Celebrating State
By Michael Ashford
Originally published 12:59 p.m., March 3, 2008
Updated 12:59 p.m., March 3, 2008
Fans of high school basketball in the Lyon County area might be in a state of bliss this week after the weekend saw six Lyon County teams advance to their respective State Tournaments, some in particularly thrilling fashion.
The Emporia High boys and girls, the Olpe boys and girls and the Northern Heights boys and girls all advanced to the final week of high school basketball with Sub-State championship game victories either Friday or Saturday, putting Lyon County behind only Johnson County (9) and Sedgwick County (8) and tying Shawnee County in the number of teams that will be competing at the State level this week.
It all began Friday night when the Emporia High boys demolished Arkansas City, 70-39, in the Class 5A Sub-State title game in Wichita, earning the Spartans their first State berth since 2006. The EHS boys (13-9) will be the seventh seed at the State Tournament — which will be held at the Topeka Expocentre — and will open play at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday against No. 2-seeded McPherson (19-3).
Perhaps the most thrilling victory for the Lyon County teams came Saturday evening in Wichita when the Emporia High girls got past Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 53-52, in overtime. A free throw from Lexi Hileman with 20 seconds left helped push the Lady Spartans (18-4) into the State Tournament, where they will be the third seed and will face sixth-seeded Bishop Miege (15-7) at 4:45 p.m. Thursday at the Topeka Expocentre.
In terms of historical perspective, no victory for the Lyon County teams was bigger than the Northern Heights boys’ 82-64 win over Erie on Saturday night in Wellsville. The Wildcats’ victory earned them the first State Tournament berth in the program’s history. The Wildcats (21-2) will be the No. 3 seed at the Class 3A tournament at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, and will face sixth-seeded Galena (18-4) at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday.
The Northern Heights girls shrugged off the underdog card to advance to State, as the Ladycats won the Wellsville Sub-State despite being the fourth seed. The Heights girls beat Jayhawk-Linn, 45-35, Saturday night, which put the Ladycats (15-8) into the Class 3A State Tournament as the seventh seed. They will face second-seeded Cimarron (22-1) at 3 p.m. Thursday in Hutchinson.
The Olpe boys and girls didn’t have to travel far to earn their tickets to State, as both won their Sub-State championships at Emporia’s White Auditorium on Saturday night.
The Lady Eagles whipped St. Paul, 60-40, to run their record to a perfect 25-0. Olpe will enter the Class 1A State Tournament in Hays as the No. 1 seed, as they are the lone unbeaten team in Class 1A. The Olpe girls will face eighth-seeded Wheatland-Grinnell (18-6) at 3 p.m. Thursday at Fort Hays State.
As for the Olpe boys, they garnered a No. 2 seed at the State Tournament after defeating Goessell, 71-59, in the Sub-State title game. Olpe will take a 23-2 record into State, where they will face seventh-seeded Natoma (20-4) at 3 p.m. Wednesday.