Class D-1: Bancroft-Rosalie, Pope John to meet in finals
Friday's Class D-1 tournament results:
Pope John 55, Humphrey 42: For every bit of the first half Friday, second-ranked Pope John and No. 4 Humphrey lived up to the billing that goes along with a top-five matchup in the state tournament.
It took the Crusaders (25-2) all of about four minutes of the second half to turn things into a mismatch.
Pope John sophomore Kasi Stoltz scored 16 points and Jackie Seier added 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Crusaders to a 55-42 win against the Bulldogs (20-4) in the Class D-1 semifinals at Pershing Center.
“We needed to be not so out of control,” Stoltz said. “We weren’t playing very well, but we knew it was just a matter of time until we started clicking.”
Paige Frauendorfer scored seven of her team-high 13 points and Leann Osten five of her 12 as Humphrey traded blows with the Crusaders throughout the first half.
In the first half, the game was tied three times and the teams traded the lead on 11 occasions.
But things were about to change dramatically.
“The third quarter we just couldn’t get the ball rolling. Our shot selection was a little poor and we got drilled inside,” Humphrey coach Blake Anderson said. “They stepped it up and came out on a run. One team had to do it to kind of break it open and they were the team.”
As Humphrey went ice-cold from the field, Pope John took control.
The Bulldogs went scoreless for more than eight minutes, hit just 3 of 19 shots in the third quarter en route to an 8-of-40 performance in the second half and 14-for-61 overall.
Meanwhile, Stoltz and Seier were getting cranked up for the Crusaders.
Seier scored six points to push what had been a 20-19 Crusader lead to a 28-19 margin at the midpoint of the third period. Stoltz then erupted for 10 points in the fourth quarter and Pope John connected on 9 of 13 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
“We knew weren’t playing well in the first half,” Seier said. “We decided we were going to leave everything on the court. That’s what we did.”
Pope John finished the game 20-of-29 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs hit 13 of 18 tries from the line.
--Gene Cotter
Bancroft-Rosalie 75, Arapahoe 36: This time there would be no comeback
Then again, one wasn’t needed.
A day after top-ranked Bancroft-Rosalie needed a big, second-half rally to overcome a 17- point deficit against Lawrence-Nelson, Panther senior Megan Stansberry came out firing Friday. She connected five times from beyond the three-point arc and had 19 of her 21 points in the first half to spark Bancroft-Rosalie (26-0) to a 75-36 win against No. 8 Arapahoe.
“It was a huge wake-up call,” Stansberry said of the Panthers’ lackluster first half in their first- round win. “Our big focus was on defense. We knew we could get the offense going if we were getting it done on the defensive end.”
The Panthers held the Warriors (20-7) scoreless in the third quarter and for a span of 10:37 over two halves while rolling on a 27-0 run that put the game well out of reach.
Morgan Knuppel and Kalene Anderson each scored 12 points for Bancroft-Rosalie. Cheryl Braithwait led Arapahoe with 15 points.
The Warriors finished 12-of-46 from the floor, with 24 turnovers. The Panthers were 31-of-61, with 13 miscues.
--Gene Cotter
Pope John 55, Humphrey 42: For every bit of the first half Friday, second-ranked Pope John and No. 4 Humphrey lived up to the billing that goes along with a top-five matchup in the state tournament.
It took the Crusaders (25-2) all of about four minutes of the second half to turn things into a mismatch.
Pope John sophomore Kasi Stoltz scored 16 points and Jackie Seier added 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Crusaders to a 55-42 win against the Bulldogs (20-4) in the Class D-1 semifinals at Pershing Center.
“We needed to be not so out of control,” Stoltz said. “We weren’t playing very well, but we knew it was just a matter of time until we started clicking.”
Paige Frauendorfer scored seven of her team-high 13 points and Leann Osten five of her 12 as Humphrey traded blows with the Crusaders throughout the first half.
In the first half, the game was tied three times and the teams traded the lead on 11 occasions.
But things were about to change dramatically.
“The third quarter we just couldn’t get the ball rolling. Our shot selection was a little poor and we got drilled inside,” Humphrey coach Blake Anderson said. “They stepped it up and came out on a run. One team had to do it to kind of break it open and they were the team.”
As Humphrey went ice-cold from the field, Pope John took control.
The Bulldogs went scoreless for more than eight minutes, hit just 3 of 19 shots in the third quarter en route to an 8-of-40 performance in the second half and 14-for-61 overall.
Meanwhile, Stoltz and Seier were getting cranked up for the Crusaders.
Seier scored six points to push what had been a 20-19 Crusader lead to a 28-19 margin at the midpoint of the third period. Stoltz then erupted for 10 points in the fourth quarter and Pope John connected on 9 of 13 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
“We knew weren’t playing well in the first half,” Seier said. “We decided we were going to leave everything on the court. That’s what we did.”
Pope John finished the game 20-of-29 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs hit 13 of 18 tries from the line.
--Gene Cotter
Bancroft-Rosalie 75, Arapahoe 36: This time there would be no comeback
Then again, one wasn’t needed.
A day after top-ranked Bancroft-Rosalie needed a big, second-half rally to overcome a 17- point deficit against Lawrence-Nelson, Panther senior Megan Stansberry came out firing Friday. She connected five times from beyond the three-point arc and had 19 of her 21 points in the first half to spark Bancroft-Rosalie (26-0) to a 75-36 win against No. 8 Arapahoe.
“It was a huge wake-up call,” Stansberry said of the Panthers’ lackluster first half in their first- round win. “Our big focus was on defense. We knew we could get the offense going if we were getting it done on the defensive end.”
The Panthers held the Warriors (20-7) scoreless in the third quarter and for a span of 10:37 over two halves while rolling on a 27-0 run that put the game well out of reach.
Morgan Knuppel and Kalene Anderson each scored 12 points for Bancroft-Rosalie. Cheryl Braithwait led Arapahoe with 15 points.
The Warriors finished 12-of-46 from the floor, with 24 turnovers. The Panthers were 31-of-61, with 13 miscues.
--Gene Cotter
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