*Jeffrey Lutz

I’m feeling a little selfish right now in my glee that I saw so many good basketball games today. I mean, I really should share these games with others, right? Well, I tried through my updates on the blog, but I’m enjoying the fact that this has been an awesome day of basketball in Class 6A at Emporia’s White Auditorium.

I expect tomorrow’s semis will be excellent, too. So let’s talk about today’s games:

Class 6A:

Blue Valley Northwest opened the day with a beating of Dodge City. You know, Dodge City is a very good team, but BV Northwest was hot shooting all game long. It never got cold. Really, an impressive showing.

BV North beat SM South in overtime in an amazing game, especially by SM South’s Will Spradling, who had 34 points.

Heights had a fairly tight first half with Manhattan, but Heights then took care of it in the second half, winning 56-41.

Maize and Leavenworth was such a well-played game, such a battle. Nino Williams came on late for Leavenworth and had a huge block on Maize’s Ryan Schultz with 6 seconds to go. Ryan Schultz played well, though. Maize probably should have won this game, but Leavenworth played a great final 4 minutes.

In 5A, it was the girls today.

Tiffany Bias, fresh off the announcement that she had won the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, led Andover Central to a win over Shawnee Heights.

Bishop Carroll beat Newton.

Bishop Miege beat McPherson. While this was a difference in seeds, I’m not really surprised by this outcome. Miege is a good team. I don’t think it wins another title this year, though.

St. Thomas Aquinas beat Topeka Seaman.

In 4A boys, Sumner beat Topeka Hayden 64-63. Hayden missed a shot at the buzzer for the win.

Ottawa defeated Holton, Coffeyville beat Nickerson and Pratt beat Circle.

While I’ll highlight semifinals tomorrow, how can I not at least mention Pratt and Sumner in the semis. I’d love to see that game.

In 3A girls, Garden Plain beat Hillsboro, Thomas More Prep beat Riley County, Marion beat Beloit and Jefferson North beat Frontenac. I’m happy that Garden Plain won for one reason — I’d hate to see the Owls get that big win over Collegiate and fall flat. So pleased to see that the Owls are in the semis.

In 2A boys, Nemaha Valley beat Spearville. (Thank goodness I went with my gut and picked Colgan in the finals. I originally had Spearville winning it all.)

Colgan beat Olpe, Berean beat Lyndon and Sacred Heart beat Hill City.

In the 1A semifinals, South Gray boys beat Quinter (dang it! I initially picked Hanover winning 1A, then I switched to Quinter).

Hanover beat Baileyville, so South Gray meets Hanover in the championship tomorrow.

In the 1A girls semis, it was South Gray beating St. John and Argonia beating St. Paul. Glad to see Argonia in the finals. It’s not only an area team, but this team has had excellent regular seasons and done little in the postseason.

Good luck to all the teams who will be playing on Friday!

10:53 p.m. — Maize coach Chris Grill came over to me as I was working just now and said thanks for all the coverage. It’s a rare coach who does that.

Leavenworth-Maize box is below. I will add Nino Williams video to the video post.

Williams ended up with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Schultz had 12 points, 8 rebounds.

Leavenworth (17-6) 17 15 8 11 — 51

Maize (17-6) 20 13 9 7 – 49

LEAVENWORTH: Dean 2-2 0-0 4, Wiggins 4-9 3-4 13, Greenberg 6-9 2-3 14, Williams 7-16 3-3 18, Dougherty 0-2 0-0 0, Zeck 1-1 0-0 2, Padgett 0-2 0-0 0, Brundy 0-0 0-0 0, Banach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-41 8-10 51.

MAIZE: Sturgeon 0-5 0-0 0, Langley 5-12 0-0 10, Davis 0-2 4-4 4, Schultz 5-9 2-4 12, Lee 3-10 3-5 10, McCarthy 2-3 0-0 5, Hammack 0-0 2-2 2, Hosman 3-4 0-0 6, Wolgamott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-45 11-15 49.

Three-point shooting _ Leavenworth 3-9 (Williams 1-2, Wiggins 2-5, Greenberg 0-1), Maize 2-9 (McCarthy 1-1, Lee 1-2, Hosman 0-1, Sturgeon 0-2, Langley 0-3). Rebounds_Leavenworth 19 (Williams 5), Maize 33 (Schultz 8).

