Northern Heights’ Amy Lee says her team spends a lot of time working on its full-court press.
The extra effort showed on Friday, as the third-seeded Ladycats’ defense lifted them to a 46-29 victory over fifth-seeded Eureka at the Flint Hills Shootout.
“We’ve worked really hard in practice on our press,” Lee said, “to make sure we get those traps with the hands up.”
Eureka found a lot of those hands while trying to break the pressure Friday, as the Lady Tornadoes ended with 36 turnovers.
“We had problems with the press tonight,” Eureka coach Steve Schlup said. “Their press was pretty good. They’re a pretty good team.”
Eureka had 11 turnovers in the first quarter, most of which turned into points for the Ladycats.
Scoring mostly in transition, Heights started the game on a 15-3 run, with seven of the points during the stretch coming from Lee.
The Lady Tornadoes closed the gap to 28-22 at halftime before once again having trouble going against the Ladycats’ defense.
Heights forced 11 third-quarter turnovers, holding Eureka without a field goal in the period.
The Ladycats used a 11-1 run during the eight-minute span to build a 41-23 lead.
Things got ugly in the fourth quarter. Worn down by a physical game with few fouls called inside, Heights started to have its own turnover problems.
The Ladycats had 12 giveaways in the fourth quarter alone, getting outscored 6-5 in the final frame.
“We just need to calm down and just slow it down,” Lee said. “They were trying to speed us up.”
Heights coach Tim Riemann remained pleased with how his girls adjusted to the adversity.
“It was a physical game,” Riemann said. “That’s a game where last year, we probably would have folded.”
Lee led Heights, scoring a game-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. She had nine points in the first quarter and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the foul line in the game.
“I think I was getting pretty lucky,” Lee said of her shooting.
Sarah Boline added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Andrea Miller also came away with eight boards.
Taylyn Schwartz paced the Lady Tornadoes with 10 points.
“They played hard, and that’s all I ask of them,” Schlup said. “If they play hard, we’ll keep getting better.”
Heights (6-4) will play against sixth-seeded West Franklin at 3 p.m. today, while Eureka will take on fourth-seeded Mission Valley at noon.
The championship game will have the two top seeds, Herington and Osage City, face off at 6 p.m.
In the other girls’ contest Friday, West Franklin’s Cassie Rockhold hit the game-deciding free throw as the Lady Falcons held on for a 42-41 victory over Mission Valley.
West Franklin jumped out to a 23-10 halftime lead before the Lady Vikings stormed back.
Mission Valley outscored West Franklin 13-9 in the third quarter and 18-10 in the fourth but still came up just short.
West Franklin was led by Rockhold and Melissa Reed, who had nine points each.
Vanessa Finlay (19 points) and Abby Sage (13) carried the scoring load for Mission Valley, combining for 32 of the Lady Vikings’ 41 points.
No. Heights girls 46, Eureka 29
Flint Hills Shootout
Friday at White Auditorium
Eureka 8 14 1 6 — 29
No. Heights 15 13 13 5 — 46
Eureka (1-6) — Jana Valentine 2 1-4 7, Taylyn Schwartz 4 1-5 10, Jamie Vaughn 1 0-0 2, Jenny Ross 0 0-0 0, Kathleen MeLevzie 2 0-0 4, Devin Evenson 1 1-2 3, Cristal Ibarra 1 1-4 3, Amanda Erie 0 0-0 0. Totals 11-46 4-15 29.
Northern Heights (6-4) — Amy Lee 6 2-2 15, Andrea Miller 1 4-4 6, Amy Boline 2 0-0 4, Alex DeLong 1 0-0 2, Sarah Boline 5 0-0 10, Tess Hobson 2 1-2 5, Leann Baird 0 1-2 1, Sky Linsey 0 1-2 1, Danielle Dreier 1 0-0 2. Totals 18-63 9-12 46.
3-point goals — Eureka 3-15 (Valentine 2, Schwartz 1), Northern Heights 1 (Lee). Rebounds — Eureka 31 (Valentine, MeLevzie 8), Northern Heights 45 (Miller, S. Boline 8). Turnovers — Eureka 36, Northern Heights 29. Total fouls — Eureka 15, Northern Heights 20.
Boys Scores
On the boys’ side of the bracket, sixth-seeded Mission Valley defeated No. 4-seeded Eureka, 51-44, and third-seeded Herington took a 79-63 triumph over the five seed, West Franklin.
In its win, Mission Valley grabbed a 34-19 halftime advantage and clung to the lead from there.
Eureka went on a 14-6 run in the third quarter to cut the gap to 40-33, but Mission Valley scored its final five points from the free-throw line to keep the lead safe.
The Vikings were led by Dalton Branch’s 17 points. Ryne Cook (12) and Aaron Rudeen (11) both added double figures.
Braiden Lewis paced Eureka with 12 points, while Kevin Hayes and Austin Martell contributed nine each.
Herington took its 16-point victory by dominating the third quarter.
After taking a 39-37 lead into the intermission, the Railers used a 24-10 run over the next eight minutes to pull away.
Anthony Scott and Kris Mueller provided a strong 1-2 punch for Herington. Scott had a team-high 25 points, while Mueller was right behind him with 23.
West Franklin’s Bryant Harmon led all scorers with 27 points.
Today’s schedule for the boys has Eureka playing West Franklin at 1:30 p.m., Mission Valley taking on Osage City at 4:30, and Northern Heights and Herington battling in the championship game at 7:30.