By Kevin Price
kprice@gbtribune.com

BUSHTON — After one quarter, the game was knotted at nine, but after that, the Quivira Heights High School girls’ basketball team began to build a lead that held for a Lady Thunderbirds 52-40 win over Ness City on Friday night.
Kinsey Phelan led Quivira Heights, which is ranked No. 5 in Class 1A Division-II in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association state poll, with 24 points, 15 more than the Lady Thunderbirds’ second-leading scorer.
Quivira Heights head coach Brent Clark said that the rest of his team needed to step up and help Phelan on the court.
“We can play better,” Clark said. “We had one girl step up tonight, Phelan. She played her heart out. I thought some of the rest of the team didn’t play as hard. In the second half, I thought they played a little better, but in the first half, we were standing around watching her do all the work.”
In the first quarter, Quivira Heights tried to get the ball inside to Autumn Mumford, a 5-foot-11 senior post player, but the Lady Eagles cut off the passing lanes, forcing the Lady Thunderbirds’ guards to take perimeter shots.
As a result, Phelan scored six of Quivira Heights’ nine first-quarter points. Brooke Burton added the other three.
“We need to get (Mumford) involved in the game more,” Clark said. “If we can get her involved on the inside, then it will open us up more on the outside. She’s big enough, if she could get the ball inside enough, she should be able to score.”
In the second quarter, the Quivira Heights was able to take a small lead on seven more points from Phelan and two points from Mumford and Katelyn Zink.
The free-throw line tormented the Lady T-Birds throughout the game, as they finished 16 of 29.
“Phelan is our best free-throw shooter,” Clark said, “and I think she was making one out of two every time. She’s normally an 80 percent free- throw shooter. I think a lot of it was that she was having to do all the work. She was getting tired.
“She had to handle the ball for us, handle (Sterling’s) pressure. She just got tired and wasn’t concentrating. You got to make your free throws.”
Clark gave Phelan a rest only once during the game.
“I took her out at the end of the third quarter for about 30 seconds,” Clark said. “She usually doesn’t come out at all.”
In the third quarter, the Lady Thunderbirds began to get the support it was looking for from other players.
Miranda Burton scored six points in the third period and finished the game with eight. Lindsey Woodmansee added five points to start the second half and scored nine when the game was finished.
“(Miranda Burton) got two fouls in the first half, so she had to sit some of the first quarter and all of the second quarter,” Clark said. “She’s one of those kids that needs to stay in there and play because she’s smart and she knows how to play. She’ll play hard and she’s a rebounder for us.”
Phelan, who only scored two points in the third quarter, choosing to rack in the assists by lobbing passes of the Lady Eagles’ full-court pressure, scored another nine points in the final eight minutes.
“For us to be successful, we need other people to step up,” Clark said. “(Mumford) needs to score. We need to have that threat inside. A couple of the other girls need to score a little more.
“(Lindsey) Woodmansee is usually a pretty good shooter on the outside, but she didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. I know we got things to work on still.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
At Quivira Heights
 
GIRLS
No. 5 Quivira Heights 52,
Ness City 40 
NESS CITY
     Allison Seib 1 0-0 2, Allison Young 1 2-2 5, Kylie Stoecklein 3 0-0 9, Marissa Stoecklein 1 0-0 2, Becca Hawkinson 1 0-0 2, Kenzie Stoecklein 4 2-4 10, Sarah Flax 2 0-0 4, Ashleigh Seib 3 0-3 6. Totals 16 4-9 40.
QUIVIRA HEIGHTS (9-5)
     Kinsey Phelan 8 6-9 24, Stacey Behnke 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Zink 1 0-0 2, Samantha Nelson 0 2-2 2, Miranda Burton 3 2-6 8, Brooke Burton 1 1-2 3, Lindsey Woodmansee 2 5-8 9, Danielle Stewart 0 0-0 0, Autumn Mumford 2 0-2 4. Totals 17 16-29 52.
Ness City    9     8    13    10    —    40
Quivira Hts.    9    11    15    17    —    52
     Three-point goals — Ness City 4 (Ky. Stoecklien 3, A. Young); Quivira Heights 2 (Phelan 2).