10:19 p.m. — Leavenworth wins 51-49. Nino Williams blocks a Ryan Schultz shot, sends it into the crowd. It’s Maize ball, 6 seconds to go. Schultz another shot, no good. Tip-in is off, too.

It will be Leavenworth and Heights on Friday night, 8:15 p.m.

This was another great game in a day of great games. So fortunate to be here to watch these games.

10:16 p.m. — Maize has the ball with 1 minute to go. It doesn’t take a shot until about 15 seconds remain, a three from beyond NBA. It’s off, Schultz gets the ball, it’s a jump ball. Now 10.4 seconds to go and Maize still down 51-49 with the ball.

10:05 p.m. — Ryan Schultz basket inside for the lead. Williams answers on the other end. Maize turnover on a carry. 49-48 Leavenworth, 3:34 to go.

Williams has 16, Schultz 12. Williams 4 rebounds, Schultz 9.

10:03 p.m. — Kyle Wiggins steals the ball from Maize after Nino Williams’ three-point play, and Wiggins scores for the 47-46 lead with 4:27 to go. Maize timeout.

10 p.m. — Poor Jeffrey Lutz. His deadline stinks. All these games have come down to the wire, pretty much. Or just run late.

Derek Lee just had a sweet rebound. So strong, and picks up a Leavenworth foul. Maize 46-42 over Leavenworth, 4:52 to go.

And then Nino Williams drives in and makes it and is fouled. 4:38.

9:58 p.m. — Ryan Schultz scores inside on a putback on his own miss. Nino Williams follows with a basket in the lane. 44-42 Maize, 6:35 to go.

9:56 p.m. — Maize is up 42-40 heading into the final period. This game has been tight. Derek Lee leads Maize with 9, Luke Langley and Ryan Schultz each have 8.

Nino Williams has really been a non-factor. Has not played as well as K-State commit Will Spradling did for SM South.

9:46 p.m. — It’s 38-all midway through the third period.

First-half stats — Leavenworth 56.5 percent shooting, Grant Greenberg has 14 points.

Maie, 50 percent shooting, Derek Lee 9 points, Ryan Schultz 8 points. Maize 16-9 on the rebounding.

9:29 p.m. — Maize is up 33-30 with less than a minute to go in the half after a Tyler Hosman basket. Kyle Wiggins brings Leavenworth back to within one.

22 seconds to go, Maize up 33-32. Blake Sturgeon’s three is off. Halftime.

9:22 p.m. –Maize has a 29-24 lead with 3:21 to go. Maize’s Derek Lee had a three-point play moments ago.

9:11 p.m. — a three by Kyle Wiggins of Leavenworth cut the Maize lead to 18-17. But Tyler Hosman scores inside with 7 seconds to go and Maize leads 20-17 after the first quarter.

9:05 — Maize is pumped. Ryan Schultz has screamed about five times. Maize just forced Leavenworth to call timeout after the Pioneers committed two straight turnovers. Maize is now up 17-12 with 2:56 to go in the first.

9:03 p.m. — Maize has a 13-10 lead with 3:45 to go in the first. Derek Lee has five points and Ryan McCarthy has a putback.

8:57 p.m. — Early 2-2 tie for Maize and Leavenworth. Leavenworth has Nino Williams, a K-State commit. Ryan Schultz now has two baskets for Maize, he’s at the free-throw line and misses. 4-2 Maize.

8:50 p.m. — Maize-Leavenworth is about to start.

The Manhattan-Wichita Heights box is below.

Manhattan (12-11) 12 4 8 17 — 41

Wichita Heights (21-2) 14 9 15 18 — 56

MANHATTAN: Nelson 6-14 0-0 13, Brooks 3-8 2-2 11, Francis 1-2 0-0 2, Stitt 1-6 0-0 2, Francis 101 909 2, Wilkinson 0-1 0-0 0, Burton 0-0 0-0 0, Jung 0-0 0-0 0, Perbeck 1-1 0-0 2, Payne 1-2 0-0 3, Kern 3-6 0-1 6, Connet 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 2-3 41.

WICHITA HEIGHTS: Dobbins 2-3 2-2 7, Wessel 3-10 1-1 8, Smith 6-9 2-5 14, Moore 2-5 2-4 6, Ellis 5-8 7-9 17, DeGrafenread 0-1 0-0 0, Countee 0-0 0-0 0, Owens 0-0 0-0 0, Riley 0-1 2-4 2, Cross 0-1 0-0 0, Jefferson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-39 16-25 56.

