LaSharra Riley’s 12-point, 13-rebound performance led Washburn Rural to today’s Class 6A title game at White Auditorium, as the Junior Blues defeated Shawnee Mission West 55-45 in Friday’s semifinals.
Four of Riley’s 13 boards came at the offensive end. Taylor Zordell also had 12 points for Rural, eight of them coming from the free-throw line. She also had four assists, contributing to the victory despite turning the ball over seven times.
The Junior Blues trailed 12-8 at the end of the first quarter and 25-23 at halftime, but the Centennial League champions finally took control of the game by outscoring West 19-11 in the third quarter. They held West to 26 percent shooting for the game.
Heather Howard had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Vikings, Kaitlin Beeman had 12 points and Brooke Katterhenry had nine points and 11 rebounds.
The Junior Blues (23-1) will play for the State title at 4 p.m. today against Olathe South, while Shawnee Mission West was to take on Wichita Heights in the 10 a.m. consolation game.
Friday at White Auditorium
SM West 12 13 11 9 — 45
Washburn Rural 8 15 19 13 — 55
SM West (19-5) — Howard 13, Stanley 3, Jeronimus 8, Katterhenry 9, Beeman 12.
Washburn Rural (23-1) — Babcock 9, Bordewick 7, Zordel 12, Riley 12, P. Ladenburger 6, Lewis 4, Holmberg 5.
Olathe South girls 60, Wichita Heights 54
Olathe South earned its berth in the State championship game with a monster performance by Natalie Knight, who put up 23 points and corralled 13 rebounds.
Knight’s performance gave South the win despite the combined efforts of Heights’ Kamisha Richard, who had 22 points and nine boards, and Jhasmin Bowen, who had 16 and 13.
Bowen netted a layup with 45 seconds remaining to bring Heights within four points, but Knight made two free throws with 22 seconds left to close the scoring.
Friday at White Auditorium
Olathe South 18 15 15 12 — 60
Wichita Heights 15 16 12 11 — 54
Olathe South (21-3) — Palu 7, Bell 4, Rinehart 11, Johnston 10, Knight 23, Balcom 5.
Wichita Heights (22-2) — Chandler 2, Pope 7, Chisholm 5, Richard 22, Bowen 16, Ivy 2.
Wichita Southeast
boys 80, SM East 63
Joe Mitchell dropped 32 points on Shawnee Mission East, leading Wichita Southeast to today’s 6:30 p.m. State title game, where they’ll take on Wichita Heights.
Mitchell hit 14-of-21 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Cecil Shaw added 15 points for Southeast, which shot 53 percent from the floor and won the rebounding battle 41-31.
Marcus Webb paced the Lancers with 22 points, and Charlie Ludington had 15. East will play in the boys consolation game today at noon against Shawnee Mission Northwest.
Friday at White Auditorium
Wich. Southeast 21 14 22 23 — 80
SM East 16 13 16 18 — 63
Wichita Southeast (20-4) — Mitchell 32, Shaw 15, Rock 4, Randle 2, Dubose 3, Hayden 2, Gary 7, Cobb 9, Duff 6.
SM East (17-7) — Webb 22, Clark 8, Ludington 15, Darling 2, Slaughter 4, Lucas 4, Delgado 8.
Wichita Heights boys 65,
SM Northwest 60
Nineteen points from Dreamius Smith led Wichita Heights to a victory, and Perry Ellis backed Smith with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Austin Bahner added 12 points for Heights, which shot a scorching 59 percent from the field, which allowed them to win despite Northwest shooting 51 percent. A.J. Spencer and Steave Carver each had 17 points for the Cougars, and Ryan Arel had 15.
Friday at White Auditorium
SM Northwest 11 19 11 19 — 60
Wichita Heights 19 13 14 19 — 65
SM Northwest (19-5) — Arel 15, Fruehling 8, Carver 17, Spencer 17, Feighner 3.
Wichita Heights (23-1) — Roberts 6, Wessel 8, Bahner 12, Bland 4, Ellis 13, Smith 19, Moore 3.