BY RICKIE PETERSON JR.
KSHSAA Covered
The marquee matchup is set for the Class 1A Division 2 girls basketball championship.
Lebo and Hanover both earned convincing wins in the semifinals to set up a battle of 24-0 teams in Saturday’s 4 p.m. final at Barton Community College.
“That is what everybody wanted to see,” said Lebo coach Patrick Gardner, whose Wolves earned a 52-37 victory over Bucklin on Friday. “This is what we wanted to see. I was probably cheering for Hanover just as much. I’m sure their coach wants to play us and we want to play them. We’re going to go out there and the best team’s going to win.”
Hanover and Lebo also met in the Class 1A Division II state volleyball final last fall, with the Wolves pulling out a three-set thriller to knock off the two-time reigning state champions.
Lebo had Bucklin out of sorts for the first three quarters, opening up a 37-19 lead after outscoring the Red Aces 11-2 in the third frame.
Bucklin, a team that has thrived in transition, struggled to generate momentum until the fourth quarter when Lebo already had the game well in hand.
The Wolves held Bucklin standouts Sydnie Jones and Halie Feikert to a combined seven points.
“We got Bucklin to take some rushed shots,” Gardner said. “To hold Sydnie Jones to three points and to hold (Feikert) to four, that’s a pretty solid night for us. I couldn’t be more pleased with our defensive effort. They’re a strong team and they’re athletic.”
Saige Hadley helped key the Wolves offensively, scoring a game-high 22 points. Brooklyn Jones added 11 points and Abigail Jones chipped in nine points on three 3-pointers.
“We were balanced,” Gardner said. “Saige did a good job of stepping up. Abi Jones got us started. Her shot has just been a little off all year long. We see that at least two or three times a week in practice -- her shooting the ball that well. I figured that they may leave her open tonight in that zone and I figured she’d make him pay because she was confident.”
Bucklin (19-5) was led by freshman point guard Emmerson Kirk’s 13 points. The Red Aces will play Beloit-St. John’s/Tipton at noon for third place.
Lebo will be aiming for its third girls’ state championship and first since 2001.
HANOVER 62, BELOIT-ST. JOHN’S/TIPTON 41— Ceegan Atkins and Anna Jueneman helped Hanover offset a cold outing from 3-point range, combining for 37 points as the Wildcats returned to the finals for the first time since 2019.
Jueneman scored 19 points and had five steals, while Atkins tallied 18 to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 steals.
Hanover (24-0) went 3 of 22 from the 3-point range but thrived in transition and in the post, finishing 24 of 60 from the field.
“Our outside shot wasn’t falling but our girls are resilient,” Hanover coach Chris Beikmann said. “They found a way. Our posts were hurting them inside and I thought our girls focused on that. Our leading scorers are more wing players with Anna and Ceegan, but without that presence inside, it wouldn’t open up that much for them.
“Collectively, as a group, we did a good job of focusing on the game plan and making them work on both ends of the court. At the end of the ballgame, I think our athleticism and our talent level really showed up late.”
The versatile senior Atkins has moved from forward to the guard spot this season for the Wildcats.
“I’ve asked a lot of her in her four years,” Beikmann said. “(In the 19-20 season) when we had the forever four, she was a starting center and now she’s a starting guard. She’s had to adapt all four years. It was like pulling teeth early this year not to get her to want to go post up, and we still like to get her looks inside because she likes to do that. But she’s really, in the last 10 games, accepted that role and has been willing to shoot outside.”
Jueneman helped get the Wildcats going early with 12 points as Hanover took a 31-20 lead into the break. The sophomore finished 8 of 11 from the field.
“Last year Anna was a great player for us but when she got out here (to state) she had an allergic reaction to some food she had,” Beikmann said. “So she didn’t get to play to her full potential.
“She kept that chip on her shoulder. She’s really improved. She’s gets so many runout layups because of her quickness and being able to get that ball and go. We always knew that Ceegan had that ability, but to be able to have two of them be able to do that is hard on teams.”
