BY TAYLOR ELDRIDGE

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9:49 p.m. — Dooley makes both and Hillsboro misses desperation three-pointer. Garden Plain advances to the Class 3A state semifinals with a 55-47 victory.

9:47 p.m. — Pauly makes the first, misses the second to extend lead to 53-47. Hillsboro throws it away on the other end. Bad turnover there. Hoheisel misses a lay-up on offensive end; Hillsboro rebounds. Hillsboro’s Dakota Kaufman travels when dribbling down court. Dooley fouled again. Looks like GP has this wrapped up.

9:45 p.m. — Hillsboro makes both free throws. Foul Ann Pauly with 42 seconds left. She will be shooting 1-and-1 with 42.4 seconds left and GP up 52-47. Hillsboro timeout.

9:44 p.m. — Garden Plain runs off 21 seconds and Camille Hubert goes to the line for 1-and-1 with 1:01 left. She makes the first, but misses the second and Sam Ledy fouls a Hillsboro player to put them on the line for two shots with 58 seconds. Garden Plain up 52-45.

9:44 p.m. — Nicole Dooley drains both free throw’s for a 51-43 lead. Hillsboro works it around and gets a basket to cut it to 51-45 with 1:22 left.

9:42 p.m. — Jordan Hoheisel comes up with a huge follow offensive put-back and the Owls come up with another defensive stop on the other end and are going to the foul line after this timeout. Garden Plain will be shooting 1-and-1 with a 49-43 lead with 1:43 remaining. Garden Plain just keeps finding ways to keep its head above water.

9:39 p.m. — Two huge misses from Hillsboro at the free throw line. That’s costly every time you come up empty from the charity stripe. Owls’ take nearly a minute off the clock and end with Samantha Ledy getting fouled in the post. She makes both and gives Garden Plain a 47-41 lead with under three minutes remaining.

9:35 p.m. — Garden Plain with the response. I’m impressed. Hillsboro crowd was getting rowdy and the Owls have the poise to recover. Nicole Dooley makes a post move and Ann Pauly just scored on a driver in the lane. GP just gets another stop and has the ball with 4 minutes left and a 45-41 lead.

9:33 p.m. — Hillsboro ties it up – the first time since 0-0 – at 41 points with 5:37 left. The wave of MO is all over on Hillsboro’s side right now.

9:30 p.m. — Hillsboro has it within 41-39 after a 7-2 run to start the third quarter. There’s 6:23 left to play, so plenty of time. Kaufman has 11 points, but just 2 rebounds. Amazing how they’re in it without her having a huge game. Garden Plain is going to have to settle down and start to playing its game.

9:28 p.m. — Ann Pauly hits a HUGE three-pointer to stave off Hillsboro and give the Owls a 39-32 lead going into the fourth quarter. That was important to the team’s spirits. If Hillsboro takes the lead, it could be game over. But GP is doing just enough to bat them away and keep that lead.

9:22 p.m. — Big swing call there. Hillsboro has worked the lead all the way down to 34-28 and just now they stole the ball and Franny Gottsch took it the length of the court and finished, but was called for the charge. If that’s a blocking foul, it’s Hillsboro down four, trying for three. Instead, GP is clinging to a 34-28 lead. Hillsboro has the momentum.

9:00 p.m. — Garden Plain keeps that 34-23 lead heading into halftime. The Owls are shooting 67 percent (14 of 21) and are out-rebounding Hillsboro 16-7. Did not see that coming. Camille Hubert has 11 points already and Sam Ledy has 8 and Jordan Hoheisel adds 7. Very impressive the defensive work they are doing inside on Hillsboro’s best player, Dakota Kaufman (1-2 FG, 4 points, 0 rebounds, 2 fouls).

8:56 p.m. — Sorry, been twittering and tweeting and even twatting at some points. What you’ve missed since I last updated: not much. Garden Plain still has Hillsboro at arm’s length, holding a 32-23 lead with a minute left in the half.

