points.

The Jaguars fed off their defense the rest of the way. Meddaugh -- who scored a career-high 12 points and added a career-high nine steals -- started a 14-0 run for the Jags with a reach-around steal, which he took for a breakaway layup. Meddaugh had three take-aways in the final quarter, which resulted in two breakaway layups.

The rest of the Jags followed Meddaugh's example. Mill Valley had nine steals in the final quarter and forced 10 turnovers. All five of Mill Valley's seniors -- Alex Eli, Ryan Gracy, DeBerg, Meddaugh and Johnson -- scored during the 14-0 run.

"The fact that we have five seniors is probably the difference in the ball game," Bogart said. "We had some experience and these kids weren't going to give up."

As assistant coach Alonzo Jamison headed for the exits after Friday's win, he said: "Best fourth quarter of the season." And Jamison was right. Mill Valley's five seniors took it upon themselves to make sure they didn't let their first sub-state title slip away.

"It's a validation of what we've been trying to accomplish for the last six years. We've been knocking on that door and we kicked it in tonight," Bogart said.

And they celebrated in fashion after the game. The players and coaches smiled from ear to ear. Bogart accepted congratulatory handshake after handshake. Teammates couldn't stop hugging. A rendition of the Backstreet Boys' "I want it that way" broke out in the locker room. And Johnson accepted the sub-state championship trophy and galloped around like a little kid with the trophy held high over his head, realizing he and his teammates had finally made it.

"We're going to state," Johnson said right before he got on the bus to ride back home to Mill Valley. "And we're not finished."