Flinthills continues roll with 58-40 defeat of Lebo
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Saturday, December 16, 2006
The Flinthills Lady Mustangs improved to 6-1 on the season with a 58-40 defeat of Lebo on Friday night in Rosalia.
“We played with great intensity tonight,” Flinthills coach Mark Womacks said. “We played hard. I was very proud of our girls for rebounding hard and playing tough defense.”
While Womacks was pleased with the Lady Mustangs’ defensive effort, his squad was pretty good on the offensive end of the court as well. Three Flinthills players scored in double figures in the victory, led by Lacey Breech’s 18 points, followed by 14 points from Erin Dragoo and 11 points from Alexa Cuskelly.
The Lady Mustangs doubled up the Lady Wolves after one quarter of play (19-8) before opening up a commanding 31-16 halftime lead.
Despite an early third-quarter run from Lebo, Flinthills still managed to continue to pull away in the second half on its way to the 18-point victory. Lebo fell to 4-3 with the loss.
Burlingame girls 35,
MdCV 34
Burlingame withstood a furious rally by Marais des Cygnes Valley, holding on for the 1-point victory.
The Lady Bearcats held a 35-25 lead with five minutes remaining before MdCV scored nine unanswered points. The last points came on a long 3-pointer that made it 35-34 with 15 seconds remaining.
Burlingame was able to inbound the ball and run out the clock to seal its first win.
“It feels really good,” Burlingame coach Eric West said. “It doesn’t matter how you get the victory, as long as you do get it.”
Miranda Fagan led the Lady Bearcats with 10 points, while April Burgess and Meghan Atchison had 6 points apiece.
Rachel Clark scored a game-high 12 points for MdCV. Jamie Rice added 7.
Olpe girls 63,
Chase County 15
The Lady Eagles pitched a shutout in the first quarter, holding Chase County scoreless in the first eight minutes of a 48-point win.
Olpe, the top-ranked team in 1A, held a 10-0 lead after the first period.
“Right now, the first quarter offense is just not acceptable,” Chase County coach Toby Baker said. “Offensively, we’re just struggling.”
Chase County scored just four points in the second quarter and went into the break down 34-4.
The Lady Bulldogs were only outscored 15-9 in the third quarter before watching Olpe go on a 14-2 spurt in the final eight minutes.
Kayla Krueger paced the Lady Eagles, scoring 14 points. Sammy Maley added 11, and Megan Woods had 10.
Olpe had 10 players score in the victory.
Marie Hunt was Chase County’s top scorer with five.
Lyndon girls 53,
Waverly 46
Lyndon’s Krista Banzhaf scored 13 of her 18 total points in the first half while her teammate, Chelsea Schmitz knocked in 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second half as the Lady Tigers defeated Waverly, 53-46, in Lyndon on Friday night.
Schmitz and Banzhaf combined to hit five 3-pointers for Lyndon, which led just 25-21 at halftime before going on a 13-6 scoring run in the third quarter to open up the game at 38-27 at the start of the fourth period.
Waverly made a late run at the Lady Tigers thanks to the efforts of Megan Steward and Jayme Hoag, who scored 8 and 7 points respectively in the fourth quarter to help the Lady Bulldogs outscore Lyndon 19-15 in the period. But it was not enough, as Lyndon put down 11-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter to ice the win.
Steward finished with 14 points, Hoag had 7 and Whitney Good led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points, all coming on eight field goals.
Madison girls 55,
Hartford 38
Madison’s dynamic freshman duo of Shelby Buster and Morgan Stout once again worked their magic for the Lady Bulldogs on Friday night, as the pair combined for 41 points in Madison’s 55-38 victory over Hartford in Madison.
Buster led all scorers with 25 points, only missing one shot from the field in a 12-for-13 shooting performance. Stout went 5-of-12 from the field, but made 6-of-7 free throws to help push her total into the upper teens. Just three other players scored for Madison.
Madison opened up a 14-7 lead after one quarter and managed to keep Hartford at bay the rest of the game. Jessica Cartee led Hartford with 11 points, and Alisha Lyon chipped in 9.
Madison moved one game closer to .500 with the victory, as the Lady Bulldogs are now 3-4 on the season.
Burlington girls 69,
Humboldt 25
Becca Holman was four assists away from a triple-double, as the Burlington senior scored 20 points and had 10 steals to go with 6 assists in a 69-25 win over Humboldt on Friday night in Burlington.
Holman and teammate Autumn Kirchner got Bulrington jump started in the first quarter, as the pair hit five first-quarter 3-pointers to help the Lady Wildcats turn an 8-6 lead into a 24-8 edge at the end of the first period. Burlington rolled from there, outscoring Humboldt 25-3 in the second quarter on its way to a 49-11 halftime lead.
Burlington went on to finish the game with 25 steals thanks to its pressure defense, which Burlington coach Doug Stewart said was a critical part of his team’s success.
“We struggle a little when we can’t score and get into our pressure defense,” Burlington coach Doug Stewart said. “When we were able to knock down and finish some shots, it allowed us to set up our press.”
Kristi Kesler scored 11 points and Katie Guevel added 10 for Burlington.
Herington girls 48,
Pomona 44
With a team that starts three sophomores, a junior and a senior, Herington coach Jayson Emig knew youth would be a factor all season long for the Lady Railers.
On Friday night against Pomona, Emig saw his team grow up — fast. The Lady Railers overcame a 40-27 second-half deficit with a 21-4 fourth quarter scoring splurge that lifted Herington to a 48-44 victory over Pomona on Friday in Pomona.
“I’ve always known we were a team that could score points,” Emig said, “I was just waiting for us to grow up and make it happen.”
Emig credited his team’s comeback to a stingy second-half defense that was focused on slowing Pomona’s high-scoring duo of Stephanie Nitcher and Melissa Reed. While Sam Shaffer scored 20 for Pomona, Reed and Nitcher were held to 8 and 7 points respectively, which keyed Herington’s big comeback.
“Our goal was to make sure Nitcher and Reed did not hurt us. We didn’t plan on Shaffer having such a big night, but we stuck to our plan,” Emig said. “We came back in the second half by just tightening up our defense, putting pressure down the court and forcing turnovers.”
Pomona’s comeback was completed when Crysta Brockmeier hit a 3-pointer to give Pomona the lead in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Indians iced the game with free-throw shooting from there. Pomona was 10-of-19 from the line while Herington was just 4-of-8.
Crysta Brockmeier led the way for Herington with 19 points, and Kristin Kleinschmidt pitched in 17.
Council Grove girls 50, Northern Heights 46, 2OT
The Council Grove girls outscored Northern Heights 10-6 in the second overtime to capture the 50-46 victory on Friday night in Allen.
After seeing his team fritter away a 27-11 halftime lead, mostly because of a 12-4 scoring run in the third quarter by Council Grove, Northern Heights coach Tim Riemann watched as his team hung on to force overtime. After each team scored 3 points in the first extra period, the game went to a second overtime, and Council Grove pulled away from there.
“Tonight was a tough loss for us,” Riemann said. “We played well in the first half and struggled some in the second half. I thought the girls played hard, we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
Foul trouble plagued the Lady Wildcats, as three players fouled out for Northern Heights — Andrea Miller, Amy Boline and Sarah Boline. In all, a total of 57 fouls were called during the game, and Northern Heights failed to capitalize on 35 trips to the free-throw line, only making 16 of those shots.
Amy Lee led Northern Heights with 12 points and Leann Baird added 8.
F Gazette sports editor Michael Ashford and sports reporter Jesse Newell contributed to this report