8:44 p.m. — End of the first quarter and the Owls are up 16-5. Dakota Kaufman’s line: 0-1, 1 turnover, 2 fouls.

8:42 p.m. — Very smooth move by Garden Plain. Ann Pauly throws in the in-bounds pass on the sideline to Samantha Ledy, then races down the court and receives the touch-pass from Ledy back. She drives the rest of the way and leaves it off for Jordan Hoheisel for a lay-up. She’s hammered and makes two free throws. Looked easy. Garden Plain 16-4 with 19.4 seconds left.

8:38 p.m. — If you like air balls, travels and hundreds of jump balls a game, then you sure are going to like Class 3A state girls basketball.

8:34 p.m. — Hillsboro scores its first field goal with 3:52 left in the first quarter. Too bad Garden Plain already has 12 points. It’s 12-2 with 3:21 left.

8:32 p.m. — It’s now 10-0 Garden Plain with 4:50 left in the first quarter. The Owls are getting stops on the defensive end and getting penetration on offense. Hillsboro needs to settle down and look for Kaufman inside, which GP doesn’t match up well with.

8:29 p.m. — Garden Plain comes out hot, owners of a 6-0 lead two minutes into the game. Hillsboro looks rattled and coach Nathan Hiebert has to call a timeout to settle the troops. The Owls are playing pretty good defense on Hillsboro’s 6-foot-1 post Dakota Kaufman.

8:17 p.m. — In the final game of the evening we have the Trojans of Hillsboro pitted against the Owls from Garden Plain. On paper, it looks to be quite the excellent match-up. I picked Garden Plain by 3 earlier today, but I’m bumping it up to 8 points. Why? Because I like the Garden Plain student section.

8:06 p.m. — The box from the TMP 57-47 win over Riley:

Riley County (13-11) 11 14 6 16 _ 47

Thomas More Prep (23-1) 12 9 12 24 _ 57

RILEY COUNTY: Thompson 6-12 1-2 18, Underwood 0-0 0-0 0, Nehls 1-4 3-5 5, Starnes 2-3 1-1 5, Rheaume 3-7 5-6 11, Phebus 2-3 2-2 8, Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Godinet 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-30 12-16 47.

THOMAS MORE PREP: S. Ruder 1-2 0-0 2, Jacobs 7-12 5-5 20, H. Ruder 3-9 0-0 8, Schipper 2-7 5-8 11, Stramel 1-7 0-0 2, Lang 0-1 0-0 0, Hoffman 4-6 4-6 14. Totals 18-44 14-19 57.

Three-point shooting_Riley County 7-13 (Thompson 5-9, Phebus 2-3, Rheaume 0-1), Thomas More Prep 7-19 (H. Ruder 2-2, Hoffman 2-3, Schippers 2-7, Jacobs 1-4, Lang 0-1, Stramel 0-2). Rebounds_Riley County 24 (Nehls 9), Thomas More Prep 24 (Hoffman 5).

7:59 p.m. — TMP advances with a 57-47 victory over Riley County. They had to earn it, though. Riley County gave them a run.

7:51 p.m. — The number one seed, Thomas More Prep, is going to move on to the other semifinals. It’s up 53-43 with 57 seconds left over Riley County.

7:27 p.m. — K-State is rocking and so is my pick, TMP. All is good in the world. It’s the Monarchs up 33-29 with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

7:06 p.m. — Jamar Samuels just hit another three, oh wait, wrong game. Even though K-State is up 51-26 at halftime, I have managed to look up at the scoreboard before writing this to tell you Riley County is leading the #1 seed in the tournament, Thomas More Prep, 25-21 at halftime.

6:56 p.m. — Hoffman hits her first shot – a three-pointer – and gives TMP a 12-11 lead after the first quarter. Boo ya. Gotta love this story.

6:52 p.m. — And there it is. With 2:13 left in the first quarter, in goes Kaylee Hoffman of TMP. Knee brace and all. Huge lift for TMP, I think. But Riley County leads 8-6.

