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Lady Oilers fall 48-47 in third-place game
Class 2A State Basketball Tournament
spt cp Hipp
Lady Oilers junior Katie Hipp defends a Republic County player in Saturday's loss at the Class 2A state basketball tournament's third-place game in Manhattan. - photo by Mark McCoy Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter

MANHATTAN — It came down to the wire in the Class 2A state tournament girls’ third-place basketball game at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.
Republic County High School outscored Central Plains 20-19 in the final eight minutes to secure a 48-47 victory.
“Well, we made a run, and then they made a run,” Central Plains head coach Toby Holmes said. “We made another run, and then we were up by one. We were running our offense and got fouled. We missed the free throws and they came down and threw up a running shot that rolled around and went in. There was about 1.6 seconds to go.
“We called a time out and got the ball at half court. We drew up a desperation play, but that was it.”
The Lady Oilers’ Jennifer Hitschmann, a 6-foot junior post player, scored a game-high 23 points, 17 coming in the second half.
“They tried to take Sydney (Rugan) out of the offense, so we started going to (Jennifer Hitschmann) a little bit more,” Holmes said. “She got some good looks.
“They (Rugan and Hitschmann) did their jobs. We got the ball to them and they finished.”
Central Plains outscored the Lady Buffaloes 12-6 in the third quarter to knot the game at 28 heading into the final quarter.
Central Plains, which led by three points throughout most of the first quarter, went on a scoring drought that began late in the first quarter and finished midway through the second.
Republic County took the opportunity to go on an 8-0 run that gave them an 11-10 lead after eight minutes and a 17-10 lead with 4:19 remaining in the half.
The Lady Oilers answered with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 17-16.
Hitschmann finished 8 for 8 from the foul line and 7 for 15 from the field for 46.7 percent.
Rugan finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Devin Nutsch led Republic County with 11 points.

                                                                                — Kevin Price

 

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Class 2A state tournament

At Manhattan
Bramlage Coliseum

GIRLS

Third-place game

Saturday

RCHS 48, CPHS 47
REPUBLIC COUNTY (20-5)
     Saren Hobelman 2-5 0-2 4, Lashae Hedstrom 2-7 3-4 7, Kiara McCall 2-6 3-5 7, Kayley Johnson 3-9 0-0 9, Devin Nutsch 4-9 3-3 11, Miranda Cottenmyre 2-6 2-2 6, Abbey Anderson 2-8 0-0 4. Totals 17-50 11-16 48.
CENTRAL PLAINS (19-6)
     Janae Hekele 0-3 0-2 0, Katie Hipp 0-4 2-2 2, Sydney Rugan 5-10 2-2 12, Jennifer Hitschmann 7-15 8-8 23, Lindsey Woodmansee 0-0 4-4 4, Breanna Holmes 0-2 0-2 0, Kendra Oberle 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Lewis 1-2 2-2 4, Miranda Burton 1-1 0-0 2, Abby Holmes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-37 18-22 47.
RCHS      11  11  6   20  —  48
CPHS      10   6  12  19  —  47
     Three-point goals — Republic County 3-10 (Johnson 3-10, Hedstrom 0-1); Central Plains 1-2 (Hitschmann 1-1, Hekele 0-1). Rebounds — Republic County 31 (Hedstrom 8); Central Plains 35 (Rugan 13). Assists — Republic County 7 (Johnson 3); Central Plains 8 (Hipp 2, Rugan 2, B. Holmes 2). Turnovers — Republic County 21; Central Plains 24. Total fouls — Republic County 18; Central Plains 17.