Class B: South Sioux City, Elkhorn, Alliance, Pius X advance

 1 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By the Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday's Class B tournament results:

South Sioux City 65, Gretna 55, OT: Autumn Boyer and McKayla Knudson proved during overtime Thursday why they have been South Sioux City’s offensive leaders.

[+]Enlarge

South Sioux City's Autumn Boyer drives around Gretna's Kaylee Barber during first-round Class B action. (Tim Hynds / Sioux City Journal)

South Sioux City's Autumn Boyer drives around Gretna's Kaylee Barber during first-round Class B action. (Tim Hynds / Sioux City Journal)

Both asserted themselves to help the top-ranked Cardinals escape with a 65-55 victory against unranked Gretna in the first round of the Class B state tournament at the Devaney Sports Center.

“The confidence Autumn had at the end came from hitting last-second winning shots earlier this year,” said South Sioux City coach Kelly Flynn. “McKayla started getting strong with the ball. And defensively, we did a great job of switching.”

South Sioux City (22-1) raced to a 14-3 lead, with four Gretna starters picking two fouls apiece in the first quarter. But the Dragons settled in and cut the deficit to 26-23 at halftime, counting on three-pointers from Heidi Blum and Kelsey Rogers to set the pace.

Gretna took its first lead of the game at 38-37 on a drive by Carissa Gregory, then stretched the lead to 46-40 with 4:04 left in regulation.

The Cardinals tied the game on a drive by Boyer, who then gave them the lead when she completed a three-point play with 23 seconds left in regulation.

Gregory was fouled with two seconds left, but was hurt and had to leave the game. Hanna Blum, who had injured her knee a few weeks ago, came in and hit the first throw. She missed the second, sending the game to overtime.

Boyer scored six of her 25 points in the overtime period.

“Hanna is a great player and to come back takes a lot of courage,” Flynn said. “I think it worked out perfectly for her to get one. She would have felt really bad if she had missed both and our team would have felt really bad if she’d made both of them.”

—Ryly Jane Hambleton

Elkhorn 41, Seward 36: Elkhorn shut down Seward’s inside game, and the Bluejays couldn’t get their outside game jump-started in the first round of the Class B state tournament on Thursday.

The No. 7 Antlers rallied from a 16-12 halftime deficit with some aggressive play and ousted third-ranked Seward 41-36.

Elkhorn went on a 10-0 run late in the third quarter into early in the fourth to take its first lead since the opening point of the game.

Tara Roach gave the Antlers a 23-22 lead with a three-point play to start the final period. She scored again before Seward ended a seven-minute scoring drought when Alyssa Kamphaus hit a free throw.

Kamphaus found Emily Cade and Mallory Suhr for back-to-back baskets to cut Elkhorn’s lead to 31-30 with 2:17 to play. But Nikki Haget and Brittney Lynch each hit two free throws and Roach drove for a basket to put Elkhorn back in control.

“We take rebounding seriously and treat it as an extension of our defense,” said Elkhorn coach Jennifer Wragge, whose team outrebounded the taller Seward squad 38-24. “We knew they’d hit some big threes, but we decided we weren’t let them going to beat us inside.”

Seward struggled with its outside shooting, hitting just 4 of 21 shots from three-point range.

“What had been a real potent inside-outside game all year just didn’t get going outside,” said Seward coach Tom Tvrdy. “You have to give credit to Elkhorn. They sold out and sagged in and gave us wide-open shots. We just didn’t have anybody step up and hit them.”

—Ryly Jane Hambleton

Alliance 45, Beatrice 38: A 12-minute field-goal drought didn’t faze defending champion Alliance.

The Bulldogs counted on some timely free throws and Jordan Hooper’s domination on the boards to rally for the victory against Beatrice at the Devaney Sports Center.

“It seemed like it was a game of runs. Luckily we made the run at the end,” said Alliance coach Nate Lanik. “Last year, we couldn’t miss a free throw and this year, we couldn’t make a shot. Give credit to the girls for fighting and playing good defense, because if you miss 19 straight shots, you probably shouldn’t be in the game.”

Hooper had an inauspicious start, grabbing just one rebound in the first quarter. But she more than made amends, finishing the night with 21 rebounds, with 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

“She wasn’t scoring much, but she took over in the end going for rebounds and limiting their second chances,” Lanik said.

Beatrice took a 33-32 lead when Cassie Parks made a free throw with 5:41 left in the game. Alliance’s Brooke Peters, Lindsey Briggs and Hooper each scored to give Alliance a lead before the Lady Orange tied the game on a three-pointer by Daleigh Fossler and a basket by Courtney Wallman, both fed by Rylee Bruhn.

But the Bulldogs made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to end Beatrice’s upset hopes.

Lincoln Pius X 58, Holdrege 53: Bill Rice is a little fuzzy about how his Lincoln Pius X team made their move in the third quarter.

The fourth-ranked Thunderbolts used some solid passing and defense in the period to send a message to Holdrege in the first round of the girls Class B state tournament, and then held off the No. 5 Dusters for a 58-53 victory Thursday at the Pershing Center.

“That third quarter is kind of a blur. I don’t really remember how we got that run,” said Rice. “I think we just needed to settle down a little bit and get better execution.”

Lindsey Determan fed Mollie Lacy for a basket, Natalie Braun made a pair of free throws, Alex Grant scored on an assist from Lacy and Determan finished the run off an assist from Jordan Searcey to give the Thunderbolts a 39-31 lead.

Determan said Pius learned from its district final loss to Beatrice.

“Beatrice really flustered us and we didn’t know how to handle it,” said Determan. “It was the first time all season that happened to us. I think that helped us prepare for this game.”

Holdrege cut the deficit to 49-47 when Ashley Dailey hit a three-pointer with 3:42 left. Tara Grosserode made three free throws and Lacy scored to boost the Pius lead. Tabitha Kreutzer completed a three-point play for the Dusters and her twin, Tessa, made a free throw, but Lacy and Grosserode each made free throws and, after Tessa Kreutzer’s two free shots, Grant sealed the game with two free throws.

Lacy finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Determan had 13 points. Grosserode, a 5-foot-4 junior, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, five of them on the offensive end.

“When Tara Grosserode went in, it sped the game up,” said Rice. “It helped out with the ball handling and getting the ball up court. I think we got some open looks because we were able to get some break opportunities.

“She’s pretty fast and she’s our best offensive rebounder.”

The Thunderbolts had a 36-25 rebounding edge over Holdrege (21-3).

“When we lost to Beatrice, the girls were devastated,” said Rice. “We brought them in and reminded them that winning districts isn’t the primary goal. Winning state is the primary goal. They did a great job of getting refocused.”

—Ryly Jane Hambleton