MANHATTAN — The Central Plains High School girls’ basketball team did not have an answer for Olpe’s Janae Haag.
Haag rang up 28 points to lead the Lady Eagles past Central Plains 57-46 and into Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game at Bramlage Coliseum.
“She’s a good player,” Central Plains head coach Toby Holmes said of Haag. “She’s a great athlete. She’s a volleyball player and she’s a great basketball player. She’s just a very good athlete, so people like that are very hard to defend.”
It wasn’t all Olpe and Haag, though.
Central Plains traded baskets throughout the first quarter, leaving it tied at 12 after eight minutes.
The Lady Oilers went on a 8-0 run, starting with a Lindsey Woodmansee 3-pointer to open the second quarter.
“They just executed our offense,” Holmes said. “On defense, we were flying around and getting tips and rebounds. We were doing the things that got us here.
“Lindsey had two 3s in the first half and that spread their defense out a little bit, thinking, ‘We got to cover her, too.’ That helps us inside. She shot the ball with confidence. Janae (Hekele) had a couple of 3s and ran the offense pretty well.”
Sydney Rugan took over at that point, making layups during back-to-back possessions and then making 1 of 2 free throws to give Central Plains a 20-12 run.
The Lady Oilers traded baskets with Olpe for a 22-14 lead and Rugan had to hit the bench with two fouls.
Rugan finished 6-for-14 from the field and scored a team-leading 19 points.
“Sydney, she’s just a good offensive player,” Holmes said. “We look to her for rebounding. We look to her for scoring. We look to her to get the ball outside to our open shooters. When she has to sit down, it makes us a different team. But like I said, our other kids got out there and played hard and did the things that they could do.”
Then the Lady Eagles went on a 19-0 tear that closed the first half and opened the second. It was fueled by Haag, who scored 10 points in the run.
Haag made 11 of 14 from the field for 78.6 percent. She went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Eagles would not relinquish the lead, and the Lady Oilers closed the gap to 47-41 before Olpe began making free throws to ice the game.
Olpe was 15-for-16 on free throws in the game for 93.8 percent, including 12-for-12 with less than 1:30 remaining in the game.
Jennifer Hitschmann finished with 13 points and Woodmansee added eight points.
“I’m extremely proud of our girls,” Holmes said. “They played their hearts out. I can’t fault them for anything they did. They played hard from the tip, and that’s all you can ever ask.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Class 2A
State tournament

At Manhattan
Bramlage Coliseum

GIRLS

Semifinal

Friday

Olpe 57, Central Plains 46
OLPE (23-0)
     Kendyl McDougald 3-10 6-6 13, Janae Haag 11-14 6-6, Krista Vogts 0-0 0-0 0, Elena Flott 2-11 2-2 7, Dalten Benton 2-4 0-0 4, Paige Barnard 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Schneidegger 0-2 0-0 0, Emmy Redeker 1-4 0-0 2, Kayla McDougald 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 20-48 15-16 57.
CENTRAL PLAINS (19-5)
     Janae Hekele 2-4 0-0 6, Katie Hipp 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Rugan 6-14 7-8 19, Jennifer Hitschmann 4-8 3-4 13, Lindsey Woodmansee 3-7 0-0 8, Breanna Holmes 0-0 0-0 0, Kami Maxwell 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Miranda Burton 0-1 0-0 0, Abby Holmes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-38 10-12 46.
OHS                                12  15  12  18  —  57
CPHS                              12  10   8   16  —  46
     Three-point goals — Olpe 2-9 (K. McDougald 1-5, Flott 1-4); Central Plains 6-15 (Woodmansee 2-6, Hitschmann 2-5, Hekele 2-4). Rebounds — Olpe 28 (Haag 9); Central Plains 24 (Hipp 4, Rugan 4, Hitschmann 4). Assists — Olpe 8 (K. McDougald 3); Central Plains 10 (Hipp 5). Turnovers — Olpe 8; Central Plains 18. Total fouls — Olpe 17; Central Plains 11.