Osage City’s Carly Spicer was a nonfactor in the first half of Saturday night’s championship game of the Flint Hills Shootout. Part of that was Northern Heights’ 2-3 zone crowding her inside, and part of it was the fact that her teammates on the perimeter were hoisting up threes every chance they got instead of trying to get Spicer the ball.
As the game wound into its final minutes, Heights was playing less zone, the Indians were following their halftime marching orders to drive and get the ball down low, and the game eventually became Spicer’s. She wasn’t exactly trying to take over, but that’s what she did — and the Indians came back to reaffirm their status as the Flint Hills League’s best.
Spicer scored eight points in the second half, including the tying basket with 9.5 seconds left, then added eight more in overtime to give top-seeded Osage City a sweep of the league’s regular-season and tournament titles with a dramatic 49-46 win.
“I just picked my shots that I thought I could make,” Spicer said, “and it ended up going in, I guess.”
That might sound a little nonchalant, but Spicer, who finished with 18 points, was anything but at crunch time. After taking just three first-half shots and making one, she began to assert herself late. Spicer’s follow shot off a runner attempt by Katie Schroeder gave the Indians a 36-34 lead with just over five minutes to go.
Heights answered when Tess Hobson found Sarah Boline inside for a score to re-tie the game at 36. Leah Garland notched a tough layup underneath to give Osage a two-point lead back, but Heights pulled even again with 2:30 remaining when Leeann Baird sank two free throws.
The game stayed tied at 38 until 27.2 seconds remained, when a two-man game between Amy Lee on the perimeter and Andrea Miller down low resulted in Miller drawing a foul. Miller sank both foul shots to give Heights a 40-38 lead, and Osage called timeout with 23.3 seconds remaining.
Out of the timeout, Paige Fort got the ball on the right side and dumped the ball down low to Spicer, who laid it in and drew contact from Sarah Boline with 9.5 ticks left. Spicer missed the free throw, and Heights pushed the ball upcourt. Miller dribbled from the top of the key to the free throw line for a shot that missed, and Baird grabbed the board in traffic and got a shot off, but it too missed, and the game was headed to OT.
For Osage, the overtime was all Spicer. Fort found her again on a nice look down low to give Osage a 42-40 lead, and Spicer added another layin and a jumper from the left elbow, the latter making it 46-41. Two free throws and a basket by Boline brought Heights to within 46-45, but Spicer got fouled after an Osage press-break and swished a pair of free throws to rebuild a three-point lead.
Heights trailed 48-46 when the Ladycats fouled Schroeder with just eight seconds remaining. Schroeder made her first free throw, then missed the second. Lee pushed the ball ahead and tossed up an errant three from the right side, Kady Paul grabbed the rebound, and the Indians had their Shootout title.
“I think we just really fought through overtime and knew we had a chance to win,” Spicer said. “And we just dug deep and found a way to win.”
The Indians might not have gotten the game to overtime without the adjustments they made at halftime. In the first half, Northern Heights’ 2-3 zone dared Osage to fire away from the outside, and the Indians’ perimeter players took the bait. Osage took 11 3-pointers in the first half out of 20 total shots, but only Kelsey Sturdy could hit from outside the arc, making two of her five first-half attempts.
Heights built its lead to 14-6 in the first quarter before a Sturdy 3-pointer kicked off a 7-0 minirun that brought the Indians back within one. Back-to-back baskets by Hobson helped Heights move the lead back to five before settling for an 18-16 advantage at the break.
In the second half, Osage coach Chris Kirkpatrick knew exactly what he needed to tell his team to do.
“We were told for the guards to drive more, get more open looks down low,” Schroeder said.
The message got through, as the Indians took just five more threes in the second half and overtime combined.
“They were just packing it in on us (in the first half), but our guards had a lot to do with that,” Schroeder said. “Off a skip pass, we were just standing there, not making them guard us. So we attacked them a little bit, draw ’em out. That opens the passing lanes and allowed us to get it down to the low block.”
Schroeder backed Spicer’s 18 with 11 points for the Indians, and Sturdy added 10. Miller led Heights with 16 points and Hobson had 13. Both teams struggled at the free throw line — Heights made just 10-of-22, Osage 7-of-15.
With league regular-season and tournament titles, the Indians have already accomplished two of their big goals.
“Oh, yes,” Spicer said, “but our main goal is to win substate and go to state. We just want to keep going.”
Osage City girls 49, Northern Heights 46, OT
Northern Heights 9 9 14 8 6 — 46
Osage City 6 10 15 9 9 — 49
Northern Heights — Hobson 6-10 1-1 13, Linsey 0-1 0-2 0, Lee 1-7 1-2 3, Miller 7-15 2-6 16, Boline 2-7 3-4 7, Baird 1-4 3-6 5, Zumbrum 1-4 0-1 2, Carr 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 10-22 46.
Osage City — Paul 2-9 0-0 5, Schroeder 3-9 4-6 11, Sturdy 4-11 0-0 10, Fort 1-1 0-0 2, Spicer 8-14 2-3 18, Garland 1-1 1-6 3, Lieber 0-0 0-0 0, Buenger 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 7-15 49.
3-point goals — Northern Heights (Lee 0-1, Miller 0-1), Osage City 4-16 (Paul 1-6, Sturdy 2-6, Schroeder 1-3, Buenger 0-1). Fouled out — Boline.
Chase County girls 37, Herington 33
Aubrey Watts scored 13 points to lead Chase County past Herington in the third-place game of the Flint Hills Shootout.
Kylee Scott added 10 points for the Bulldogs, and Chanell Makovec led Herington with 13 points.
Chase County girls 37, Herington 33
Herington 10 6 4 13 — 33
Chase County 6 12 6 13 — 37
Herington — Makovec 13, Brockmeier 12, Babbett 4, Berndt 2, Jensen 2.
Chase County — Grockett 2, Wells 3, Watts 13, Scott 10, Shull 2, Cahoone 7.
Council Grove girls 30, West Franklin 13
Council Grove’s defense held West Franklin to single digits in every quarter to take home fifth place at the Flint Hills Shootout.
Darrah Miller led the Braves with eight points.
Council Grove girls 30, West Franklin 13
Council Grove 6 7 7 10 — 30
West Franklin 2 6 2 3 — 13
Council Grove — Miller 8, Siegle 7, Bowen 2, Carl 2, Morgan 5, Irons 6.
West Franklin — Griffin 4, Greer 4, Sleichter 5.
Lyndon girls 38, Mission Valley 13
Lyndon took fifth place with defense, holding Mission Valley to five points or less in every quarter.
Rachel Bronson led the Tigers with 12 points and Malori Gales added nine.
Lyndon girls 38, Mission Valley 13
Lyndon 6 13 10 9 — 38
Mission Valley 5 2 4 2 — 13
Lyndon — Wigger 2, Dalrymple 2, Bitts 5, Gales 9, Fine 5, Bronson 12, Burkett 3.
Mission Valley — T. Pletcher 3, Floyd 4, Rush 4, VanCleave 2.