The HOA girls basketball teams had a successful tournament showing with three titles and two second-place finishes last week. Berean Academy hosted and won a tournament to remain unbeaten.
Berean Academy
The No. 2 Lady Warriors hosted the Eli J. Walter Tournament last week. The girls breezed through the competition, moving to 13-0 on the year with a 47-33 win over Central Christian in the championship game on Saturday. Berean also toppled Wichita Trinity 49-22, and opened the tournament with a 40-22 win against Bluestem.
Saturday’s championship game highlighted the effectiveness of the Warriors on both ends of the floor. The Berean defense held Central Christian star Jamie Patrick to just 10 points, and the Warrior offense shot over 50-percent in the game. Berean took an early 11-4 lead and never allowed the Cougars to get closer than three points. Mallory Zuerched led the Warriors with 18 points. Libby Witte added 11 points in the win.
Sedgwick
The Lady Cardinals improved to 5-8 with two wins in their own tournament last week. Sedgwick opened the tournament with a 44-40 win over Belle Plain before losing to Hutch Trinity 44-30 in Thursday’s semifinals. The Cardinals rebounded to edge out Inman 56-55 in the consolation match.
Sedgwick needed overtime to down Inman in Saturday’s battle. The teams were tied after one quarter, and only three points separated the squads after each of the second and third quarters. Down one point with 20 seconds to play in the extra frame, junior guard Kalyn Deckard knocked down a three-pointer. Inman missed on the other end and turned the ball over late to give the win to the Cardinals. Deckard tripled her season average to lead the team with 16 points. AnnaBelle Little added 15 points. Audrey Bebermeyer led the team with 12 points in the Belle Plaine win, and Deckard added 11 points.
Moundridge
The Lady Wildcats improved to 10-3 on the year with three straight wins to take the title at Haven’s Wildcat Classic. The squad opened play with a 40-33 win against Kingman on Thursday. Friday, the girls knocked out host Haven 46-30. Saturday, the Cats won the title by defeating Conway Springs 39-33.
The girls needed an upset to reach the finals. Haven not only hosted the tournament, but entered as the No. 9 team in Class 4A. Mounridge, representing Class 3A, took control early, leading 19-8 midway through the second quarter, and 23-15 at the half. Haven would get within four points in the third quarter but never any closer as the Wildcats scored 10 points in the paint in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win. Senior Tiffany Fisher led all scorers with 16 points. Sophomore Brooke Holloway added 11 points in the win.
Remington
The No. 10 Lady Broncos had to fight for wins to earn the Sedgwick Tournament championship on Saturday. The squad, now 12-1 on the year, down Canton-Galva 47-23 on Tuesday. That would be the last comfortable win in the tournament as Remington edged out Inman 39-37 in the semifinals, and pulled away late for a 41-32 win against Trinity in the championship.
The Lady Bronco defense was key in Saturday’s game, holding the Celtics to just one point in the first quarter. Remington took a 17-8 lead into the break. Trinity cut the lead in half heading into the fourth quarter, and got within two points late in the game, but the Broncos hit six free throws in the final 30 seconds to pull back away for the title.
Senior Jessi Green scored twice her average to finish with 16 points on Saturday, also leading the time with nine rebounds. Chelsea Coats and Lauren Berg each added seven points, and Berg also grabbed nine boards. Senior Mandy McNeil had 24 combined points in the first two games and was the lone Lady Bronco to make the All-Tournament team.
Hutchinson Trinity
The Lady Celtics reached the championship game of last week’s Sedgwick tournament where they fell to Remington 41-32. To reach the title, the girls downed Wichita Independent 51-33, then knocked out host Sedgwick 44-30 in Thursday’s semifinals.
Trinity (7-3) could never recover from a first quarter where the team went 0-for-13 from the floor and managed only one free throw as Remington jumped to a 9-1 lead, then extended the gap to 17-8 by halftime. The Celtics were able to cut the lead in half by the end of the third quarter, and pulled within two points in the final minute of the contest, but Remington was too much down the stretch. Freshman Konner Brening was the only Trinity player to reach double-figures, hitting four threes to finish with 12 points. Sophomore Libby Reimer added five points.