6:48 p.m. — First four minutes of a game with only one foul. I like it. TMP up 2-1 over Riley County right now. But I am more fascinated with A) The K-State game and B) The fact that the entire RC student section has a pair of blue gloves on. It’s mesmerizing.

6:41 p.m. — Our next quarterfinal girls match-up is Thomas More Prep and Riley County, the 1-8 game. Now this game got a lot more interesting because TMP’s best player, Kaylee Hoffman, was thought to be lost for the tournament to a knee injury. And plus, any time Riley County is an 8-seed, it’s going to be dangerous with its state tournament history. But as the game’s starters are introduced, Hoffman is wearing a knee brace and looks somewhat mobile during warm-up’s. She’s not starting and I don’t know if she’ll play, but having her suit up and warm-up has to be a confidence-booster for TMP. This might be an upset-waiting-to-happen, but TMP is the overall top seed and I think they’ll roll in this game.

6:28 p.m. — Here’s the box score from Marion’s 49-44 victory:

Marion (19-5) 11 14 9 15 _ 49

Beloit (18-6) 8 11 8 17 _ 44

MARION: Lundy 0-3 0-3 0, Zeiner 5-11 7-8 17, Hett 5-10 2-4 12, Herrey 1-4 2-3 5, Steinborn 3-6 0-0 6, Cady 1-3 0-0 2, Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Gordon 3-4 0-0 7, Carlson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-41 11-18 49.

BELOIT: Pahls 4-14 4-7 12, Brown 3-8 2-2 9, Shamburg 1-13 0-0 2, Kruse 1-9 4-6 6, Engelbert 6-9 0-1 12, Tyson 0-0 0-0 0, Porter 0-2 3-4 3, Mealiff 0-2 0-0 0.

Three-point shooting_Marion 2-13 (Gordon 1-2, Herrey 1-3, Cady 0-1, Zeiner 0-1, Steinborn 0-1, Hett 0-2, Lundy 0-3), Beloit 1-13 (Brown 1-2, Kruse 0-4, Shamburg 0-7). Rebounds_Marion 38 (Zeiner, Hett 8), Beloit 37 (Pahls 9).

6:16 p.m. — Beloit actually made it interesting late in the game by cutting it to 3 points with 1.7 seconds left, but Marion’s Julia Zeiner is too clutch at the free throw line. She makes two and puts the finishing touches on Marion’s 49-44 victory. They will advance to play Jefferson County North in tomorrow night’s semifinals at 3:00 p.m.

6:13 p.m. — Love that the Marion student section started up their end-of-game winning chant (the Florida State tomahawk) and the Beloit student section joins in. Made me laugh. Macho Man & Co. are going to win this one.

6:08 p.m. — The Warriors are coming up in the clutch with some free throws. They just made two more and Beloit had its three-pointer tipped and Marion is fouled again. Looking like Macho Man Randy Savage is going to move on to the state semifinals. It’s Marion 47-40 with 30 seconds left.

6:05 p.m. — Marion doing an excellent job of running clock. Julia Zeiner just got two offensive rebounds to extend the possession and she was eventually fouled. She made  both and Marion holds a 44-38 lead with 1:41 remaining in the game.

6:02 p.m. — This is turning into a good back-and-forth game. But it’s not good for Beloit because it’s trading baskets too much. Whenever they cut the lead to three points, Marion always scores on the other end to push it back out. It’s Marion 42-37 with 3:23 left in the fourth quarter.

5:54 p.m. — Gut check time for Marion. Beloit has all the momentum right now by scoring four straight points and cutting the lead to three points in the first minute of the third quarter. Randy “Macho Man” Savage throws a fistful of Slim Jim’s on the court, which is a signal for a timeout. Good call. Good momentum-saver. We’ll see if Marion can stop the bleeding again. 34-31 lead with 6:44 left.

