The Class C-2 tournament features two unbeaten teams and tipped off at 2 p.m. at Lincoln Southwest.
Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:00 pm
Thursday's Class C-2 tournament results:
Perkins County 69, Elkhorn Valley 60: Trailing by eight points midway through the third quarter Thursday, Sara Wilson took control in protecting Perkins County’s perfect season.
The junior scored 12 of her game-high 27 points in a 21-2 run — senior Carlie Sis had the other nine — as the top-ranked Plainsmen rallied past the 10th-ranked Falcons in a Class C-2 first-round game at Lincoln Southwest.
“Sara poses a lot of trouble,” said Perkins County coach Chris Mestl, whose Plainsmen reached the title game last year. “Tonight, the outside shot wasn’t there for her, but she’s a pretty good driver to the basket.
“We knew if we could get into their posts with some more fouls, that would be key.”
Wilson drew the fourth foul on Katie Rich, Elkhorn Valley’s 19-points-per-game scorer, late in the third quarter. Wilson tied the game from the free-throw line, and when Rich fouled out two minutes later, the Plainsmen (22-0) had already built a lead of nine points.
Sis scored 19 points and added seven rebounds, and Debra Johnson was key with 15 points and eight assists for the Plainsmen.
Chelsea Herbolsheimer had 18 points and Rich added 12 for Elkhorn Valley. The Falcons (20-5) opened the game with a 10-0 lead.
—Todd Henrichs
West Point CC 69, East Butler 67: As a free-throw shooter, Shelby Randel describes herself as only “average.”
But of late, she had done better in practice, so when Thursday’s Class C-2 first-round state tournament game came down to her last-second attempts, the West Point Central Catholic junior had no qualms telling teammates where they would soon be headed for dinner.
“Olive Garden,” Randel said.
Relaxed by the long wait while officials sorted out whether the foul occurred prior to the buzzer, and then two full timeouts called by East Butler, Randel calmly sank both free throws with 0.2 seconds left to give the four-time champion Bluejays a thrilling 69-67 win at Lincoln Southwest.
“I wasn’t thinking too much about it,” she said. “I just wanted to take my time. A deep breathe.
“I’ve never had that chance before, so it’s nice to do it at state.”
The free throws capped a rally that saw fifth-ranked Central Catholic overcome an 11-point third-quarter deficit. East Butler, ranked No. 8, still led by three after Sarah Janak’s three-pointer with 1:33 left, but three ensuing turnovers and a late miss from the free-throw line gave the Bluejays a chance.
“We had the ball and we had the lead, but we didn’t convert,” said East Butler coach Gerry Reinsch. “And defensively, we gave up too many easy baskets the second half.”
Before halftime, East Butler looked like the class of the field, scoring 43 points on a Central Catholic team that came in allowing fewer than 42 a game. Janak scored 17, Marissa Bongers added 14 and Cassie Zitek finished with 10 for the Tigers (21-3).
Nicole Stieren led Central Catholic (21-3) with 25 points. The Bluejays were outrebounded 35-31, but Randel’s offensive rebound turned out to be the difference in the game.
—Todd Henrichs
Cambridge 56, Grand Island CC 40: Despite losing its point guard, second-ranked Cambridge battled through a sluggish first quarter to stay unbeaten with the victory at Lincoln Southwest. Traci Keyser scored 22 points and the Trojans clamped down defensively on the fifth-ranked Crusaders to claim a relatively easy win.
“Going into halftime, we had gained some confidence,” said Cambridge coach Andy Long, who turned to Frankie Petersen and Cody Long as ballhandlers.
“I thought the kids showed a lot of heart to battle like they did,” he added.
There was no definitive word on the severity of the injury to Bailey Soucie, but it was certainly another bad break for the junior, who has already faced two knee surgeries in a span of 24 months.
Long said she tweaked the knee in last week’s overtime win against Ravenna in the district final, a victory, however, that further boosted the Trojans’ confidence heading for state.
Cambridge (23-0) responded by going 20-for-23 from the free-throw line against the Crusaders, taking control with a 15-4 run early in the second half.
Alicia Statler scored 15 points and Tali Fredrickson chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds for Central Catholic (18-8).
Sutton 59, Elmwood-Murdock 54: The third-ranked Fillies overcame an 11-point deficit early in the second half and drilled their free throws down the stretch to hold off No. 7 Elmwood-Murdock in Thursday’s finale at Lincoln Southwest.
Sutton (22-1) went 16-for-23 from the line in the fourth quarter, with freshman Jamie Van Kirk hitting 7 of 8 clutch attempts. Van Kirk finished with 19 points, 17 of them coming in the second half.
“Elmwood-Murdock is a great defensive team, so it goes back to being more aggressive with the basketball,” said Sutton coach Andy Gerlecz. “We’re pretty fortunate that we’ve got some pretty good free-throw shooters.”
Courtney Spongberg added 15 points and Logan Rath had 14 for the Fillies. Rath was also key defensively in working to slow the Knights’ Megan Bober and Sierra Ronhovde inside.
Combined, Bober and Ronhovde produced 37 points on 16-of-23 shooting, but the Knights couldn’t net much outside. And from the free-throw line, Elmwood-Murdock (18-5) was a disappointing 9-of-20, a crucial factor as the Knights struggled to protect what once was a 29-18 lead.