Three-point shooting _ Manhattan 5-18 (Payne 1-1, Brooks 3-8, Nelson 1-6, Stitt 0-3), Wichita Heights 2-6 (Wessel 1-1, Dobbins 1-2, Smith 0-1, Moore 0-1, Ellis 0-1). Rebounds _ Manhattan 22 (Kern 4), Wichita Heights 31 (Wessel 8).

8:29 p.m. — Heights defeats Manhattan 56-41 and will face the winner of Maize-Leavenworth at 8:15 Friday night.

Maize is taking the floor for warmups.

8:24 p.m. — All new lineup for Heights — Aaron Jefferson, Jay Bradley, Taylor Countee, Jalen Owens, Keith Riley. Manhattan does the same. Ya’ll made the box score. Congrats. A Keepsake!

It’s 52-34, Heights with 1:25 to go. Riley at the line, he hits a free throw.

8:20 p.m. — Manhattan timeout with 2:31 to go in the game. Heights leads 50-34 after a Perry Ellis steal and layup. He’ll be at the line after the timeout.

8:17 p.m. — Heights now leads 46-29 over Manhattan, 4:23 to go in the game.

8:11 p.m. — Manhattan’s three-point shooting ability sure keeps it in games. The Indians just hit a three with Connor Brooks. It’s 41-29 Heights. 6 minutes to go.

8:10 p.m. — Heights leads 38-26 with 7 minutes to go in the fourth. It was 38-24 at the end of the third.

Weird, weird play. Terrence Moore goes to the basket strong on a baseline drive. He’s tied up, is strong on the layup and it goes in. But the ref calls it a jump ball. Isn’t that weird?

8 p.m. — Wessel hits a jumper, Heights up 34-22 with 2:17 to go in the third. Now it’s 36-22 after an Ellis basket in the lane. Manhattan is desperately trying to stop Heights and Ellis in the lane with its zone and doubling or tripling Ellis. He’s awfully strong in the lane, though, and Heights is not slowed by much.

7:58 p.m. — Jeff Lutz thinks Dreamius Smith hurt a finger when it jammed into the ball on a pass. Wessel just made a nice play on a fastbreak after an Ellis rebound.

7:55 p.m. — Wessel misses again. This time Smith there and scores. A.J. Stitt from Manhattan scores on the other end. 28-20 Heights.

7:54 p.m. — Evan Wessel strong to the basket, misses, rebounds, misses, but Ellis is there to tip it in. Heights 26-18, 6:34 to go in the third.

7:45 p.m. — Stats from halftime of Manhattan-Heights:

Manhattan 7-of-20 shooting from the floor (35 percent), 2 of 8 from three (25 percent), 0 of 1 from free throw. Zach Nelson has 7 points, William Kern 6.

Heights 9 of 18 shooting from the floor (50 percent), 2 of 4 from three (50 percent), 3 of 7 from free throw (42.9 percent). Dreamius Smith 8 points, E.J. Dobbins five, Perry Ellis four.

7:41 p.m. — Heights leads 23-16 at the half over Manhattan. Maize coming out to warm up right now.

7:35 p.m. — Heights’ Perry Ellis is surrounded by four Manhattan guys in the lane but still drives to the basket for the shot. Up 19-14, 2:03 to go in the period.

Then Evan Wessel gets wide open at the top of the key and hits a three. 22-14, 1:53 to go in the half.

7:31 p.m. — Manhattan within 16-14 after Kern scores inside. He misses a free throw. 4:46 to go in the first half.

7:27 p.m. — Smith on the baseline drive for the basket, 16-12 in the second quarter.

7:24 p.m. — Heights and Manhattan tied at 12-all with 7 seconds to go. Terrence Moore steals it and scores on fastbreak layup as the buzzer sounds. Are you kidding me?

Interesting game so far. Heights really wants to push it and Manhattan’s possessions are long. For Heights to win, it has to be patient on defense. and not get panicky.

Manhattan’s three-point shooting is key. Zach Nelson leads Manhattan with 7 points, Dobbins has five.

7:20 p.m. — Dreamius Smith drives baseline and makes a sweet spinning basket. He’s fouled. At the line, he misses. 8-8.