5:52 p.m. — Marion was able to protect its lead without Zeiner in the last two minutes of the quarter. I feel that was a huge miss for Beloit to not take advantage. Marion takes a 34-27 lead into the fourth quarter and it’s hard to see the Warriors losing this game.

5:46 p.m. — Oh wow. Marion’s 6-foot-2 post Whitney Gordon just drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key. Beloit was giving it to her, but if she can knock that down, then she’s a very dangerous. Zeiner also just picked up her third foul with 2:05 left. Marion up 32-25.

5:43 p.m. — Julia Zeiner is a heck of a player. I would have loved to see her match up with Frontenac’s Emily Barto. They’re very comparable players, I think. Zeiner just stopped the bleeding for Marion with a basket and has deflected two passes in a row. Marion leads 27-24 with 3:36 left.

5:40 p.m. — Beloit scores the first two buckets of the second half and have cut the Marion lead to 25-23 with 5:26 left. This is getting exciting.

5:31 p.m. — Marion takes a 25-19 lead into halftime and I’m beginning to feel sleepy. Two, unrelated things, but both relevant to me. Here’s the halftime stats:

Marion: 12-27 FG, 1-8 3PT, 0-0 FT, 21 rebounds, 6 turnovers, 6 steals. Lindsay Hett 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals; Julia Zeiner 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists; Kristen Steinborn 6 points; Kayley Herrey 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals.

Beloit: 6-24 FG, 1-5 3PT, 6-9 FT, 15 rebounds, 7 turnovers, 3 steals. Bailey Brown 5 points, 2 rebounds; Kalli Kruse 5 points; Emily Pahls 4 points, 3 rebounds; Shanae Porter 3 points; Cami Engelbert 2 points.

5:19 p.m. — Beloit having technical difficulties scoring the ball. It seems to be air balling too many shots. That might be the problem. They haven’t scored since 5:38 in the second quarter and the 3-plus-minute drought has given Marion the opportunity to crack open a 23-12 lead with 1:55 left.

5:13 p.m. — I think if Marion breaks 50 points this game, the whole crowd should get free Slim Jim’s, courtesy of Marion coach Randy Savage. The Warriors are up right now 19-12 with 3:47 left in the second quarter. Julia Zeiner and Lindsay Hett have 6 points each.

5:07 p.m. — It’s pretty evenly matched here so far, although I think Marion has a bit more talent spread out among its line-up. The Warriors lead Beloit 11-8 after the first quarter. I really like Julia Zeiner and Lindsay Hett. Very smart, savvy basketball players.

4:56 p.m. — Marion has the luxury of bringing 6-foot-2 Whitney Gordon in off the bench. Now that’s a pretty nice luxury to have. It’s Marion 2-0 two minutes in.

4:47 p.m. — BREAKING NEWS: Marion coach Randy Savage has come out of the Marion locker room dressed like this. I don’t know how you don’t favor the Warriors in this game. That’s gotta be pretty intimidating to look at.

4:42 p.m. — Our next quarterfinal game pits the three and six seed, even though Beloit and Marion both have identical 18-5 records. If you didn’t read my preview of this game, scroll down this post at the beginning and you can find it there. Marion is battle-tested, the opposite of JeffCoNo pretty much. Julia Zeiner and Lindsay Hett will be crucial for the Warriors. Beloit will have to find an answer inside for 5-11 Zeiner.

4:35 p.m. — Just from looking at the box, you can see Frontenac played well enough on defense to win this game. Jordan Kramer of JCN scored 20 points, yes, but she took 18 shots and 10 free throws to get there. JeffCoNo shot just 31 percent for the game, but the difference was when Frontenac had the ball. Barto had to be more involved. She only took 11 of her team’s 40 shots. That’s not near enough. Meanwhile, the rest of the team combined for 8 of 29 shooting and 25 turnovers. Not good.

