Old ghosts came back to haunt Herington on Thursday night, as a slow start doomed the Lady Railers in a 50-30 loss to Royal Valley.
Herington started the game with four turnovers and didn’t get a shot up until three minutes into the game, spotting Royal Valley a 9-0 advantage before getting on the scoreboard itself.
“Throughout the season, we’ve always had games where one quarter kills us,” Herington coach Jayson Emig said, “and usually that’s been the first quarter.”
The Lady Railers used an 8-0 second-quarter run to cut the deficit to nine, but Royal Valley scored the next six points to regain control.
“I wasn’t real happy with our second quarter play,” Royal Valley coach Gary Sorensen said. “I thought we got a little selfish, and we addressed that at halftime.”
The Lady Panthers were led by their dominant duo inside.
Tara Mitchell, who scored 35 points against Nemaha Valley last week, posted 12 points and 16 rebounds despite battling some sickness.
“You didn’t see the vintage Tara Mitchell,” Sorensen said.
Cortney Brown added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Royal Valley.
Kristin Kleinschimidt paced Herington with 12 points, while Crysta Brockmeier added 10.
Royal Valley advanced to the championship game against Osage City at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Herington will play in the third-place game against Wabaunsee at 3 p.m.
Emig said the game against 4A Royal Valley would be beneficial for his 2A team.
“We really didn’t show our best offensive effort tonight, but that comes with our maturity as a team,” Emig said. “We play a lot of young girls, and we can take some learning experiences from this that can help us down the road.”
ROYAL VALLEY girls 50, HERINGTON 30
Herington 5 10 6 9 — 30
Royal Valley 15 13 10 12 — 50
Herington (5-4) — Kristin Kleinschmidt 4 4-6 12, Crysta Brockmeier 3 3-4 10, Kaleigh Schneider 1 2-3 4, Ronessa Strome 1 0-0 2, Chanell Makovec 1 0-0 2.
Royal Valley (7-3) — Tara Mitchell 6 0-0 12, Cortney Brown 6 4-5 10, Lan Danielson 4 1-5 9, Courtney Barger 2 2-2 7, Ramona Nozhackum 2 0-0 5, Sydney Jessepe 2 0-0 4, Ashley Chance 1 1-2 3.
Halftime — Royal Valley 28-15. Fouled out — None.
Osage City girls 57,
Wabaunsee 41
Katie Buenger’s 22 points led Osage City as it advanced to the Flint Hills Shootout championship with the 16-point victory.
The Lady Indians got off to a fast start, taking an 18-4 lead in the first quarter with Miranda Bryan scoring eight of those first-quarter points.
Osage City extended its advantage to 31-14 at halftime, as Kelsey Sturdy had six second-quarter points, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the frame.
Bryan finished with 14 points for the Lady Indians, while Fort added 12.
Lyndsi Heine led Wabaunsee with 11 points. Jill Wenderott and Lindsey Deiter contributed 10 each in the loss.
OSAGE CITY girls 57, Wabaunsee 41
Wabaunsee 4 10 17 10 — 41
Osage City 18 13 14 12 — 57
Wabaunsee (3-6) — Lyndsi Heine 5 1-2 11, Jill Wenderott 5 0-0 10, Lindsey Deiter 4 1-2 10, Denise Ginavan 0 4-4 4, Abby Heigert 1 2-3 4, Nicole Falk 1 0-0 2.
Osage City (9-1) — Katie Buenger 10 2-2 22, Miranda Bryan 7 0-0 14, Paige Fort 4 4-4 12, Kady Paul 3 0-0 8, Katie Schroeder 0 1-4 1.
Halftime — Osage City 31-14. Total fouls — Wabaunsee 15, Osage City 13. Fouled out — None.
Mission Valley girls 50, Northern Heights 35
The Northern Heights girls once again suffered from a slow start in the 15-point loss to Mission Valley.
“We show glimpses of what we can do, but we need to do it more consistently,” Heights coach Tim Riemann said. “We need to put together four quarters of good basketball.”
The Lady Wildcats fell behind 12-5 after the first frame and never could make up the deficit.
Mission Valley outscored Heights in each quarter, advancing to the consolation championship at noon Saturday against Eureka.
Hannah Rush paced Mission Valley, scoring 14 points. Vanessa Finlay and Abby Sage both hit double figures with 10 each.
Heights was led by Leann Baird, who contributed eight points. Amy Lee and Alex DeLong both added seven.
The Lady Wildcats will play Yates Center in the seventh place game at 9 a.m. Saturday.
MISSION VALLEY girls 50, Northern Heights 35
Northern Heights 5 12 12 6 — 35
Mission Valley 12 13 17 8 — 50
Northern Heights (0-10) — Leann Baird 8, Amy Lee 7, Alex DeLong 7, Kiley Stinson 3, Caitlin Weakley 2, Ashley Siess 2, Andrea Miller 2, Amy Boline 2, Sarah Boline 1, Danielle Dreier 1.
Mission Valley (3-6) — Hannah Rush 14, Vanessa Finlay 10, Abby Sage 10, Abigail Browning 8, Kristi Pletcher 6, Traci Pletcher 2.
Halftime — Mission Valley 25-17. Total fouls — Northern Heights 17, Mission Valley 16. Fouled out — None.
Eureka girls 41,
Yates Center 23
Eureka held Yates Center to just 10 second-half points in the 18-point victory.
The Lady Tornadoes trailed by one after the first quarter but used a 13-6 second-quarter run to take a 19-13 halftime advantage.
Kathleen McKenzie stepped up for Eureka in the second half, scoring seven points. The Lady Tornadoes made seven fourth-quarter free throws to help seal the victory.
McKenzie led all scorers with 11 points, while Kalyn Valentine added eight.
Kelsey Guimond had six points for Yates Center.
EUREKA girls 41, YATES CENTER 23
Eureka 6 13 8 14 — 41
Yates Center 7 6 5 5 — 23
Eureka (2-6) — Kathleen McKenzie 5 1-8 11, Kalyn Valentine 3 2-2 8, Jana Valentine 1 5-6 7, Leslie Collinge 2 1-2 5, Lisa Gritz 0 4-8 4, Jenny Ross 2 1-2 3, Aubrey Cornett 1 0-0 2, Abby Brown 0 1-2 1.
Yates Center (2-8) — Kelsey Guimond 2 2-4 6, Kassy Reynolds 2 1-7 5, Taylor Heffern 1 1-5 4, Emmy Pollock 0 2-3 2, German 1 0-0 2, Katie Arnold 0 2-4 2, Lexie McVey 1 0-3 2.
Halftime — Eureka 19-13. Total fouls — Eureka 24, Yates Center 22. Fouled out — Eureka: Brown; Yates Center: Heffern.