By Brent Maycock – KSHSAA Covered
GREAT BEND — From 1-8 to start the season to one game away from playing for a state championship.
What a journey it has been for Northern Valley.
Down to seven players after four-year starter Mary Baird suffered a knee injury at midseason, the Huskies proved that their low numbers certainly didn’t mean they were out-manned in Thursday’s semifinal. Northern Valley started strong, finished stronger and knocked off No. 1 seed South Haven 49-42 in Thursday’s Class 1A Division II state quarterfinals at Barton Community College.
Now 13-11 on the season, Northern Valley will get a chance to pull off an even greater upset than it did on Thursday. In Friday’s 4 p.m. state semifinal, the Huskies take on defending champion Hanover (21-4), which raced past Bucklin 57-43 on Thursday.
“Honestly, just being this far is more than any of these kids or most of our community can believe,” Northern Valley coach Dean Lewis said. “These girls have been so receptive to new ideas and different ways of doing the game that even when we were struggling to finish game, they were trying so hard to do what we were trying to do.”
Northern Valley had no trouble finishing off its upset of South Haven.
After getting out to a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Huskies saw South Haven methodically whittle away at the deficit, outscoring them 25-13 in the middle two quarters to take a 32-30 lead into the fourth period. The Cardinals then got a 3-pointer from Kelly Theurer to start the fourth period to push the lead to five.
But the resiliency Northern Valley has shown throughout the season took over.
The Huskies answered with a 9-0 run capped by an Austyn Cox 3-pointer that gave them the lead for good. South Haven closed to 43-42 on another 3-pointer by Theurer with 1:33 left and had a chance to take the lead when Northern Valley turned it over on its next possession.
But the Huskies forced a turnover of their own and a lay-up by Audrey Bina pushed the lead back to three with a minute to play. Northern Valley committed two turnovers in the next 20 seconds, but South Haven couldn’t cash in on tying 3-point tries and four free throws by Austyn Cox and Braxton Cox sealed the win.
“The fourth quarter was about us knowing how to play all 32 minutes of the game,” Lewis said. “When you are fighting to get to .500, every night is a four-quarter battle. These kids believe in their ability to keep pushing on even when they get tired. It is hard for some of these teams to give that effort and we just wear them down. It is such a tribute to how important all seven of our kids are that we trust all of them in big moments of games.”
Austyn Cox finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Huskies while Bina added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Northern Valley went 14 of 16 at the free throw line, including 9 of 10 in the second half.
South Haven, which finished 21-3, was led by Theurer’s 15 points.
HANOVER 57, BUCKLIN 43 – Gracie Bruna had shown flashes of being an offensive spark off the bench for Hanover this season.
But nothing like what the freshman unleashed on Bucklin in Thursday’s state quarterfinal. Having hit double figures just twice this season, Bruna nearly got there in the first quarter when she hit a trio of 3-pointers in the final two minutes, including back-to-back ones that broke an 8-all tie.
When it was all said and done, Bruna finished 5 of 5 beyond the arc, 6 of 6 from the field overall and scored a game-high 18 points to send defending champion Hanover back to the state semifinals for the third straight year and seventh time in the last eight seasons.
Bruna’s late first-quarter surge propelled Hanover to a 17-11 lead by the end of the quarter and the Wildcats expanded it to 27-16 by halftime. Her hot hand beyond the arc carried over to her Wildcat teammates as Hanover finished the game with a season-high 11 3-pointers made and season-best 45.8% accuracy after shooting 29% from deep for the season.
Anna Jueneman cashed in on three of her own 3-pointers on her way to 14 poitns while Tessa Lohse made a pair. Katelyn Klipp countered with 12 points inside on 6-of-7 shooting.
Bucklin, meanwhile, went just 5 of 22 from deep and ever could really cut into Hanover’s 11-point halftime lead.
LEBO 56, MARAIS DES CYGNES VALLEY 29 – Whatever concerns there might have been about facing Lyon County League rival Marais des Cygnes Valley in the state quarterfinals, Lebo erased them quickly. Very quickly.
Audrey Peek and Siara Crouch hit consecutive 3-pointers on Lebo’s first two possession and 30-seconds into the game, the Wolves led 6-0. Had they not scored again the rest of the half, the Wolves still would have led.
But Lebo kept on scoring and MdCV didn’t. The Trojans didn’t get on the board until Akyra Trave’s jumper midway through the period and didn’t score again until Traver made a layup with 10 seconds left in the half. In holding the Trojans to just two first-half field goals, Lebo held led 25-4 at halftime.