Color me an Emily Barto fan though. In fact, I think I might have just watch two all-state players in that last game. And how do you I know that? Because I’m picking them :evil laugh:

4:33 p.m. — Here’s the box score from JeffCoNo’s 57-39 victory over Frontenac.

Frontenac (17-7) 12 11 2 14 _ 39

Jefferson County North (23-1) 7 19 14 17 _ 57

FRONTENAC: Winden 1-6 0-0 2, Barto 5-11 0-0 13, Gorham 0-0 2-2 2, Warrick 2-2 2-2 7, Cicero 3-7 3-6 9, Seward 0-1 0-0 0, Bonner 0-1 0-0 0, Brynds 0-1 0-2 0, Long 1-9 1-2 3, McBride 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 13-40 8-14 39.

JEFFERSON NORTH: Kramer 5-18 8-10 20, Brickell 2-4 4-4 10, Grand Pre 2-10 0-0 4, Navinskey 2-10 2-7 7, Noll 5-14 0-1 10, Kern 3-5 0-2 6, Funk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 14-24 57.

Three-point shooting_Frontenac 5-13 (Barto 3-5, Warrick 1-1, McBridge 1-2, Seward 0-1, Winden 0-1, Cicero 0-1, Long 0-2), Jefferson North 5-20 (Brickell 2-4, Kramer 2-10, Navinskey 1-5, Noll 0-1). Rebounds_Frontenac 38 (Barto 12), Jefferson North 38 (Noll 10).

4:26 p.m. — Bracketheads, advance the Irish of Jefferson County North in your brackets. JeffCoNo just wrapped up a 57-39 victory over Frontenac in the Class 3A girls quarterfinals and will advance to tomorrow night’s semifinals at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the Beloit-Marion game. Back shortly with stats.

4:19 p.m. — Barto continues to carry her team, but Frontenac dug itself too big of a hole in the third quarter. Barto just hit her third three and has 13 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Nicely done. Meanwhile, everyone not named Barto is turning the ball over for the Raiders and JeffCoNo leads 52-36 and is running clock with a minute remaining.

4:09 p.m. — Frontenac just scored a field goal with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter. It was its first field goal since the first half. Yup, the Raiders went a whole quarter without scoring a field goal. Barto just hit a corner three and the lead is down to 45-30 with under 6 minutes remaining in the game.

4:07 p.m. — I forgot to include my supporting evidence. The rest of the team is shooting 4 of 20 (20%) and has 20 turnovers. Meanwhile, Barto has 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. It’s JeffCoNo 43-25 with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter.

4:05 p.m. — There’s just not enough talent surrounding Emily Barto for Frontenac to keep up. Frankly, I don’t think she has taken enough shots. She has taken 7 of her team’s 27 shots. That number needs to be closer to 50-60% for this team to compete with the big dogs like JeffCoNo. Right now, that’s the difference, as the Irish are pulling away 40-25 after three quarters.

3:58 p.m. — JeffCoNo about to break this game open. Kramer just got free in transition and got off a clean look for a three, but Barto had a hand in her face on the way down. She still stuck it for a 33-24 lead with 3:43 left in the 3rd quarter. Frontenac timeout. Gotta get some points quick to stay in this game.

3:56 p.m. — Interesting call here from Frontenac. They have Emily Barto chasing JeffCoNo’s leading scorer, Jordan Kramer, around in a box-and-one defense. We’ll see if JCN’s supporting cast can respond to the challenge. It’s JCN 30-24 with 4:10 left.

3:53 p.m. — The second half starts with enough air balls to satisfy anybody’s sick appetite of bad shooting. Throw in some traveling calls, and we got ourselves quite the ugly first two minutes. Play should clean up here soon. JeffCoNo is up 28-23 with 4:58 left.

3:44 p.m. — Halftime stats for The Irish and Raider Nation, which features JeffCoNo leading Fronetnac 26-23.

