Olpe girls turn up the heat, roll over Argonia, 80-39
Ken Easthouse
Friday, March 2, 2007
The Olpe girls secured their place in the Sub-State championship game with an 80-39 win over Argonia Thursday night at White Auditorium.
Olpe led by just six points at the end of the first quarter before turning up the heat in the second period, going on a 12-1 run.
The Lady Eagles never looked back after that.
“Sometimes, coming out like this is to be expected,” Olpe coach Jesse Nelson said. “You’re going to catch everyone’s best game early.”
Argonia kept pace with Olpe through the first half by matching the Lady Eagles’ tempo. However, Olpe’s deeper bench helped sustain the game’s frantic pace, which drained Argonia and allowed Olpe to pull away.
“It was better,” Olpe guard Brittany Meza said. “They started backing down.”
Meza’s ball control up the court helped break down Argonia’s full-court press, at times zig-zagging between three defenders for an easy layup. She ended the night with 17 points.
“She’s been stepping up offensively for us,” Nelson said.
Nelson also said the Lady Eagles’ bench had been improving its overall play and had been contributing more offensively. Olpe’s bench outscored Argonia’s, 27-4, and two reserves, Kylie Haag and Katie Moyer, scored in double figures.
“We had good play off the bench,” Nelson said. “It’s an area we’ve worked hard on, and it’s really important.”
Olpe shot nearly 48 percent from the field, including 10-of-22 from three-point range.
“We’re trying to take good shots for us,” Nelson said. “It loosens things up on the inside.”
The apparent game plan to start was to force the ball inside, where Olpe held a significant height advantage. However, according to Meza, who shot 3-for-4 from behind the arc, sometimes you have to shoot when you’re hot.
“Tonight we thought we’d work on getting it inside,” Meza said. “But we really stepped it up on the outside tonight.”
The height advantage did lead to more rebounds, however. Olpe out-rebounded Argonia, 36-25.
Kayla Krueger led Olpe with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
The Lady Eagles will face off against Waverly Saturday evening at White Auditorium for the Class 1A Sub-State championship.
OLPE girls 80, ARGONIA 39
Olpe 17 24 26 13 — 80
Argonia 11 8 10 10 — 39
Olpe (24-0) — Krueger 21, Maley 6, Meza 17, Woods 9, Haag 10, Redeker 3, Moyer 11, Brinkman 1, Wendling 2.
Argonia (13-11) — Adams 3, T. Peetoom 9, D. Peetoom 5, Blake 2, Hemberger 16, McCoy 2, Pankratz 2.
Halftime — Olpe 41-19. Total fouls — Olpe 13, Argonia 10. Fouled out — D. Peetoom.
Waverly 60, Dexter 48
The Waverly girls exploded for 24 points in the fourth quarter to overcome Dexter, 60-48, Thursday night at White Auditorium to earn a spot in the Class 1A Sub-State championship game.
Much of Waverly’s offensive output came from the free-throw line. The Lady Bulldogs were 18-of-26 at the line in the second half. Conversely, Dexter shot only two free throws in the second half.
Senior Whitney Good was 11-of-16 from the free-throw line, and ended the game with 13 points. Waverly was led by Megan Steward with 17 points.
Waverly went into halftime with a slim 26-24 lead, but Dexter fought back to lead going into the third quarter.
Also, Dexter held a sizable 41-30 rebounding advantage over the Lady Bulldogs.
Waverly will play Olpe for the Sub-State championship Saturday night at White Auditorium.
WAVERLY girls 60, DEXTER 48
Waverly 13 13 10 24 — 60
Dexter 13 11 14 10 — 48
Waverly (17-6) — Good 13, Schmidt 12, Steward 17, Wilson 9, Chapman 6, Ervin 1, Hoag 2.
Dexter (13-10) — Defore 9, Crow 8, Kahrs 18, Kill 4, Lawrence 2, McClure 5, Fanning 2.
Halftime — Waverly 26-24. Total fouls — Waverly 16, Dexter 27. Fouled out — Kahrs, Kill.
Flinthills 102,
Oxford 95 (OT)
The Flinthills boys overcame a 14-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter to force overtime and win, 102-95, to advance to the Sub-State championship game.
Nate Nelson hit a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime.
“This was a great win for our team,” Flinthills coach Don Wedel said. “We were down as many as 20 points and fought back.”
Kyle Riemann scored 31 points to lead the Mustangs, including 12 in the fourth quarter, when Flinthills outscored Oxford, 33-19, after trailing, 68-54, to begin the period. He also had 18 rebounds and five steals.
“Kyle Riemann had the game of his life,” Wedel said.
Flinthills had eight different players score, as opposed to Oxford, which had only six. Also, Flinthills was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line in overtime.
The Mustangs will take on Yates Center for the Class 3A Sub-State championship Saturday in Cottonwood Falls.
FLINTHILLS boys 102, OXFORD 95
Flinthills 20 15 19 33 15 — 102
Oxford 24 22 22 19 9 — 95
Flinthills (11-11) — Jackson 22, Womacks 6, Nelson 15, Vogt 14, Breech 4, Oates 8, Reimann 31, Eisenbarth 2.
Dexter (13-10) — Nelsen 3, Reese 4, B. Mayes 16, N. Hampton 8, B. Mayes 27, C. Hampton 37.
Halftime — Oxford 46-35. Total fouls — Flinthills 17, Oxford 24. Fouled out — Reese, B. Mayes, C. Hampton.
So. Coffey Co. girls 55,
St. Paul 37
The Southern Coffey County girls out-scored St. Paul by nine points in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on a 55-37 Sub-State victory over St. Paul Thursday night in El Dorado.
SCC (19-5) shot a red-hot 51 percent (23-of-45) from the field on the night, while holding St. Paul (17-6) to just 12 made shots.
“I was pleased offensively with our offensive execution,” SCC coach Jeff True said. “For the most part, we were patient and took good shots. We shot the ball as well as we have in any game thus far.”
In the deciding fourth quarter, the Lady Titans went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to cap a 9-for-12 performance overall on the night, while St. Paul could only muster one made shot from the field and two free throws. SCC out-scored St. Paul, 13-4, in the final period to secure the win.
Hannah Brooks led SCC with 15 points, six rebounds, six steals and six assists. Laurie Ohl just missed a double-double, as she added 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Titans advanced to face No. 2-ranked South Haven (24-0) in the Sub-State championship game on Saturday.
SOUTHERN COFFEY CO. 55, ST. PAUL 37
SCC 16 13 13 13 — 55
St. Paul 14 9 10 4 — 37
SCC (19-5) — L. Harvey 8, H. Brooks 15, S. Birk 4, C. Combs 8, K. Meyer 9, L. Ohl 11.
St. Paul (17-6) — Tuck 12, Grillot 2, Geifer 15, K. Borum 1, M. Borum 7.
Halftime — SCC 29-23. Total fouls — SCC 15, St. Paul 16. Fouled out — None.