CENTRAL PLAINS GIRLS 48, PRETTY PRAIRIE 46 – Survive and advance. The battle of defending state basketball state champions lived up to its advance billing.
The state record 54-game postseason winning streak for the No. 3 ranked Central Plains Oiler girls is alive.
The Oilers survived 48-46 over No. 2 Pretty Prairie despite 1 of 7 foul shooting in the final minutes. Ironically, Marilyn Soeken sank two free throws and Brynna Hammeke made one free throw for the Oilers’ final points. The Oilers have won eight consecutive state basketball titles since 2013.
The Oilers built an 11-point lead, only to see last year’s 1A Division 1 state champions rally behind Bailey Young, who scored 23 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Young hit a pair of 3-point plays and sank a 3-point shot for a 46-45 lead. Soeken’s two free throws gave the Oilers a 47-46 lead and Hammeke added a free throw. Hammeke blocked a 3-point attempt by Joley Harbaugh to preserve the victory.
Soeken scored 18 points and Hammeke added 14 points. Trinity Kruse added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who converted 6 of 24 field goals from 3-point range.
Central Plains 15 14 8 11 – 48
P. Prairie 4 15 11 16 – 46
CENTRAL PLAINS (18-4)—Soeken 6-11 6-9 18, Hammeke 6-15 1-3 14, Ogle 3-5 0-0 6, Donecker 2-2 0-2 4, Metro 1-6 0-0 3, Lamatsch 1-4 0-0 3, Totals 19-43 7-14 48
PRETTY PRAIRIE (19-3)—Young 10-17 2-2 23, Robinson 1-2 0-0 3, Hendrickson 2-5 0-0 5, Detter 0-5 2-5 2, Harbaugh 1-8 0-0 3, Kruse 4-13 0-0 10, Totals 18-50 4-7 46
3-pointers—CP 3-16 (Lamatsch 1-3, Metro 1-4, Hammeke 1-5, Soeken 0-2, Ogle 0-2); PP 6-24 (Kruse 2-7, Robinson 1-1, Hendrickson 1-3, Harbaugh 1-7, Young 1-3, Detter 0-3)
ST. JOHN GIRLS 43, LITTLE RIVER 38 – St. John girls basketball coach Danny Smith and his Tigers shocked No. 1 ranked Little River on the Redskins’ home floor to earn a rematch with 8-time defending state champion Central Plains. The Tigers (15-7) have beaten the Oilers one time in 2013 since Pat Stiles started coaching the Oilers. The Oilers have swept 28 consecutive games over the Tigers.
Heidi Fisher scored 13 points with Reagan Bonner (10), Mia Meyer (9) and Lydia Reed (9) contributing. The Tigers converted 17 of 33 free throws by attacking the basket to outscore Little River 17-1 on free throws.
The Tigers got the job done with defense, with freshman Reagan Bonner holding Little River’s all-stater Eliana Eck to 18 points after she scored 35 points against Central Plains last week. The Redskins made 1 of 6 free throws.
St. John 3 13 10 17 – 43
Little River 10 7 6 15 – 38
ST. JOHN (15-7)—Meyer 3 3-5 9, Heidi Fisher 3 7-15 13, Reed 3 3-5 9, Portillo 0 2-4 2, Bonner 4 2-3 10, Totals 13 17-33 43
LITTLE RIVER (20-2)—Eck 8 0-0 18, Strecker 1 0-3 2, Ellwood 1 0-0 3, Olander 2 0-0 4, Baughfman 1 0-0 2, Look 1 1-2 3, Olander 3 0-0 6, Feldman 0 0-2 0, Totals 17 1-6 38
3-pointers—LR 3 (Eck 2, Ellwood 1)
PAWNEE HEIGHTS GIRLS 49, WESTERN PLAINS 33 – The Pawnee Heights girls qualified for the basketball substate for the first time in recent memory with a 49-33 victory over Ransom-Western Plains. Wilson beat Chase 56-35 in the second semifinal.
Tiger 6-foot-3 Olivia Hands scored 26 points and her sister Abby Hands scored 20 points to dominate the game inside. Western Plains' Madelyn Kraus scored 14 points and Marta Cuesta added 11 points in a season=best effort.
Pawnee Heights (8-12) plays Wilson (14-6) in Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. championship game.
Pawnee Heights 10 12 11 16 – 49
Western Plains 9 6 11 7 – 33
PAWNEE HEIGHTS (8-12)—Olivia Hands 11 4-4 26, Abby Hands 9 2-6 20, Cordero-Valles 1 1-2 3, Ibarra 0 0-1 0, Totals 21 7-13 49
WESTERN PLAINS (5-16)—Madelyn Kraus 6 2-2 14, Marta Cuesta 2 7-7 11, Flax 2 0-2 6, Strickler 0 2-2 2, Payne 0 0-1 0, Totals 10 11-14 33
3-pointers—WP 2 (Flax 2)
WILSON GIRLS 56, CHASE 35 –Wilson's Anna Thielen scored 14 points and Tya Meyer (12) and Cara Criswell (11) scored in double figures for a 56-35 victory over Chase in the 1A Ransom basketball substate tournament. Wilson (14-6) converted eight 3-point goals to outscore the Cats 24-9 from long range.
