By Bad Hallier – KSHSAA Covered Contributor
HUTCHINSON – The last two years, Brady Brumbaugh has supported the Goodland girls basketball team at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Brumbaugh, a junior for the Goodland boys basketball team, watched the Cowgirls win back-to-back Class 3A championships. As he watched, he hoped he would get a chance to win one, too.
Goodland will get that opportunity on Saturday.
Goodland continued its string of strong postseason performances on Friday, as the Cowboys dominated the middle two quarters and eliminated Southeast of Saline 55-38. It was the first postseason win for Goodland that was decided by fewer than 22 points.
“Watching the girls win back-to-back state championships was crazy,” said Brumbaugh, a 6-foot, 5-inch forward who had a game-high 22 points. “They came here and won two, and we wanted to come here for our fans and for ourselves. We worked hard, we worked so hard, in the offseason to show we can do it.”
It was the third straight year Southeast of Saline has lost in the semifinals. But for Goodland, the Cowboys will have the chance to win the team’s first state championship since 1959. The third-seeded Cowboys will take on fourth-seeded Wellsville in the 4 p.m. championship game.
While Goodland hasn’t been a regular at the state tournament – this is the team’s first state-tournament appearance since 1995 – the Cowboys have rapidly morphed into a contender.
“We’ve been on an upper trend,” Goodland coach Mike Doll said. “We’ve seen the girls’ success and we want to get to that point where we can do that. The guys have worked hard to get to where we’re at now.”
Goodland used a stifling defense in beating the Trojans. The Cowboys trailed 13-11 after one quarter, but then outscored Southeast of Saline 35-16 in the middle quarters.
Goodland finished with 12 steals out of 21 Southeast of Saline turnovers, and the Cowboys turned those turnovers into 22 points.
“Our defense kept us in it,” Doll said “Then we knocked down enough shots to get going.”
Goodland opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run, highlighted by a two-handed transition dunk from Linkon Cure, and a Brumbaugh 3-pointer, which helped Goodland lead 26-17 at halftime.
But the Cowboys weren’t content. After all, they saw what Southeast of Saline had done this postseason. Despite nine losses this season against a rugged schedule, the Trojans had eliminated Hesston, which had won three straight 3A championships, and also edged second-seed Cheney 54-51 in Wednesday’s first round.
“They’re young and made some great strides this year,” Doll said about Southeast of Saline. “It’s a great program. They have great guard play that we knew was going to be tough to stop.”
Goodland continued to dominate in the third quarter, increasing their lead to 46-29.
From there, it was a mere formality that Goodland would get a chance for its second state championship.
“We’ve had a goal since the beginning of the year, so the job isn’t done yet,” Doll said.
Brumbaugh added eight rebounds, while Cure had a strong game with 12 points, six rebounds, six steals, four assists and four blocked shots.
Owen Bailey led Southeast of Saline with 15 points.
WELLSVILLE KNOCKS OFF NO. 1 SEED BELOIT
Wellsville is on the brink of its third state championship, to go with titles won in 1987 and 1994, after a dominant semifinal performance.
The Eagles shot 52.2%, making 24 of 46 shots. Only in the second quarter did Wellsville shoot under 50%, and still, the Eagles were 6 of 15.
Wellsville enjoyed a big advantage in the rebounding battle, taking 28 to Beloit’s 18. The Eagles’ 12 offensive rebounds turned into 19 second-chance points, compared to six offensive rebounds and eight second-change points for Beloit.
Kenyon Gillins led Wellsville with 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting. William Dorsey added 13 points.
Bryce Beisner led Beloit with 17 points, while Eli Johnson added 15.
CLASS 3A BOYS SEMIFINAL BOXSCORES
GOODLAND 55, SOUTHEAST OF SALINE 38
Goodland … 11 … 15 … 20 … 9 … — … 55
Southeast of Saline … 13 … 4 … 12 … 9 … — … 38
Goodland (22-3) — Cure 4-8 4-7 12 Shinette 1-3 0-0 2, Brumbaugh 7-17 4-4 22, Linton 2-4 0-0 5, Gonzalez 4-10 0-0 8, Mull 0-2 0-0, Thorson 0-1 0-0 0, Linin 3-4 0-0 6, Sederstrom 0-2 0-0 0, Sheldon 0-0 0-0 0, Schlosser 0-0 0-0 0, Saucedo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 8-11 55
Southeast of Saline (15-10) — Leeds 1-3 0-0 0, Jacobson 4-13 0-0 9, Bailey 4-10 4-4 15, Caselman 0-4 1-2 1, D. Kejr 1-7 2-2 5, Calzada 2-6 0-0 4, Gebhardt 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Knopf 0-0 0-0 0, Parry 0-0 0-0 0, Garlin 0-0 0-0 0, I. Kejr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-44 7-8 38
3-point goals — Goodland 5-22 (Brumbaugh 4-10, Linton 1-2,Cure 0-1, Mull 0-1, Thorson 0-1, Sederstrom 0-2, Gonzalez 0-5). Southeast of Saline 5-18 (Bailey 3-7, D. Kejr 1-4, Jacobson 1-5, Leeds 0-1, Calzada 0-1). Rebounds — Goodland 31 (Brumbaugh 8), Southeast of Saline 32 (Bailey 9). Assists — Goodland 11 (Cure 4), Southeast of Saline 6 (Bailey, Gebhardt 2). Turnovers — Goodland 11, Southeast of Saline 21. Total fouls — Goodland 11, Southeast of Saline 11. Fouled out –: None. Technical fouls — Southeast of Saline bench.
WELLSVILLE 68, BELOIT 49
Wellsville … 17 … 15 … 21 … 15 … — … 68
Beloit … 10 … 12 … 19 … 8 … — … 49
Wellsville (22-3) — Douglas 0-3 0-2 0, Winton 4-13 2-2 11, Gillins 7-11 1-2 20, Dwyer 4-6 1-1 10, Dorsey 3-6 5-6 13, Taylor 1-1 0-0 2, Lee 2-2 0-0 4, Holmes 3-4 1-2 8, Stanton 0-0 0-0 0, Newhouse 0-0 0-0 0, Dalton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 10-15 68
Beloit (23-2) — Eilert 1-5 0-2 2, Johnson 6-6 2-2 15, Beisner 8-13 1-2 17, Gerstner 2-9 1-2 7, J. Cheney 2-8 2-2 7, Lundine 0-1 1-2 1, Litton 0-0 0-0 0, Rexroat 0-0 0-0 0, L. Cheney 0-0 0-0 0, Burke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-42 7-12 49
3-point goals — Wellsville 10-21 (Gillins 5-7, Dorsey 2-5, Dwyer 1-2, Holmes 1-2, Winton 1-5). Beloit 4-14 (Gerstner 2-7, Johnson 1-1, J. Cheney 1-1, Beisner 0-1). Rebounds — Wellsville 28 (Winton 7), Beloit 18 (Johnson 6). Assists — Wellsville 11 (Dwyer 5), Beloit 13 (Beisner, J. Cheney 3). Turnovers — Wellsville 12, Beloit 12. Total fouls — Wellsville 16, Beloit 16. Fouled out — None.