The Wolves then blitzed the Trojans with a 20-5 third quarter to lead 45-9 going into the fourth, cruising into the state semifinals for the second straight year. Lebo (22-2) will take on Wallace County (21-3) in Friday’s 8 p.m. semifinal after the Wildcats got past Beloit-St. John’s in Thursday’s nightcap.
Peek finished with 15 points to lead the Wolves, who got at least 5 points from five players and scoring from 10 of the 12 who played. The Wolves held MdCV to just 14 shots attempts in the first half and 25 for the game and forced 22 turnovers.
Traver did score 14 for the Trojans, who finished the season 14-10.
WALLACE COUNTY 58, BELOIT-ST. JOHN’S 44 – Wallace County couldn’t buy a bucket in the first half of its quarterfinal with Beloit-St. John’s, going a paltry 5 of 22 overall and 0 of 5 from 3-point range.
The second half, the Wildcats could barely miss.
After scoring just 14 first-half points to trail 20-14 at halftime, Wallace County roared to life in the second half, outscoring the Blujays 44-24 to pull away for the victory. The Wildcats (21-3) advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012 and will take on last year’s runner-up, Lebo (22-2), which throttled Marais des Cygnes Valley.
Wallace County’s first-half scoring woes linger into the second half as the Wildcat missed their first three shots of the third quarter. But once Jyma Stafford hit a 3-pointer a minute into the half, things turned around.
The Wildcats quickly ate away at Beloit-St. John’s lead and finally took a 31-29 lead on a Makenna Gibbs layup with 1:24 left in the quarter. After the Blujays tied it, Jaelyn Daily scored with four seconds left to give Wallace County a 34-32 lead at the end of the period and after ties at 34, 39 and 41 in the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer by Jersi Benisch set Wallace County on a 17-3 run to close the game.
Four Wildcats finished in double figures led by 14 points and 15 rebounds from Aubree Richardson. Daily and Stafford each scored 12 and Benisch added 11.
CLASS 1A DIVISION II GIRLS STATE QUARTERFINAL BOXSCORES
NORTHERN VALLEY 49, SOUTH HAVEN 42
Northern Valley … 17 … 5 … 8 … 19 … — … 49
South Haven … 7 … 11 … 14 … 10 … — … 42
Northern Valley (13-11) – Sides 2-8 0-0 6, J. Cox 1-5 2-4 4, Bina 4-8 4-4 12, A. Cox 5-16 6-6 17, B. Cox 2-7 2-2 8, Gebhard 1-2 0-0 2, Schemper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 14-16 49.
South Haven (21-3) – K. Theurer 6-13 0-0 15, Heater 2-6 0-0 5, J. Theurer 0-3 0-0 0, Pond 4-9 0-0 8, Helsel 2-5 5-6 9, Callison 1-1 0-0 2, Strickland 0-1 0-0 0, Bacon 1-3 1-5 3, Colwell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 6-12 42.
3-point goals – Northern Valley 5-17 (Sides 2-5, B. Cox 2-6, A. Cox 1-6); South Haven 4-13 (K. Theurer 3-5, Heater 1-3, J. Theurer 0-3, Strickland 0-1, Colwell 0-1). Rebounds – Northern Valley 37 (A. Cox 11), South Haven 24 (Helsel 7). Assists – Northern Valley 11 (A. Cox 3), South Haven 7 (K. Theurer 2, Callison 2). Turnovers – Northern Valley 23, South Haven 18. Total fouls – Northern Valley 11, South Haven 18. Fouled out – none.
HANOVER 57, BUCKLIN 43
Hanover … 17 … 10 … 14 … 16 … — … 57
Bucklin … 11 … 5 … 16 … 11 … — … 43
Hanover (21-4) – Lohse 2-10 0-0 6, D. Bruna 1-3 20-6 4, A. Jueneman 4-11 3-4 14, K. Schotte 1-5 00-0 3, Klipp 6-7 0-1 12, Cohorst 0-0 0-0 0, G. Bruna 6-6 1-2 18, Scheele 0-0 0-0 0, L. Jueneman 0-0 0-0 0, S. Schotte 0-0 0-0 0, Schlabach 0-1 0-2 0, Zarybnicky 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 6-15 57.