JeffCoNo: 9-32 (28%) FG, 2-9 (22%) 3PT, 6-13 (46%) FT, 17 rebounds, 4 turnovers, 8 steals. Jordan Kramer 3-12 FG, 5-7 FT, 12 points, 3 rebounds; Mallory Grand Pre 2-8 FG, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 4 steals; Anna Kern 4 points, 3 rebounds.

Frontenac: 8-19 (42%) FG, 3-7 (43%) 3PT, 4-6 (67%) FT, 23 rebounds, 15 turnovers. Emily Barto 7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists; Libby Warrick 7 points, 2 rebounds; Amanda Cicero 4 points.

3:39 p.m. — I like what Barto brings to the table. She’s 5-10, but she brings the ball up the court for Frontenac. She has some nice handles, can post up when needed in the blocks and has a smooth jumper that she just proved by draining one before halftime. She has 7 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Not a bad stat line at all. Just read up on her a bit, and she’s an all-state player in volleyball and softball, too. Wow, she’s just a complete athlete. She’s undecided, as far as I know, what college she will attend next year.

3:35 p.m. — JeffCoNo has been holding a steady two-possession lead now for most of the second quarter. There hasn’t been too much exciting going on, or any humorous observations I’ve seen, so not much to update. The score is JCN 24, Frontenac 21 with 1:13 remaining in the half. The Irish are out to play this second quarter.

3:25 p.m. — Well that lead was short-lived for Frontenac. JeffCoNo’s best player, Jordan Kramer (a 20-point scorer), just swirled in a three-pointer and finished a lay-up in transition and was fouled to complete the old-fashioned three-point play. That’s 6 points in less than a minute and now JCN leads 13-12 with 6:17 left in the second quarter.

3:22 p.m. — After one quarter, it’s the 7-seed, Raider Nation of Frontenac, leading 12-7 over JeffCoNo. JCN is just 3 of 12 from the field right now. Barto has 5 points for the Raiders and right now, they’re in control of this game.

3:16 p.m. — Frontenac has #23 Jennifer Long listed as standing 5-foot-5. This furthers my belief that high school rosters are only a rough estimate of a person’s height and the school is only liable of getting within four inches of actual height. Well, Frontenac might have broken that rule because Long is not taller than 5-foot. I can almost guarantee it. Meanwhile, on the court, Raider Nation just hit back-to-back three’s and has a 12-4 lead with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

3:12 p.m. — JeffCoNo has come out in zone and doesn’t look to be paying any particular special attention to Barto. She’s only shot once, but she’s opening up shots for teammates. Neither team has come out on fire from the floor and it’s been a pretty clean game, so far. We’re already four minutes in and Raider Nation leads 4-2.

3:05 p.m. — To try to preface this game, I don’t think there is any way I can. Jefferson County North is the great unknown. They haven’t played a team that played in the sub-state finals, so it’s impossible to know if they are really that good or just feasting on an easy schedule. But right now during the national anthem, they all held hands and swayed them in perfect synchronization. That psyched me out. I’m worried if I’m Frontenac, which by the way, is essentially a one-woman team with senior Emily Barto (she’s really good).

2:58 p.m. — To update you on the students sections, we have The Luck Of The Irish (JCN) and Raider Nation (FHS).

2:52 p.m. — Since I know how much fun it would be to ride along with me on my trip up to Hutchinson, I will try to give you guys the next best thing – a quick photo recap of the trip. It started out with a bang, left my mouth watering, and when I knew I was in Hutch, I knew I was close to the basketball mecca of Class 3A basketball.

2:45 p.m. — We’re 15 minutes away from game time here in the opening game of the Class 3A girls quarterfinals. It’s the two-seed Jefferson County North against seven-seed Frontenac and it’s a nice clash of colors. Frontenac, apparently, are Raider black, which is funny because its nickname is the Raiders. Probably a coincidence. Meanwhile, Jefferson County North (not South) are Irish green. So we’re celebrating St. Patty’s day early here in Hutchinson. Let me gather myself real quick and I’ll be back here soon.

