SPRINGFIELD, MO. • Yuri Collins' left knee felt better Saturday morning.

So good, in fact, he walked to breakfast with a cane.

The senior point guard for the St. Mary's basketball team, Collins put together an incredible performance but couldn't quite get his team over the hump. Grandview defended its Class 4 boys state championship by surviving the St. Mary's upset bid 69-64 at JQH Arena on the campus of Missouri State University.

Collins scored a game-high 34 points, grabbed four rebounds, handed out four assists and had two steals. A 5-foot-10 St. Louis U. recruit, Collins injured his left knee early in the second quarter of Friday's semifinal against Ladue. A night of treatment had his balky leg feeling better, but not 100 percent.

“It's been hurting since (Friday). I've been trying to do as much as I can to make it feel better,” Collins said. “I was going to step on that court and give it my all, one leg or not, one arm or not. No matter what I had I was going to give it my all.”

Grandview (29-2), from suburban Kansas City, got everything Collins had and then some. St. Mary's (18-13) raced out to a 10-2 lead and finished the first quarter ahead 21-15.

The Bulldogs found their rhythm in the second quarter. They got a monster performance from senior point guard Deandre Sorrells, who finished with a team-best 26 points and hit 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Bigger and stronger, Grandview went to work with its size, too. Senior center Kamto Eze (6-foot-6, 200 pounds) had 17 points, 14 rebounds and blocked five shots. Freshman forward Taj Manning (6-foot-6, 175 pounds) finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

Grandview led 38-30 at halftime and opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run over the first minute and half to take a 46-30 lead, its largest of the night.

But the Bulldogs were wary.

“I knew it wasn't over,” Grandview coach Reggie Morris said. “I knew there was going to be another run.”

Collins put his cape back on and took over. He scored the Dragons' next 11 points. His 3-point play with 2 minutes and 11 seconds in the third trimmed Grandview's lead to 50-48. He found senior center Donavan Parker for a corner pocket 3-pointer with a second left in the third that made it 51-50 Bulldogs.

Parker had seven points and four rebounds while battling foul trouble all game.

St. Mary's junior forward Michael Danser tied the game at 57 when he scored a putback with 3:40 remaining. Grandview senior forward Jermaine Yarbrough hit an elbow jumper for a 59-57 lead on the next possession.

Collins came down and was fouled on a drive. With the chance to tie the game, he missed his first two free throws of the game. But junior guard Noah Hamilton slipped through the trees to grab the offensive rebound and found Collins on the wing. Collins rose up and buried a 3-pointer to put the Dragons ahead 60-59 with 1:57 to play.

The Dragons had come all the way back, but Grandview remained steady. The Bulldogs scored the next six points, four on free throws and a run-out layup after Collins was stripped of the ball at the top of the key and the Dragons trailing 61-60. Sorrells took the ball and went the other way for the clutch bucket that put Grandview over the top.

Morris praised his team's poise and character as it battled through a tough schedule to repeat as state champions. He said that road prepared his team for what it saw Saturday in St. Mary's.

“Those great have a real great leader in Collins,” Morris said. “They have some other athletic pieces and they're well-coached. Most of all they were tough.”

Collins played with a poker face all game. He suppressed his emotions and pushed aside the pain in his knee until the final horn. When he was handed the second-place trophy it all came pouring out of him.

“It really hit me, it was all over,” he said. “I know I have more basketball ahead of me, but high school is over. It hit me, I'm done with it.”

Collins is done, but his legacy will live on. The way he carried the Dragons throughout an up-and-down regular season all the way to their first state semifinal and state championship game appearance is nothing short of remarkable. His teammates were in awe of him every day, but especially this weekend.

“Yuri is the by far the best guard I've ever seen, even outside of basketball,” senior forward Damond Wiley said. “Yeah he's a super star at basketball, but outside of basketball he's a cool person. He lifts you up, he makes you laugh. You want to be around him.”

Collins was a point guard in the truest sense as he led his team on and off the court. In a year where so many didn't believe the Dragons could make this run, Collins never had a doubt.

“I knew I had to step my game up and become a better leader.” he said. “I carried my team to this point and they stayed with me. We went through the good and the bad. Second place isn't what we wanted, but we got it.” - David Kvidahl