Bucklin (20-4) – B. Evans 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 1-5 0-0 3, Bowman 1-3 1-1 3, K. Evans 6-10 0-3 14, Kirk 5-11 3-4 15, Stimpert 0-0 0-0 0, Hayes 0-0 0-0 0, Stout 1-5 0-0 2, Scott 2-3 0-1 4, Pena 0-0 0-0 0, McClure 0-0 0-0 0, Stein 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-39 4-9 43.
3-point goals – Hanover 11-24 (G. Bruna 5-5, A. Jueneman 3-6, Lohse 2-9, K. Schotte 1-4); Bucklin 5-22 (K. Evans 2-4, Kirk 2-7, Jones 1-5, Bowman 0-1, Stout 0-4f, Scott 0-1). Rebounds – Hanover 29 (D. Bruna 7), Bucklin 22 (Jones 5). Assists – Hanover 16 (Lohse 3, A. Jueneman 3, G. Bruna 3), Bucklin 11 (Kirk 4). Turnovers – Hanover 13, Bucklin 17. Total fouls – Hanover 14, Bucklin 17. Fouled out – Bucklin: Stout.
LEBO 56, MARAIS DES CYGNES VALLEY 29
Marais des Cygnes Valley … 2 … 2 … 5 … 20 … — … 29
Lebo … 13 … 12 … 20 … 11 … — … 56
Marais des Cygnes Valley (14-10) – Reed 0-3 0-2 0, Cormode 0-2 0-0 0, Lacey 3-10 0-0 6, Traver 6-16 0-4 14, Bethell 1-2 0-0 3, Rose 0-2 0-0 0, Masenthin 0-0 0-0 0, Gellhaus 1-1 0-0 2, DeCavele 1-2 0-0 2, Stahl 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 12-39 2-8 29.
Lebo (22-2) – Au. Peek 6-12 0-1 15, Ott 1-2 0-2 2, Jones 2-3 0-0 5, Crouch 3-8 0-0 8, Hadley 3-9 1-2 7, Marsh 1-4 2-2 5, Vannocker 0-1 0-0 0, Al. Peek 0-2 0-0 0, Barnhardt 1-6 0-0 3, Konrade 2-2 1-2 6, Potter 2-2 0-0 4, Grimmett 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 21-55 5-11 56.
3-point goals – MdCV 3-10 (Traver 2-8, Bethell 1-2); Lebo 9-26 (Peek 3-6, ). Rebounds – MdCV 32 (Lacey 7), Lebo 36 (Barnhardt 5). Assists – MdCV 4 (Traver 3), Lebo 13 (Crouch 3). Turnovers – MdCV 22, Lebo 12. Total fouls – MdCV 15, Lebo 11. Fouled out – none.
WALLACE COUNTY 58, BELOIT-ST. JOHN’S 44
Beloit-St. John’s … 9 … 11 … 12 … 12 … — … 44
Wallace County … 6 … 8 … 20 … 24 … — … 58
Beloit-St. John’s (16-6) – A. Brummer 3-11 0-0 6, C. Brummer 2-11 4-6 10, J. Gengler 4-10 2-8 12, L. Gengler 4-6 1-2 10, A. Gengler 1-3 4-4 6, K. Gengler 0-1 0-0 0, Niewald 0-0 0-0 0, Tighe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 11-20 44.
Wallace County (21-3) – Daily 6-15 0-2 12, Jy. Stafford 5-12 1-1 12, Benisch 3-5 4-4 11, A. Richardson 5-14 4-4 14, Ja. Stafford 1-6 2-2 4, Carman 0-3 0-0 0, K. Richardson 0-1 0-0 0, Gibbs 2-3 1-1 5, Ita 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 12-14 58.
3-point goals – Beloit-St. John’s 5-9 (C. Brummer 2-5, J. Gengler 2-3, L. Gengler 1-1); Wallace County 2-13 (Jy. Stafford 1-6, Beisch 1-2, Daily 0-2, Ja. Stafford 0-1, Carman 0-1, Ita 0-1). Rebounds – Beloit-St. John’s 34 (C. Brummer 9), Wallace County 36 (A. Richardson 15). Assists – Beloit-St. John’s 12 (C. Brummer 4), Wallace County 11 (Benisch 3, Ja. Stafford 3). Turnovers – Beloit-St. John’s 26, Wallace County 16. Total fouls – Beloit-St. John’s 15, Wallace County 22. Fouled out – Beloit-St. John’s L. Gengler.
