Osage City topples Northern Heights
Ken Easthouse
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
ALLEN — The top-seeded Osage City Lady Indians opened the first round of the Flint Hills Shootout with a decisive 55-31 win over Northern Heights Tuesday night.
Osage City has won the tournament the past three years, and the team plans to repeat the success.
“Our class hasn’t lost this tournament,” senior Katie Buenger said.
Buenger led the early charge, scoring 12 of her 19 total points in the first quarter as the Lady Indians jumped out to an early 18-6 lead. They led 32-12 at halftime.
However, Northern Heights wouldn’t go quietly, preventing Osage City from building substantially on its halftime lead.
“They started beating us on our press, so we laid back,” Buenger said. “If we would have been in our man press it would have made a difference.”
Osage City’s press defense led to several steals and easy fast-break baskets early in the game. However, the Lady Wildcats had their own steals throughoutgame from miscues and bad passes.
“The girls played hard for the most part, but it wasn’t the prettiest thing,” Osage City coach Chris Kirkpatrick said. “We’re going to have to play better.”
Neither team had much practice time leading into the game. Rules do not allow any team to practice on days where there is no school, and area games were cancelled on Friday, so neither team had been on the court since last Thursday.
“The game was a little bit sloppier than I thought it should have been, but you can’t use that as an excuse,” Northern Heights coach Tim Riemann said.
Kirkpatrick echoed Riemann’s sentiments.
“For not practicing a couple days, we’ll take it,” Kirkpatrick said.
Osage City will next face Wabaunsee in the tournament, while Northern Heights will prepare for Mission Valley.
NORTHERN HEIGHTS girls 31, OSAGE CITY 55
Northern Heights 6 6 10 9 — 31
Osage City 18 14 12 11 — 55
Northern Heights (0-9) — Lee 6, Weakley 2, Siess 2, Miller 9, A. Boline 2, DeLong 2, S. Boline 4, Drier 2, Band 2. Total 31.
Osage City (8-1) — Schroeder 3, Johnson 3, Paul 5, Bryan 9, Sturdy 5, Fort 6, Reed 5, Buenger 19. Total 55.
Halftime — OC 32-12. Total fouls — Heights 24, OC 18. Fouled out — None.
Wabaunsee girls 50,
Mission Valley 47
Wabaunsee stifled Mission Valley in the second quarter, holding the Lady Vikings to only eight points, to make the difference in the Lady Chargers’ 50-47 win Tuesday night in the opening round of the Flint Hills Shootout.
Senior Lady Charger Lindsey Deiter led Wabaunsee with 25 points. She made the team’s only 3-pointers and scored 11 of her points in the fourth quarter, when both teams opened up a scoring frenzy.
Free throws made the difference in this game. While Wabaunsee was 11-19 from the line, Mission Valley was only 2-7.
Wabaunsee will next face top-seeded Osage City in the tournament on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at White Auditorium, while Northern Heights will face Mission Valley at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
WABAUNSEE girls 50, MISSION VALLEY 47
Wabaunsee 10 11 11 18 — 50
Mission Valley 11 8 11 17 — 47
Wabaunsee (3-5) — Werderott 9, Deiter 25, Ginavan 3, Falk 4, Heine 2, Heigert 7. Total 50.
Mission Valley (2-6) — T. Pletcher 2, Rush 11, K. Pletcher 4, Browning 4, Finlay 20, Sage 6. Total 47.
Halftime — Wabaunsee 21-19. Total fouls — Wab. 15, MV 16. Fouled out — Ginavan.
Herington girls 62,
Yates Center 32
Yates Center jumped out to an early 10-9 lead over Herington, but it was all Lady Railers after that, as Herington went on to beat the Lady Wildcats 62-32 Tuesday night.
Herington held Yates Center to a mere five points while scoring 20 in the second quarter to open up a 29-15 lead at halftime. Sophomore Crysta Brockmeier scored 12 points in the second quarter alone. She ended the night with 19 points.
Herington next will take on Royal Valley at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday, while Yates Center will face Eureka at 4:45 p.m.
HERINGTON girls 62, YATES CENTER 32
Herington 9 20 17 16 — 62
Yates Center 10 5 6 11 — 32
Herington (5-3) — Strome 1, Makovec 10, Brockmeier 19, Perry 11, Kleinschmidt 12, Schneider 9. Total 62.
Yates Center (2-7) — Dutton 11, Martin 2, Gaimond 8, Heffern 9, McVey 2. Total 32.
Halftime — Herington 29-15. Total fouls — Her. 13, YC 16. Fouled out — None.
Royal Valley girls 40, Eureka 21
Royal Valley used tight defense that allowed only seven first half points in a 40-21 win over Eureka Tuesday night in the first round of the Flint Hills Shootout.
Tara Mitchell and Lan Danielson each had 11 points for Royal Valley, both scoring the majority of their points in the first half.
ROYAL VALLEY girls 40, EUREKA 21
Royal Valley 13 11 9 7 — 40
Eureka 3 4 8 6 — 21
Royal Valley (6-3) — Nozhackum 6, King 2, Mitchell 11, Brown 5, Barger 3, Danielson 11, Kent 2. Total 40.
Eureka (1-6) — K. Valentine 2, J. Valentine 2, Coohag 9, Evanson 2, McKenzie 6. Total 21.
Halftime — RV 24-7. Total fouls — RV 15, Eureka 7. Fouled out — None.