Chase's Haylee Miller and Cassie Herrera each scored 14 points.
Chase 5 14 4 12 – 35
Wilson 13 11 17 15 – 56
CHASE (3-18)– Miller 3 6-6 14, Herrera 6 2-3 14, Meyeres 1 0-0 2, Antura 0 2-4 2, Bowen 1 0-0 3, Totals 11 10-13 35
WILSON (14-6) – Thielen 5 2-6 14, Meyer 4 0-2 12, Criswell 5 0-1 11, Dlabel 3 0-0 7, Steinike 1 5-8 7, Koch 1 0-0 2, Cullens 0 1-2 1, Thielen 1 0-0 2, Totals 20 8-18 56
3-pointers–C 3 (Miller 2, Bowen 1); W 8 (Meyer 4, A. Thielen 2, Criswell 1, Dlabel 1)
STERLING 54, ELLINWOOD 45 – Ellinwood played a perfect basketball game against Sterling for a half a 30-18 lead. Ellinwood’s Drew Heinz and Alek Brack each hit two 3-pointers and Britton Dutton scored 12 points.
That’s when Sterling’s postseason hex on the Ellinwood Eagles started. Ellinwood all-stater Dutton drew two first-half fouls in the final 10 seconds of the first quarter, the second on a pick set at half-court by Sterling’s 240-pound Gabe Riffel.
Sterling outscored the Eagles 28-7 when Dutton was sidelined with fouls, before he fouled out with 3:53 left in regulation.
Sterling (17-5) trailed 40-35, but outscored the Eagles 19-5 in the final 3:53 when the Eagles struggled on offense and defense. The Black Bears took the lead with Blake Smith converted a 3-pointer for a 45-42 lead.
Dutton scored 18 points in 24 minutes. The Eagles converted 3 of 14 field goals after halftime. Ellinwood made 7 of 15 3-pointers in the first half.
Sterling’s muscular Riffel (18 points) and Carson Gray (16 points) combined for 16 of 17 field goals inside the paint. Riffel and Gray scored 30 of Sterling’s 32 points through three quarters. Sterling made 21 of 34 field goals for 62%.
Ellinwood 16 14 6 9 – 45
Sterling 6 12 14 22 – 54
ELLINWOOD (20-2)—Dutton 6-12 4-4 18. Moore 1-6 2-4 5, Heinz 2-6 0-0 6, Brack 3-7 0-0 8, Cooper Hosman 1-1 0-0 2, Scheck 0-3 3-4 3, Bahnke 1-7 1-5 3, Totals 14-42 10-17 45
STERLING (17-5)—Riffel 8-9 2-2 18, Gray 8-8 0-0 16, Farney 1-1 2-8 4, Briar 2-4 4-4 10, Smith 1-1 1-2 4, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Ekart 1-4 0-0 2, Totals 21-34 9-16 54
3-pointers—E 7-20 (Dutton 2-5, Heinz 2-4, Brack 2-5, Moore 1-5, Behnke 0-1); S 3-11 (Briar 2-4, Smith 1-1, Beagley 0-4, Ekart 0-1, Wilson 0-1)
MOUNDRIDGE 40, INMAN 36 – Moundridge's Logan Churchill and Landon Kaufman each scored nine points as the Wildcats edged past Inman 40-36 in the 2A Sterling basketball substate.
Inman's Tanner Heckel scored 17 points.
Inman 15 3 7 11 – 36
Moundridge 9 15 12 4 – 40
INMAN (17-4)–Tanner Heckel 7 3-4 17, Buller 4 1-1 8, TJ Froese 1 0-0 3, Brunk 2 0-0 5, Brunk 1 1-1 3, Totals 14 5-6 36
MOUNDRIDGE (19-3)–Churchill 4 0-0 9, Kaufman 3 2-2 9, Hecox 3 1-1 7, Schmidt 2 0-1 4, Huddle 2 0-0 4, Moddelmog 1 2-2 4, Adolf 1 0-0 3, Totals 16 5-6 40
3-pointers–I 3 (Buller 1, Brunk 1, TJ Froese 1), M 3 (Churchill 1, Adolf 1, Kaufman 1)
SE SALINE GIRLS 48, HOISINGTON 34 – Hoisington was tied 21-21 with Southeast of Saline in the third quarter when the Trojans took control with a 13-point third-quarter in the 3A Russell basketball substate. Southeast’s Reagan Goetz scored 20 points and converted five 3-pointers. Southeast plays No. 1 Phillipsburg (22-0) in Saturday’s final.
Hoisington (13-9) reached the semifinals for the second consecutive year. Kylee Hahn scored 15 points and Mallory Mooney and Addy Mason each added seven points.
Hoisington 12 3 8 11 – 34
SE Saline 14 7 13 14 – 48
HOISINGTON (13-9)—Hahn 15, Addy Mason 7, Mooney 7, Meier 3, Boxberger 1
SE SALINE (19-3)—Goetz 20, Pearson 7, Harris 6, Jacobsen 6, Ptacek 6, Caselman 3