Marion
The Lady Warriors were four seconds away from their second win of the year. Then Council Grove’s Michaela Peterson drained a three-pointer with 3.8 ticks left to give her team a 33-32 win. Marion (1-11) took a 10-6 lead after one quarter before watching Council Grove whittle the gap to one point after three quarters. The Warriors were hanging onto that lead late before Peterson’s decisive shot. Whitney Gordon hit two threes and scored 19 points for Marion.
The Warriors picked up their first win of the year in the opener Centre’s Cougar Classic, downing White City 36-29. Gordon scored 16 points in that win, followed by eight points apiece from Kaelyn Thierfolf and Katey Ehrlich. Marion also came up just short in the second round, falling to Wakefield 37-32. Ehrlich scored 12 points in that loss.
Bennington
The Lady Bulldogs could not find a win at last week’s tournament at Little River. Bennington posted three losses to fall to 2-10 on the year. The girls fell to Ell-Saline 47-32 on Tuesday, lost to Lyons 68-58 on Thursday, then struggled to score in a 50-18 loss to Little River in the seventh-place game on Friday.
Bennington struggled in three of the four quarters Friday against Little River, managing only eight combined points in those quarters. The Bulldogs trailed 32-5 at the half, then scored 10 points in the third quarter but fell further behind at 37-15 with a quarter to play. Eight Lady Bulldogs scored in the game. Madison Wolf and Holly Burt each scored three points.
Canton-Galva
The Lady Eagles headed to the Sedgwick Invitational looking for their first win last week. That did not happen as Canton-Galva dropped all three matches, falling to 0-13 on the year. The squad opened the tournament with a 47-23 loss to Remington. Thursday, the Eagles came close to that first win, falling to Fairfield 50-47. Saturday, Wichita Independent handed the girls a 43-16 loss.
Thursday, the first quarter proved to be costly for the Eagles, who fell behind 13-3 after after minutes of play. Canton-Galva battled back, outscoring Fairfield in each of the next two quarters to tie things up 33-33 with a quarter to play. Senior McKenzie Farnham nearly doubled her season average with 15 points. Leah Schmitz added eight points, and Darci Enns finished with six points.
Inman
The Lady Teutons had just three wins enterting the Sedgwick Invitational last week. That didn’t stop the girls from nearly playing spoiler, winning one game and losing two games by a combined three points. Inman downed Fairfield 42-32 to open the tournament, then nearly upset eventual champion Remington 39-37 in the semifinals. The Teutons came up just short again in Saturday’s semifinals, falling to Sedgwick 56-55 to fall to 4-7 on the year.
The teams battled throughout of Saturday’s consolation match. Sedgwick took a 25-22 lead into the break, but Inman tied things up 40-40 heading into the fourth quarter. After a 50-50 tied at the end of regulation, the Teutons held a two-point lead with 20 seconds to play. Sedgwick hit a three to retake a one-point advantage, and Inman missed could not find a basket on its final two possessions. Kaitlyn Goalden paced the Teutons with 18 points, and Staci Schroeder added 14 points. Madi Tuxhorn finished with seven points. Schroeder and Tuxhorn were named to the All-Tournament team.
Ell-Saline
The Lady Cardinals were nearly the fourth HOA team to win a tournament last week. The squad posted two wins at Little River to advance to the championship game where they were upset by Lyons 52-47. To get to the title, Ell-Saline beat Bennington 47-32, and knocked out host Little River 52-47.
No. 8 Ell-Saline looked to be cruising to the tournament title, leading 15-9 after one quarter, and 31-18 at the half. Lyons did not go away, outscoring the Cardinals 34-16 in the second half to steal the win. Ell-Saline hit six three-pointers in the loss. Emily Work hit two of those to pace the team with 11 points. Aubrey Wilson finished with 10 points, and Darriane Wikoff and Sesely Omli each added nine points.
