KSHSAA COVERED
SALINA – Eudora's first girls state basketball tournament victory won't soon be forgotten.
Trailing Clay Center by 19 points with just over a minute to play in the third quarter, the Cardinals rallied behind senior Harper Schreiner, who forced overtime by hitting a 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation. Schreiner went on to finish with 22 points, 10 steals and six rebounds as Eudora won its 22nd consecutive game, defeating the Tigers 50-46 in the Class 4A quarterfinals at the Tony's Pizza Events Center.
Eudora (22-1) earned a semifinal matchup on Friday against Wamego (21-2), which endured its own drama in a 36-34 victory over Labette County.
Schreiner, a 5-foot-8 point guard who has committed to Pittsburg State, scored 19 points in the second half and overtime to help Eudora erase a dire situation. Clay Center, which finished 16-7, stormed to an 18-2 first-quarter lead and didn't trail until the 3:40 mark of overtime.
Schreiner, held to three first-half points on 1-of-8 shooting, got Eudora to the extra period with a pull-up 3-pointer from the right wing, right in front of the Eudora bench. The basket tied the score at 43 after Eudora trailed 35-16 with 1:08 to play in the third.
Eudora outscored Clay Center 7-3 in overtime. Sophomore Lainey Orr finished with 11 points for the Cardinals, who were winless in four previous state appearances.
Junior Hailee Bent scored 15 pooints and senior Shelby Siebold added 13 for Clay Center, which led 23-13 at halftime and 35-21 after three quarters. The were stung by 4-of-13 free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter and finished the game 7 of 22.
WAMEGO 36, LABETTE COUNTY 34 –Sophomore Rylie Meinhardt's steal and two free throws with seven seconds remaining lifted Wamego past Labette County and into the state semifinals for the fourth time.
Senior Paige Donnelly scored 11 points and junior Trista Hoobler added 10 for the Red Raiders, who battled back after trailing by nine points in the first half. Wamego made just 4 of 18 field goals before the break.
Senior Madison Brannin scored a game-high 13 points for Labette County (18-5). The Grizzlies surrendered the final nine points of the third quarter, which eventually became a 16-4 run that gave Wamego a 32-28 lead with 4:47 to play.
Labette's Shelbi Wilson scored in the lane to tie the score at 34 with 1:08 remaining. The Grizzlies got the ball back on a steal by Jasmine Perez. Perez missed a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left, but Labette's Anna Dean grabbed the offensive rebound.
Labette called timeout to set up a play, but Meinhardt swiped the ball from Wilson and was fouled, setting up her game-winning free throws.
WELLINGTON 33, MCPHERSON 29 -- Cold shooting plagued Wellington and McPherson in the 4A tournament's opening game. But Wellington got clutch free throws from Airalyn Frame and Val Norwood in the final 17 seconds to improve to 24-0.
Norwood finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders, who started slowly and later surrendered an eight-point lead. Norwood sealed the victory with 4.7 seconds remaining after Frame connected on a pair of free throws that resulted from an offensive rebound.
Wellington, which also reached the 4A-Division I semifinals unbeaten in 2016, won despite making 10 of 49 field goals and 2 of 13 shots from 3-point range. The Crusaders made 11 of 15 free throws.
Senior Lauren Labertew scored 11 points for McPherson (15-8), which was held to eight field goals. The Bullpups missed all 14 of their 3-point shots and were 13 of 26 from the free-throw line.
BISHOP MIEGE 74, ANDALE 35 – Bishop Miege made a huge first impression in its bid to defend the 4A title. Miege rolled to a 37-6 first-quarter lead, shooting 71% from the field and making 6 of 8 3-point attempts. Freshman Kirston Verhulst scored 23 points for Miege, which moved on to the semifinals for a state-best 37th time in 50 girls state tournaments.
Junior Jenna Kuepker scored 10 points to lead Andale, which couldn't recover from the early blitz. The Indians, who reached state after the death of head coach Ted Anderson in late January, also got eight points and 10 rebounds from junior McKenzie Fairchild.
Miege shot 53.5% (30 of 56) from the field and forced 22 turnovers. Andale finished with just 10 field goals and shot 1 of 13 from 3-point range.
WAMEGO 36, LABETTE COUNTY 34
Labette County … 13 … 8 … 3 … 10 … -- … 34
Wamego … 9 … 5 … 11 … 11 … -- … 36
Labette County (18-5) – Stewart 0-5 1-2 1, Perez 1-2 1-4 4, Wilson 3-6 1-2 7, Dean 2-3 3-4 7, Brannin 3-9 7-8 13, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Dewey 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Rexwinkle 0-2 0-0 0, Lynn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-30 13-20 34.
Wamego (21-2) – Donnelly 4-12 2-4 11, Gallagher 0-1 1-2 1, Pierson 1-3 1-2 4, Alderson 2-10 2-2 6, Hoobler 4-11 2-2 10, Meinhardt 0-3 4-5 4, Kueker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-41 12-17 36.
