HOISINGTON — The Hoisington High School girls’ basketball team put the game away early, going on a 12-2 run that lasted the entire first quarter to leave Salina-Sacred Heart behind.
The Lady Cardinals ousted Sacred Heart from the Class 3A sub-state tournament bracket with a 41-7 win on Tuesday night.
Hoisington displayed its superior height in the opening minutes, finding 6-foot senior post player Mallory Flagor under the basket for the first six points of the game.
“We wanted to jump on them early,” Hoisington head coach Mandy Mason said. “We didn’t want them hanging around with us. We got off to a great start with a 6-0 run. Mallory had the first six points of the game, and we wanted to attack them inside because we had the size advantage there.
“She finished some tough shots tonight.”
Flagor finished with a game-high 14 points. She also had three rebounds and a steal.
Hannah Doll, who scored all four of the Lady Knights’ first-half points, scored on a jumper. Doll finished with a team-leading six points.
Sophomore point guard Jordin Greer responded with a pair of three-point plays to close out the opening eight minutes.
“Jordin did a great job getting us in our offensive sets,” Mason said. “She’s just a very good penetrator. She has a knack for getting to the glass. We tried to spread them out a little bit and let her penetrate and then switch back to get Mallory inside some more.”
Greer finished with 12 points, including the only 3-pointer in the game.
Savannah Rose scored four points in the second half, and Greer, Flagor and Mykela Riedl each scored two points to bolster the Lady Cards to a 22-4 lead at halftime.
Rose led Hoisington with five rebounds.
BreAnna Burns and Riedl led the Lady Cardinals with three steals apiece. Hoisington forced 14 turnovers, including eight in the first half.
“Both of them are very smart players, and they do a great job playing in the passing lanes,” Mason said. “They get their hands on passes. I can’t say enough about where our team is right now.”
Hoisington dominated on all fronts except free-throw shooting. The Lady Cardinals were 4-for-10 from the line.
Hoisington meets Beloit (15-6) on Friday at Lyons in a semifinal game.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Class 3A
Sub-state tournament

At Hoisington

GIRLS

Tuesday

Hoisington 41,
Salina Sacred Heart 7
SACRED HEART (4-17)
     Megan Stein 0 0-0 0, Maggie Donatoll 0 0-0 0, Megan Cilliland 0 0-0 0, Hannah Doll 3 0-0 6, Sarah Dix 0 1-3 1, Madi Verner 0 0-0 0, Traci Thibault 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 1-3 7.
HOISINGTON (16-5)
     Mykela Riedl 1 0-0 2, BreAnna Burns 0 0-0 0, Jordin Greer 4 3-4 12, Olivia Lowry 1 0-0 2, Abi Rziha 0 0-0 0, Abbi Demel 0 0-0 0, Brandy Wondra 2 1-1 5, Blakelee Cooper 1 0-0 2, Presley Smith 0 0-0 0, Mallory Flagor 7 0-3 14, Savannah Rose 2 0-2 4. Totals 18 4-10 41.
Sacred Heart    2    2    0   3  —   7
Hoisington       12  10  15  4  —  41
     Three-point goals — Hoisington 1 (Greer); Sacred Heart (none).

GIRLS
Stafford 39,
Western Plains 37, OT
RANSOM — A couple of fast breaks from Kym Womack, and the Stafford girls were able to push the Class 1A Division-II sub-state first-round game into overtime against Western Plains.
Regan Harris scored the go-ahead free throws with seven seconds remaining.
Haley Tucker led the Lady Trojans (1-14) with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
“This is her first year playing basketball,” Stafford head coach Jim Menze said. “She’s a senior, and she did great tonight. We got a couple of fast breaks there at the end, and we started making our free throws in the third quarter. That really helped us.”
Kristen Lumpkins added 10 points.
Maci Hagelgantz led Western Plains with 10 points.
Stafford faces Victoria on Friday night at 6 in Hoisington.

BOYS
Stafford 54, Western Plains 50
RANSOM — Ethan Johnson scored 14 points in the second half to help Stafford overcome Western Plains.
Down 22-20 at halftime, the Trojans (2-15) outscored Western Plains 34-28 to edge their way into the Class 1A Division-II sub-state semifinal game on Thursday against Otis-Bison. The game will be held in Hoisington.
Johnson finished with 15 points.
Dustin McClure led Stafford with 18 points, scoring eight in the second half.
The Bobcats were led by Casey Kraus with 18 points.

Area sub-state scores
BOYS
Medicine Lodge 69, Ellinwood 37
Sterling 59, Central Plains 40
GIRLS
LaCrosse 64, Macksville 48