By Rick Peterson Jr. – KSHSAA Covered
COLBY – No stranger to lock-down performances, the Frankfort girls turned in a defensive masterpiece down the stretch of Friday’s Class 1A Division I semifinal with South Gray.
The Wildcats held the Rebels to just eight points in the second half and generated enough offense late to pull away for a 47-31 win at the Colby Event Center.
Frankfort closed the game on a 22-4 run that started the midway through the third quarter, reaching the state championship for the first time since 1981. The Wildcats (22-3) will go for their first title in program history in Saturday’s 6:15 p.m. title game against 25-0 Little River.
“We have played (better defense), but maybe not against a caliber of team like this,” Frankfort coach Brian Ebert said. “We hang our hat on defense. From Day 1, I preach defense. I don’t care how good you are offensively, if you can’t play defense, you’re probably not going to play much. I think the girls buy into that.
“You can see that we’ve got some grit and we’ve got some hard-nosed girls that get down and play defense.”
That was evident down the stretch on Friday. Frankfort led 29-27 at the end of the third quarter before outscoring a potent South Gray squad 18-4 in the fourth.
“Early on, we missed a lot of bunnies at the rim and weren’t finishing stong, kind of fading away instead of going into the contact and creating contact,” Ebert said. “We were able to create a little bit of a gap there.”
Hattie Gros scored a game-high 18 points and helped the Wildcats gain separation in the fourth while Breleigh Ebert and Emma Hardwick each had eight. Ashlyn Dalinghaus came up a with a big 3 in the fourth to help Frankfort seal it.
“I thought (Gros) really rose up at the end,” Brian Ebert said. “First half, I thought Breleigh really carried us. She had a great first half for us.
“(Dalinghaus’ 3) really kind of sparked us. She had been struggling shooting the ball of late. She took it without any fear and nailed it.”
South Gray was dealt a big blow when starter Allie Reed fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Vi Helm and Kylie Stapleton each scored 10 for South Gray, which went 13 of 38 from the floor.
The Wildcats will now take a shot at ending Little River’s bid for a perfect season. The title game appearance in 1981 was Frankfort’s only other trip to the state final.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Ebert said. “They’ve been wanting this since last year (semifinal loss to Quinter). I’m very proud that they’re giving themselves an opportunity.”
LITTLE RIVER 50, CENTRALIA 42 — The Little River girls were ready for a reset by the time the fourth quarter rolled around in Friday’s semifinal with Centralia.
Little River made it to the fourth with a two-point lead, but the pace had slowed considerably after Centralia went 10 of 12 at the foul line in the third frame, taking advantage of the bonus.
“It didn’t seem like we could get out of the quarter,” Little River coach Cy Rolfs said. “We’re used to more up-tempo and pressing.”
But Little River (25-0) found a little bit of breathing room to start the fourth quarter, courtesy of standout senior guard Alaina Eck.
Eck came up with a steal for a transition lay-up and traditional 3-point play to start an 8-0 run to begin the fourth. Little River kept Centralia at arm’s length the rest of the way to keep their perfect season in tact.
“That play was really pivotal,” Rolfs said “The way (Eck) finished the game in general, making free throws down the stretch, it speaks to what a leader she’s been.”
Eck finished with 20 points while sophomore Arika Feldman added 15.
Centralia star Oen Deters matched Eck for game-high honors for a hard-earned 20 points, going 5 of 19 from the field and 8 of 12 from the line. She picked up her fourth foul late in the third quarter but avoided fouling out until the final moments when Little River had it sealed.
“We just tried to keep people fresh on her,” Rolfs said. “It’s tough. She really knows how to score in a variety of ways. We just kept close to her. I felt like we played her as good as we could. We knew she was going to get points.”
Deters cut the deficit to four after a hitting 3-pointer with 1:30 left. Centralia had a chance to get closer with about a minute left but Little River forced a turnover with a 5-second call and proceeded to put the game away with free throws.
Little River will be making its seventh appearance in the state final, looking for the program’s first championship since 1998. Many players on the team helped Little River claim its second straight volleyball championship last fall.
“They’re very excited to be there,” Rolfs said. “They know the work they’ve put in to get to this point. We’ll just do what we do and be who we are.”
Centralia will meet South Gray in the third-place game at 2 p.m. Saturday.
CLASS 1A DIVISION I GIRLS SEMIFINAL BOX SCORES
LITTLE RIVER 50, CENTRALIA 42
Centralia … 6 … 16 … 12 … 8 … – … 42
Little River … 13 … 15 … 8 … 14 … – … 50
Centralia (22-3) – H. Kramer 3-8 3-4 9, T. Kramer 1-6 3-4 6, Deters 5-19 8-12 20, Thompson 0-0 0-2 0, Gibbs 0-2 6-6 6, Kuckelman 0-0 0-0 0, I. Haverkamp 0-1 0-0 0, Rempe 0-1 0-0 0, J. Haverkamp 0-7 1-2 1. Totals 9-44 21-28 42.
Little River (25-0) – Stephenson 0-0 0-0 0, Eck 4-14 12-16 20, A. Olander 2-5 2-4 6, H. Olander 2-4 1-2 4, Feldman 6-10 2-2 15, Strecker 1-2 0-0 2, Raleigh 0- 0-0 0, Ellwood 0-2 1-2 1, Lafferty 1-1 0-0 2, Look 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 18-26 50.
3-point goals – Centralia 3-14 (Deters 2-6, T. Kramer 1-2, H. Kramer 0-2, Rempe 0-1, Haverkamp 0-3). Little River 2-5 (Feldman 2-5, Raleigh 0-2, Ellwood 0-1). Rebounds – Centralia 31 (Haverkamp 5), Little River 34 (Lafferty 3). Assists – Centralia 1 (Kramer), Little River 2 (Eck). Turnovers – Centralia 12, Little River 11. Total fouls – Centralia 20, Little River 20. Fouled out – Kramer, Deters.
FRANKFORT 47, SOUTH GRAY 31
Frankfort … 12 … 11 … 6 … 18 … – .. 47
South Gray … 13 … 10 … 4 … 4 … – … 31
Frankfort (22-3) – S. Wapp 4-5 2-2 10, Ebert 3-7 1-2 8, Hardwick 2-6 4-6 8, Gros 6-7 5-5 18, Ale. Dalinghaus 0-1 0-0 0, Loiseau 0-0 0-0 0, Ash. Dalinghaus 1-5 0-0 3, M. Wapp 0-0 0-0 0, Stowell 0-0 0-0 0, Shirley 0-0 0-0 0, Parthemer 0-0 0-0 0, Combs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-41 12-15 47.
South Gray (23-2) – Deges 2-5 0-0 5, Helm 4-10 1-2 10, Stapleton 4-9 0-0 10, Huelskamp 1-2 0-0 2, Reed 2-5 0-0 4, Jantz 0-2 0-0 0, Zweygardt 0-0 0-0 0, Meirs 0-4 0-0 0, Cervantes 0-1 0-0 0, Foskuhl 0-0 0-0 0, Simmons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-38 1-2 31.
3-pointers – Frankfort 4-10 (Ebert 2-2, Ash. Dalinghaus 1-2, Gros 1-6, ). South Gray 4-16 (Stapleton 2-6 , Helm 1-3, Deges 1-4, Reed 0-1, Jantz 0-1, Meairs 0-1). Rebounds – Frankfort 31 (Ebert 7), South Gray 20 (Stapleton 5). Assists – Frankfort 6 (Hardwick 3), South Gray 2 (Deges, Huelskamp). Turnovers – Frankfort 10, South Gray 10. Fouled out – Reed.
