30 seconds. 45 seconds. One minute. One minute and 15 seconds passed from the tip-off to the first basket, scored by senior Ben Richardson. On Blue Valley West’s next possession, senior David Salach sprung into the air, blocked the shot and put the BVNW crowd into a frenzy. Salach had another block and a dunk in the game that he claimed was his best of the season, one that was won by BVNW 49 to 37.

“As a team, it was one of our best games I think we’ve played,” Salach said. “We all contributed, which was really good for our team. Usually we have one player standing out over the others, but today we all contributed equally.”

In the first quarter, BVNW came out on top with both of Salach’s blocks and was rounded out by a three-point buzzer shot. At the end of the first quarter, BVNW led BVW 15 to 6.

“We started off really well,” Salach said. “We came out, we hit some shots; we got off to a pretty good start in the first quarter. We were up a decent amount, so that really carried us through the rest of the game.”

At the very beginning of the second quarter, senior Clayton Custer nailed a three-point shot, one of the few Custer and the team made throughout the game. Both teams scored 11 points in the second quarter, so at the end of the half, BVNW was still in the lead 26 to 17.

In the third quarter, Salach dunked the ball on BVNW’s first possession of the second half, and senior Kyle Harrison made the first three-point shot the team had made since the second quarter. In addition, BVNW widened the score gap and senior Vince Fritz made another buzzer shot. At the end of the third quarter, BVNW led BVW 39 to 23.

In the fourth quarter, although BVNW held onto their lead, BVW came back to score 14 points while BVNW only scored 10. The final score of the game was 49 to 37, BVNW defeating BVW.

According to Fritz, the team wanted to be more focused in the game against BVW than they had been in the last few games they have played.

“I’m really proud [of the team],” Head basketball coach Ed Fritz said. “We only had one day of rest to up our game from Saturday night to prepare for [Blue Valley] West; their focus was really good. We got a lead, and once we get a lead, it’s hard for people to come back from us because we take care of the ball and shoot the ball pretty well.”

Salach and Fritz believe that the win over BVW was a significant one, one necessary to continue the team’s record.

“We’re 43 and 2 in the last four years in the conference,” Fritz said. “We’ve got a shot to win the EKL again, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The boys basketball team’s next game takes place this Friday at Gardner Edgerton High School at 7:30 P.M.