BY JIM MISUNAS
LITTLE RIVER – Central Plains Oiler Addy Ogle departed with a bloody nose. The Oilers and St. John Tigers left it all on the court in Saturday’s intense substate basketball championship game.
The 8-time state champion Oilers survived St. John’s amazing upset bid 28-23 keyed by four second-half 3-pointers.
The No. 3 ranked Oilers (19-4) survived a substate featuring No. 1 Little River, No. 2 Pretty Prairie and pesky Central Prairie League rival St. John.
The Central Plains girls has won a state record 55 consecutive postseason basketball games and Central Plains coach Pat Stiles is 57-1 in postseason play. The Oilers have swept 29 consecutive games against St. John since 2012.
The Tigers led 9-4 at halftime when they executed a patient ball-control offense keyed by crafty St. John coach Danny Smith. The Oilers shot 1 of 16, 6% the first half.
“Danny Smith is a great coach who beat a great Little River team,” Stiles said. “Every game against St. John is tough. Coach Smith knows what your strengths and weaknesses are, which makes you better. You can beat a good basketball team by shortening the game.”
Oiler all-stater Brynna Hammeke had a tough 4 of 16 shooting night, but keyed the late surge after the Oilers made 2 of 24 field goals, an 8% clip. St. John's dynamic 6-1 Lydia Reed shut down the inside game with multiple blocked shots.
Hammeke fed Kyla Metro with perfect passes for back-to-back 3-pointers for a 13-12 Oiler lead. Hammeke followed Marilyn Soeken’s driving basket with a 3-pointer for an 18-12 lead. Hammeke found Metro for her third trey for a 21-16 lead and Hammeke dropped a basket for a 23-16 lead.
“You have to stay positive and believe your shot is going in,” Metro said. “Once I hit the first shot, it’s easier because your confidence gets a boost. We’ve worked hard for this. We deserved it. We stayed strong and stuck together. It was a battle out there.”
St. John appeared in trouble down 23-16.
But the Tigers’ freshmen phenoms Mia Meyer and Reagan Bonner responded. Meyer converted two baskets and Bonner delivered two baskets, including a 3-pointer that sliced the Oilers’ comfortable lead to 25-23.
Again, Hammeke delivered the game’s biggest play by tipping a pass for a steal that led to two clinching free throws by Metro for a 27-23 lead. Hammeke and Metro scored 11 points.
“Brynna has uncanny quick hands,” Stiles said. “She gets her hands on so many balls. Kyla made the free throws, which was helpful after the steal.”
Stiles said Hammeke’s passing and Metro’s shooting saved the Oilers.
“We weren’t making shots and got nervous. Kyla broke the ice and everyone relaxed. We liked it when Kyla got some open looks. We’re too good a shooting team to keep shooting like that the whole game.”
Bonner played a specatular game with 10 points in addition to superb defense against Hammeke. Meyer added six points.
“Our man-to-man defense was really good tonight,” Stiles said. “St. John runs good offense against man-to-man defense.”
Central Plains 4 0 14 10 – 28
St. John 2 7 5 9 – 23
CENTRAL PLAINS (19-4)—Hammeke 4-16 1-3 11, Metro 3-9 2-2 11, Donecker 1-4 1-2 3, Soeken 1-7 1-2 3, Ogle 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 9-39 5-9 28
ST. JOHN (15-8)—Bonner 4-5 0-0 10, Meyer 3-7 0-0 6, Heidi Fisher 1-9 3-4 5, Reed 1-1 0-0 2, Portillo 0-3 0-2 0, Totals 9-25 3-6 23
3-pointers—CP 5-19 (Metro 3-9, Hammeke 2-5, Ogle 0-2, Soeken 0-3); SJ 2-13 (Bonner 2-2, Meyer 0-2, Portillo 0-3, H. Fisher 0-6)
1A DIV. 1 STATE DODGE CITY
WEDNESDAY
2 p.m.—Norwich 20-2 vs. Canton-Galva 15-8
4 p.m.—Central Plains 19-4 vs. Doniphan West 17-5
6 p.m.—Quinter 19-3 vs. Olpe 15-7
8 p.m.— Frankfort 19-3 vs. South Gray 16-6