3-point goals – Labette 1-8 (Perez 1-2, Wilson 0-2, Stewart 0-1, Brannin 0-1, Rexwinkle 0-2); Wamego 2-16 (Donnelly 1-4, Pierson 1-2, Alderson 0-6, Hoobler 0-3, Meinhardt 0-1). Rebounds – Labette 32 (Dean 8), Wamego 21 (Meinhardt 5). Assists – Labette 3 (Dean, Branning, Dewey), Wamego 3 (Donnelly 2). Turnovers – Labette 20, Wamego 9. Total fouls – Labette 19, Wamego 18. Fouled out – Wamego: Pierson.
EUDORA 50, CLAY CENTER 46 OT
Clay Center … 18 … 5 … 12 … 8 … 3 … -- … 46
Eudora … 2 … 11 … 8 … 22 … 7 … -- … 50
Clay Center (16-7) – Bent 6-9 1-6 15, Siebold 5-17 1-6 13, Bloomdahl 2-3 4-6 9, Schurle 2-2 1-4 5, Lane 1-3 0-0 2, Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Spielman 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 17-38 7-22 46.
Eudora (22-1) – Yoder 2-6 0-1 4, H. Schreiner 6-16 9-12 22, S. Schreiner 2-7 0-2 4, Mayer 2-2 3-4 7, Watson 1-3 0-0 2, Erpelding 0-2 0-0 0, Kuntz 0-1 0-0 0, Orr 3-5 3-4 11, Long 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 15-23 50.
3-point goals – Clay Center 5-11 (Bent 2-2, Siebold 2-7, Bloomdahl 1-1, Lane 0-1); Eudora 3-13 (Orr 2-3, H. Schreiner 1-6, Erpelding 0-2, Kuntz 0-1, Long 0-1). Rebounds – Clay Center 29 (Siebold 7), Eudora 28 (Yoder 8). Assists – Clay Center 9 (Siebold, Bloomdahl 3), Eudora 5 (Erpelding 3). Turnovers – Clay Center 22, Eudora 18. Total fouls – Clay Center 19, Eudora 21. Fouled out – Clay Center: Lane; Eudora: Yoder, S. Schreiner.
BISHOP MIEGE 74, ANDALE 35
Andale … 6 … 12 … 8 … 9 … -- … 35
Bishop Miege … 37 … 8 … 12 … 17 … -- … 74
Andale (18-5) – Fairchild 2-9 4-7 8, Wegerer 1-7 1-2 4, Baalman 2-6 0-0 4, Winter 0-2 2-4 2, Kerschen 0-2 3-6 3, Gorges 1-4 0-0 2, Schrandt 1-5 0-0 2, Kuepker 3-10 4-5 10. Totals 10-45 14-24 35.
Bishop Miege (21-2) – Henderson-Artis 5-12 1-2 13, Burnes 6-11 0-0 14, Verhulst 9-11 1-2 23, McCallop 5-8 1-3 11, Ad. Smith 0-4 0-2 0, C. Kurt 1-1 0-0 3, Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Heflin 2-4 2-2 6, L. Kurt 0-2 0-0 0, Olson 2-3 0-0 4, An. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Shull 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 5-11 74.
3-point goals – Andale 1-13 (Wegerer 1-6, Gorges 0-2, Schrandt 0-2, Kuepker 0-2, Baalman 0-1); Miege 9-18 (Verhulst 4-5, Henderson-Artis 2-5, Burns 2-5, C. Kurt 1-1, Olson 0-1, McCallop 0-1). Rebounds – Andale 35 (Fairchild 10), Miege 32 (Verhulst, Ad. Smith 5). Assists – Andale 4 (Fairchild 2), Miege 20 (Verhulst 6). Turnovers – Andale 22, Miege 11. Total fouls – Andale 13, Miege 23. Fouled out – Miege: McCallop.
WELLINGTON 33, MCPHERSON 29
McPherson … 7 … 6 … 8 … 8 … -- … 29
Wellington … 2 … 13 … 10 … 8 … -- … 33
McPherson (15-8) – Labertew 1-9 9-15 11, Schmid 0-4 1-2 1, Howard 2-5 0-0 4, Alvord 3-8 2-7 8, Clevenger 2-8 1-2 5, Moors 0-3 0-0 0, Romero 0-0 0-0 0, Eilrich 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 8-37 13-26 29.
Wellington (23-0) – B. Zeka 0-12 0-0 0, Norwood 4-15 5-6 14, A. Zeka 4-10 2-4 11, Gerten 0-3 0-1 0, Frame 2-5 2-2 6, Reichenberger 0-0 0-0 0, Cornejo 0-1 0-0 0, Nance 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 10-49 11-15 33.
3-point goals – McPherson 0-14 (Schmid 0-4, Labertew 0-3, Moors 0-3, Alvord 0-2, Clevenger 0-2); Wellington 2-13 (Norwood 1-4, A. Zeka 1-3, B. Zeka 0-2, Gerten 0-1, Frame 0-1, Cornejo 0-1, Nance 0-1). Rebounds – McPherson 36 (Howard 12), Wellington 39 (Norwood 7). Assists – McPherson 4 (Clevenger 3), Wellington 3 (Gerten, Frame, Reichenberger). Turnovers – McPherson 24, Wellington 18. Total fouls – McPherson 20, Wellington 23. Fouled out – McPherson: Alvord; Wellington: A. Zeka.