7:18 pm. — Jeff Lutz, who’s writing on this game, believes that this one is going the same way the Manhattan games with East and Southeast went — Manhattan gets offensive rebounds, long possessions and hits threes.

Manhattan up 8-4 with 3:32 to go in the first. Now Dobbins scores, 8-6 Manhattan.

7:16: Heights gets first field goal, a three by E. J. Dobbins.

7:14 p.m. — Connor Brooks opens the game with a three-pointer for Manhattan.

Followed by a steal by Zach Nelson and a fastbreak basket for the 5-0 lead.

7:05 p.m. — Check out the SMS-BV North box score below:

BV North (15-8) 18 6 7 20 11 _ 62
SM South (17-6) 11 13 14 13 8 _ 59

BV NORTH: McCarthy 0-2 0-2 0, Lawless 0-1 0-0 0, Ehlers 5-14 2-6 15, McLerran 7-14 5-9 21, Crooker 5-11 2-4 12, Dolan 2-5 7-7 11, Elliott 0-0 0-0 0, Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 1-2 1-2 3, Boehler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 17-30 62.
SM SOUTH: Spradling 11-24 10-15 34, Reid 2-5 0-0 5, Winkler 0-2 0-0 0, Fredrick 2-6 0-0 5, Christie 03 0-0 0, Weber 0-0 0-0 0, Moyer 2-7 0-1 6, Bergner 0-0 0-0 0, Stacker 4-7 1-1 9. Totals 21-54 11-17 59.
Three-point shooting _ BV North 5-15 (Ehlers 3-7, McLerran 2-5, Dolan 0-1, McCarthy 0-2), SM South 6-24 (Moyer 2-6, Spradling 2-8, Fredrick 1-2, Reid 1-4, Winkler 0-2, Christie 0-2). Rebounds _ BV North 36 (Crooker 11), SM South 39 (Stacker 13).

6:44 p.m. — SM South loses to BV North 62-59. Alex Moyer hits a three with 6 seconds to go, then BV North misses two free throws and then Moyer’s half-court shot at the buzzer hits off the front of the rim. Great, great game.

Will the next two live up to it? We’ve got Heights and Manhattan next, then Maize and Leavenworth. I can’t wait for some more good basketball.

6:42 p.m. — I’m going to miss the SM South fans. Up 62-56 with 12 second to go. Moyer hits a three 6 seconds, down by 3, 62-59 with 3.1 seconds to go.

6:38 p.m. — Spradling is obviously tired. He’s been short on three straight shots. BV North leads 58-53, 35 seconds.

6:35 p.m. — BV North leads SM South 56-53 with 1:21 to go in OT.

6:30 p.m. — It’s OT, baby. Great defense by BV North on Spradling. Rayner Fredrick had to take the shot with 2 seconds to go. It was off.

Great, great game.

6:29 p.m. — SM South did it’s cheer, “I believe, I believe that, I believe that we will win…”

Heights fans do the same one. It’s such a joyful cheer.

6:28 p.m. — 15.4 seconds to go, McLerran at the line after an SM South foul after Moyer misses the front end. McLerran makes the first and ties it with the second.

Spradling with the ball, it’s tipped away from him, still SM South ball, timeout with 4.4 seconds to go.

6:26 p.m. — 17.1 seconds to go after McLerran misses a three, SM South has the ball with Alex Moyer at the line for a one-and-one.

6:24 p.m. — After BV North’s Sean McLerran ties the score with a basket inside, Spradling dribbles the length of the floor and scores. Now timeout BV North with 28.1 seconds to go and SM South up 51-49. Spradling has 34.

6:21 p.m. — Kyle Crooker from BV North just missed a wide-open layup, but got his own rebound and made the basket and was fouled. He just missed the free throw. But it’s 49-47 SM South with 1:34 to go. Spradling, who has 32 points, is back at the line.

6:17 p.m. — SM South is up 46-44. BV North turns it on after being down by 11 late in the third.

6:12 p.m. — After a way too long break for ridiculousness, there’s 4:36 to go with SM South up 43-38.

My impressions: Will Spradling is a legit player with the ability to drive, handle the ball as a point guard — passing like one, too — and hits the three and rebounds.