Hanover forced St. John’s into 24 turnovers and notched a 41-27 advantage on the glass.
Blujays' guard Carlie Brummer tied Jueneman for game-high honors with 19.
“Hats off to (the Blujays),” Beikmann said. “Early, they frustrated us. We weren’t hitting those outside shots, you could see it frustrated us. We had to settle down in the second quarter and really realize where our advantages were, and I thought we did that.”
Hanover, which took third place last year, won Class 1A Division 2 state titles in 2017 and 2018, then got beat by Central Plains in the final in 2019. They reached the semifinal in 2020 before the rest of the tournament was canceled.
“It’s good to get back to this game and now we’ve got to focus and take home the big goal,” Beikmann said.
St. John’s/Tipton 9 11 9 12 – 41
Hanover 14 17 22 9 – 52
St. John’s/Tipton (20-5) – E. Wiles 2-6 0-0 5, C. Brummer 7-14 1-2 19, J. Gengler 0-5 1-2 1, K. Brummer 2-5 0-0 6, Jones 2-5 3-4 7, Ellenz 0-0 0-0 0, Huehl 0-4 0-0 0, L. Gengler 0-0 1-2 1, A. Gengler 0-0 0-0 0, Horinek 1-1 0-0 2, A. Wiles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 6-10 41.
Hanover (24-0) – T. Lohse 2-12 2-2 7, Holle 2-6 0-0 4, Atkins 7-11 3-5 18, A. Jueneman 8-11 2-2 19, Sinn 0-3 1-3 1, Stallbaumer 1-5 0-0 2, Schotte 0-2 0-0 0, Scheele 0-2 0-0 0, L. Jueneman 0-0 0-0 0, Schlabach 0-0 0-0 0, Klipp 3-4 3-6 9, Zarybnicky 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-60 11-18 62.
3-pointers–BJS 7-13 (Brummer 4-7, Brummer 2-4, Wiles 1-2), Hanover 3-22 (Lohse 1-10, Atkins 1-2, Jueneman 1-1, Holle 0-1, Stallbaumer 0-4, Schotte 0-3, Scheele 0-1). Rebounds–BSJ 27 (Jones 5), Hanover 41 (Atkins 9). Assists – St. John’s 7 (Gengler 2, Brummer 2). Hanover 7 (Lohse 2, Sinn 2). Turnovers – St. John’s 24, Hanover 13. Total fouls – St. John’s 15, Hanover 13. Fouled out – none.
Bucklin 7 10 2 18 – 37
Lebo 15 11 11 15 – 52
Bucklin (19-5) – Evans 0-3 0-0 0, Scott 0-2 0-2 0, Jones 1-4 1-3 3, Feikert 2-7 0-0 4, Feikert 2-7 0-0 4, Kirk 4-9 4-5 13, Esplund 0-0 0-0 0, Hayes 1-1 0-0 3, Stout 1-1 0-0 2, Bowman 4-4 0-0 9, McGuire 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 14-33 6-12 37.
Lebo (24-0) – Peek 1-9 2-2 4, Jones 5-12 1-2 11, Ott 0-0 2-2 2, Jones 3-6 0-0 9, Hadley 9-21 0-0 22, Milan 0-0 0-0 0, Peek 0-0 0-0 0, Konrade 0-0 0-0 0, Crouch 1-1 0-0 2, Potter 0-1 0-0 0, Crouch 0-1 2-6 2. Totals 19-51 7-12 52.
3-point goals – Bucklin 3-6 (Kirk 1-4, Hayes 1-1, Bowman 1-1). Lebo 7-20 (Hadley 4-8, Jones 3-6, Peek 0-6). Rebounds – Bucklin 28 (Feikert 8), Lebo 30 (Jones 8). Assists – Bucklin 7 (Feikert 3), Lebo 14 (Peek 6). Turnovers – Bucklin 22, Lebo 12. Total fouls – Bucklin 11, Lebo 15. Fouled out – none.
