Northern Heights girls' postseason run comes to a halt
Brent Maycock, Special to the Gazette
Friday, March 7, 2008
HUTCHINSON — Consider this one to grow on.
Obviously, the Northern Heights girls basketball team went to the Class 3A State Tournament in Hutchinson looking to do more than just make a token appearance at the Sports Arena.
Yet even though the Ladycats didn’t get the victory they were seeking, falling 50-34 to second-seeded Cimarron in Thursday’s quarterfinal, the trip hardly could be classified as a wasted one.
“It was definitely a great experience for our kids,” said Heights coach Tim Riemann, whose team finished 15-9. “Nobody expected us to be here. Nobody expected us to get out of Sub-State. The fact that we made it here shows just how strong these girls are.”
Had the Ladycats been able to put together the same kind of offensive efficiency they did in the first quarter of the game, they just might have been able to stick around for the weekend. But after making four of their first nine shots, the Ladycats made only seven of their last 25, and a drought to start the second half proved too much for them to overcome.
Down just 23-21 at halftime, Heights went scoreless for the first 6 minutes of the second half, unable to get anything going. The Ladycats turned it over (5), missed shots (3) and couldn’t even cash in at the free-throw line (0-for-4).
Heights’ offensive troubles were compounded by its inability to even slow down Cimarron center Brooke Fairbank. The 5-foot-9 Bluejay was a one-woman wrecking crew, scoring Cimarron’s first 12 points of the second half.
“Brooke can take over any game if we can find her and she works hard to get the ball,” Cimarron coach David Ediger said. “She doesn’t ever force anything; she let’s the game come to her and when it does, she really takes over.”
Fairbank pretty much took over the game, and her 12 straight points were followed by a Haley Lloyd 3-pointer that capped a 15-0 run by the Bluejays that turned their narrow two-point halftime lead into a commanding 38-21 advantage.
Heights finally ended its drought on a three-point play by Amy Boline with 1:56 left in the quarter and then got a quick score from Sarah Boline to get back to within 12. The flurry offered hope that despite their troubles, the Ladycats might be able to duplicate the comeback the Heights boys pulled off Wednesday against Galena.
The thought certainly crossed Riemann’s mind.
“I said that in a timeout to them, that the boys were down by 12 and we were down 12,” Heights coach Tim Riemann said. “There was no doubt in my mind that we couldn’t come back.”
Cimarron even provided ample opportunity for Heights to rally. The Bluejays turned the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter and failed to put Heights away at the free-throw line, making just 6 of 17 freebies in the period.
But the Ladycats couldn’t make enough shots to get it done. They got as close as 11 on Tess Hobson’s bucket at the 3:32 mark, but didn’t score again, turning it over five times and missing all four shots in the last 3 minutes.
“We came out flat after halftime,” Riemann said. “The ball just didn’t go in and we didn’t make plays and they did.”
Heights led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter, but went the first 6:46 of the second quarter without a field goal to trail by two at the break.
Hobson led Heights with 10 points off the bench while Sarah Boline added nine points and nine rebounds. Fairbank finished with a game-high 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
“I think we were pretty pumped to be here and play,” Riemann said. “Hopefully, this will carry over and motivate them to want to come back next year and they’ll work hard this summer.”
Cimarron 50, Northern Heights 34
Thursday at Hutchinson
No. Heights 11 10 5 8 — 34
Cimarron 6 17 17 10 — 50
Northern Heights (15-9) — Lee 0-9 1-2 1, Miller 2-3 1-3 5, A. Boline 2-3 1-3 5, DeLong 1-5 2-2 4, S. Boline 3-8 3-6 9, Hobson 3-6 4-4 10, Baird 0-2 0-0 0, Linsey 0-0 0-0 0, Dreier 0-0 0-00, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Zumbrunn 0-0 0-0 0, Eklund 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-36 12-20 34.
Cimarron (23-1) — Burns 1-5 2-4 4, Payne 2-6 1-8 7, Lloyd 4-9 2-4 12, Blattner 1-3 3-5 5, Fairbank 6-13 8-9 20, Addison 0-3 0-0 0, Owens 0-3 0-0 0, Helfrich 1-1 0-0 2, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Burl 0-0 0-0 0, Schlicht 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-44 16-30 50.
3-point goals — NH 0-6 (Lee 0-5, DeLong 0-1), Cimarron 4-12 (Lloyd 2-5, Payne 2-3, Burns 0-3, Addison 0-1). Rebounds — NH 34 (S. Boline 9), Cimarron 34 (Fairbank 14). Assists — NH 7 (Lee 3), Cimarron 11 (Burns 4, Payne 4). Turnovers — NH 24 (S. Boline 6), Cimarron 17 (Payne 5). Total fouls — NH 20, Cimarron 17. Fouled out — NH: Miller; Cimarron: Blattner.