Another impression: John McFall is still a head coach. Well, at least he acts like one. Does it ever leave your blood? He stands nearly as much as his son, the refs keep motioning him back. Funny.

6:08 p.m. — SM South fans singing, ‘Oh baby you, got what I need. And you say he’s just a friend, you say he’s just a friend.’

6:07 p.m. — SM South fans are yelling: Let’s play ball, let’s play ball.

6:06 p.m. — Can we play? That’s McFall to the refs. Another long delay, another long discussion about the official book. Get this game moving! 6:16 to go.

6:04 p.m. — We’ve got some more official book problems, says BV North’s Lawless has five fouls. Stats crew will over-ride this, as well. Then again, they all seem to agree. He’s out.

5:58 p.m. — SM South’s Will Spradling hit a three and now has 21 points. But that three put SM South up 38-29. It’s now 38-31 with the fourth quarter about to start.

Great SM South fans. BV North tries to get SM South to take an early shot to end the quarter, counting down too early. Well, SM South fans overwhelmed them and started calling the right time.

Wait, now there’s 37 points for SM South. This is crazy. A point was taken off the scoreboard. Now they’re fixing it. Brett McFall is over here asking me what the score is and what I have. I told him I was right.

I don’t think he remembered me from when he was a Wichita Eagle All-State player at Olathe South. I’ll remind him later.

5:47 p.m. — SM South’s lead is now 29-24. I like Spradling. He’s so aggressive on the offense and defense and has forced BV North to go into a zone because he drives so well. And teammate Jake Reid makes BV North pay with a three for 32-24 lead, 5:12 to go in third.

5:33 p.m. — SM South and BV North are tied at the half. Stats are below.

BV North: 39.1 percent shooting from the floor, 3 of 6 from three, 3 of 10 from free throw. Weston Ehlers has 12 points.

SM South: 34.6 percent from the floor, 0-9 from three, 6 of 8 from free throw. Will Spradling 13 points.

5:27 p.m. — SM South now leads 24-20 with 1:21 to go in the first half. Spradling has 13 points.

5:21 p.m. — SM South’s Brandon Stacker just had two of the sweetest alley-oop dunks. They were things of beauty. Wish you could have seen it. But trust me, my eyes were smiling.

It’s tied at 20-20.

5:18 p.m. — SM South now trails 18-16 with 5:50 to go in the half. BV North calls a timeout.

5:14 p.m. — BV North leads SM South 18-11 after the first quarter. BV North hit three threes.

5:04 p.m. — BV North is on fire. Up 10-4 with 4:23 to go in the first quarter. Weston Ehlers has scored all but two of their points, hitting a three-pointer, too. Will Spradling has one basket for SMS. Spradling is a K-State signee.

4:55 p.m. — Getting ready for the BV North-SM South boys game.

Quotes from Dodge City coach Dennis Hamilton is below. So is the box score:

On BV Northwest’s 52.8 percent shooting, 47.4 percent from three:

“We didn’t give them much space, but when they got a little separation, they made baskets. That was part of our downfall — as well as they shot it and the way they shot free throws. The two areas right there gave them the separation they needed to win by 20.”

BV Northwest was 22 of 28 from the free-throw line.

On Rico Hogan’s 19 points, including five three-pointers:

“He shot it well, but how many did they have shooting it well? They had more than one. They had three guys shooting it well.”

BV Northwest’s Brett Fisher scored 23, Tyler Brashears had 19 and together they were 7 of 12 from three.

Was it unbelievable how well BV Northwest shot?:

For the whole game. I know — we kept telling them at halftime that it wouldn’t continue. We couldn’t put them at the foul line in hopes they’d miss free throws. But they started the second half where they left off.

