After beating then-No. 1 Olathe Northwest at home a week ago Friday, the No. 4 Maize girls took their second shot in eight days at a highly ranked team from the Olathe School District against No. 2 Olathe South in the Emporia Tournament final.
Maize had upset on its mind against the undefeated Falcons, but sharp-shooting Olathe South senior Megan Balcom put a stop to that as she led Olathe South to a 56-49 win.
Early on the game was tight.
Jurnee Reid carried the Eagles through the first half with 15 of her team-high 17 points in the first two quarters. Maize went into the break down just one point at 38-37.
Out of the break it was all Balcom as she, and the swarming Falcon defense, took the air out of Maize quickly. Balcom drained four 3-pointers in the third frame on her way to seven 3-pointers for the game and a game-high 21 points overall.
“They shot the ball really well,” Maize head coach Jerrod Handy said. “Balcom went on fire on us. She hit some deep threes. I thought we played really well, but she just took us out of our game.”
The other factor in the win was defense for Olathe South, as the Falcons were consistently in the Maize passing lanes stealing the ball and disrupting flow. It was tenaciousness and speed that Handy knew was possible out of this caliber of a team.
“I hadn’t seen that much out of them on film, but I knew that they could do it,” Handy said. “They are a good defensive team. We were trying to do some things to help us, but they played a great defensive game.”
After three quarters Maize was down 45-36. The Falcons were threatening to run Maize out of the building and tournament, but the Maize girls fought for the duration of the fourth quarter pulling within five points at one juncture.
“I am very proud of our girls. They are hustlers and fighters,” Handy said. “They never gave up.”
Six-foot-one freshman Keiryn Swenson was another bright spot for the Eagles throughout as she scored 16 points and ripped down tough rebounds on both ends.
“We thought she would have a good game because they are not quite as tall as Keiryn. We wanted to keep going inside to try and keep pressure on them and get them in foul trouble,” Handy said. “Our guards did a great job feeding her the ball.”
Handy hopes to use this game as a teaching tool for the stretch run of the season.
“We feel like we’re a state caliber team and we were disappointed in not getting this victory,” Handy said. “We know that we can play with Olathe South. If we had our rathers, we would much rather beat them in the State tournament then this tournament.”
Maize now sits at 10-2 and does not have much time to think about this loss as the Eagles travel to Andover on Tuesday for their fourth game in six days.
Third Place: Hutchinson 53, Highland Park 40
The Salthawks were never pushed by the Lady Scots in the victory. Hutchinson was up 43-21 after three quarters. Highland Park outscored Hutchinson 19-10 in the final quarter, but it was not near enough. Shelby Morford led Hutchinson with 19 points. Taylor Mayes scored 13 points in the win.
Fifth Place: Wichita Northwest 65, Emporia 59 (2 OT)
Northwest was in control of this game early with a 22-14 lead heading into the break, but the Spartans outscored Northwest 33-25 in the closing two quarter to force overtime. The difference came in the second extra frame with a 12-6 advantage giving Northwest the win. Cassidy Harbert and Sausha McPherson led the way with 24 and 19 points respectively. Emporia's Brianna Knight led all scorers with 29 points.
Seventh Place: Shawnee Heights 38, Great Bend 35
Morgan Harwood did what she could for the Panthers, but her game-high 20 points were not enough to get her team a win. Only three other Great Bend players managed to score in the loss.