Before we get started today in Hutchinson with the Class 3A girls quarterfinals, let’s break down the match-up’s. We have three local teams in Garden Plain, Marion and Hillsboro, but I’ll preview each game, so you have a better idea of what to expect.

Remember, I’ll be updating constantly on this blog. So feel free to follow this throughout the day. It should be your first stop if you want Class 3A girls information. I’ll update every now and then on Twitter and I’ll link to it on here, but go ahead and follow me there @teldridge24.

Click the jump for the previews:3 p.m. Game: #2 Jefferson County North (22-1) vs. #7 Frontenac (17-6)

It’s literally impossible to attempt to gauge where Jefferson County North stacks up with the rest of Class 3A. I checked their schedule and they did not play a single state-qualifying team or a team that even got close to qualifying. How much did the easy schedule play a part in JCN’s 22-1 record? Are they really that good? What I do know is that sophomore Jordan Kramer, who is averaging 20 points. Two others in Kate Brickell and Mallory Grand Pre average in double-figures. So how does that stack up against Frontenac? Well, the Raiders can counter with a high-scorer with Emily Barto. She is a career 1,000-point scorer and she has put this team on her back and carried them to the state tournament. One person can’t get it done when it comes to this time of the year. Although I literally have no clue what to expect from JCN, it’s my pick. The pick: Jefferson County North 64-48

4:45 p.m. Game: #3 Beloit (18-5) vs. #6 Marion (18-5)

Marion has played 13 teams that were at least in the sub-state finals, with seven of them advancing to the state tournament. So pretty much, they are the anti-Jefferson County North. They have plenty of experience and punch with Julia Zeiner and Lindsay Hett, who combine to score over 30 points a game. Marion sets up favorably for a deep run in this tournament, as it puts out a traditional line-up and has all the necessary pieces to make a run. Beloit, on the other hand, wasn’t even expecting to get back to Hutchinson. After losing four starters from last year’s state-qualifiers, Beloit didn’t know how the team would respond this year. There’s no main scorer for Beloit. It’s another team that gets it done with all five on the court, and doesn’t live or die by one player. But I like the star power and punch Marion packs, so I’m picking the Warriors. Also, Marion’s coach’s name is Randy Savage. Yes, Randy Savage. The Pick: Marion 62-54

6:30 p.m. Game: #1 Thomas More Prep (22-1) vs. #8 Riley County (13-10)

Not sure TMP liked its draw when it saw it was playing Riley County, a staple of the state tournament. The Falcons have been to Hutch 10 of the past 15 years now. After a 6-10 start to the season, Riley County are now winners of its last seven games. They always play their best basketball when it counts. You know they are going to play solid defense, but the question will be can they score enough to pull off the upset? Thomas More Prep liked its chances with Kaylee Hoffman, but she is out with a knee injury. How much will that affect TMP? Playing without its best player makes TMP susceptible to an upset, but the Monarchs knocked off the No. 1 overall team in 3A in Southwestern Heights in sub-state without her. I think they’ll survive and advance, but it’ll be close. The Pick: Thomas More Prep 44, Riley County 40

8:15 p.m. Game: #4 Garden Plain (18-5) vs. #5 Hillsboro (18-5)

I think this should be a thrilling night-cap that will pit two pretty evenly-matched teams. Garden Plain is a pretty young team, but it matured quickly last week and grew up in a hurry in knocking off one of the title favorites in Collegiate. So how far can the Owls go now? Ann Pauley is a good scorer and I like the team’s depth and how they play within their roles. Hillsboro is another nice team that relies a little more heavily on one player – 6-foot-1 senior Dakota Kaufman. This team has been to state three of the last four years, so Kaufman is familiar to the stage. But to pull off the upset – Garden Plain won 41-37 back in December – Hillsboro has to have other contributions. I think Garden Plain is the more well-rounded team and will win a squeaker. The Pick: Garden Plain 47-44