“We did make a nice run in the third

BV Northwest (16-7) 16 17 19 17 _ 69
Dodge City (19-4) 9 9 18 13 _ 49

BV NORTHWEST: Brashears 5-10 5-6 19, Smith 1-7 0-0 3, Fisher 5-9 10-11 23, Bugarinovic 2-2 2-3 6, Bond 0-0 0-0 0, Hatchett 1-1 1-2 3, McInerny 1-1 0-0 2, Fugate 0-0 0-0 0, Luebbert 1-1 0-0 3, Hooks 1-3 3-4 5, Miller 0-0 1-2 1, Lang 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 19-36 22-28 69.
DODGE CITY: Hogan 6-16 2-2 19, Hallman 0-3 2-2 2, Head 0-6 0-0 0, Williams 5-14 3-6 13, Morin 2-3 0-3 4, Taylor 1-2 0-0 2, Sotelo 2-2 0-0 6, Esquibel 0-0 0-0 0, Howarth 1-3 0-0 2, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Ridenour 0-1 1-2 1, Middleton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-51 8-15 49.
Three-point shooting _ BV Northwest 9-19 (Brashears 4-6, Fisher 3-5, Luebbert 1-1, Smith 1-5, Hooks 0-2), Dodge City 7-21 (Hogan 5-13, Sotelo 2-2, Head 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Brown 0-1, Williams 0-3). Rebounds _ BV Northwest 32 (Bugarinovic 12), Dodge City 26 (Head 5).

4:32 p.m. — It’s a final. BV Northwest advances, improving to 15-8. Dodge City loses and heads home, losing 69-49. Up next is BV North and SM South.

The SMS student section is huge already. They were packed in at about halftime. I’ll get them on video, which should be fun. They’re taking up the two sides that housed Dodge City and BV Northwest fans. I like it!

4:30 p.m. — 66-47 BVNW with 53 seconds to go.

4:22 p.m. — BV Northwest is up 64-43 with 2:45 to go.

4:19 p.m. — Dodge City’s Landon Head just got called for a foul and then T’ed up.

BV NW up 62-41, 3:47 to go.

4:17 p.m. — BV Northwest is up 58-41. 3:56 to go.

4:10 p.m. — BV Northwest now leads 54-37 with 6:50 to go in the game. BV Northwest has been so patient with the ball. Long possessions are key now for the Huskies.

4:07 p.m. — BV Northwest leads Dodge City, the No. 2 seed, 52-36 heading into the fourth.

4:05 p.m. — Some clock issues here. But the scoreboard is right. 52-34 BV Northwest over Dodge City with 24.2 seconds to go in the third. I’m about to lose my runner-up pick in 6A.

Sigh.

BV Northwest has played nearly flawless.

3:53 p.m. — First it was Tyler Brashears hot from three, now it’s teammate Brett Fisher, who has hit two straight. 39-25 BV Northwest.

3:50 p.m. — Dodge got to within eight points of BV Northwest after a three by Hogan, an alley-oop pass to Terrence Williams and a basket inside by Miles Morin.

But BV Northwest’s Fisher hits another three. It’s 36-24 with 4:35 to go in the third.

3:35 p.m. — BV Northwest cooled off a bit there at the end of the second quarter, but the Huskies still have a 33-18 lead at the break.

Stats are after the jump:

BV Northwest shot 47.4 percent from the field including 6 of 13 from three (46.2 percent). Tyler Brashears was 3 of 4 from three and has 13 points. Rico Hogan leads Dodge City with 13 points, hitting 4 of 9 from the field, 3 of 7 from three-point range.

Dodge as a team shot 26.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three.

Only six total turnovers in that half.

3:28 p.m. — So BV Northwest finally missed a free throw and then the Huskies get a rebound on the miss and Brashears hits again from three. This is getting ridiculous. 6 of their 8 field goals are threes.

BV NW wins this game. Unless the Huskies cool off drastically.

30 second time out, 2:51 to go in the half, BV NW up 31-14. I tell you, anyone can win at anytime if you get hot like this.

3:25 p.m. — When you’re hot, you’re hot. BV Northwest is hot from three. Brashears just hit another NBA three, swishing it, folks. It’s 27-14 BV Northwest. (Hogan hit a three for Dodge.)

3:24 p.m. — Tyler Brashears hit another BV Northwest three, this one from NBA range, for the 24-9 lead and a 12-0 run.

Rico Hogan hits two free throws to end the five minute scoring drought.

3:21 p.m. — After another BV Northwest three, this one by Bradley Luebbert, Dodge coach Dennis Hamilton calls a timeout down 21-9 with 7:08 to go in the half.

By the way, in case you didn’t see my earlier blog post, Andover Central’s Tiffany Bias is Kansas’ Gatorade Player of the Year. And rightfully so. No one in this state is better than her. A definite improvement on last year’s Kansas player of the year — an outstanding player in Taber Spani, but she lived in Missouri and was homeschooled.

3:20 p.m. — BV Northwest has blocked two Dodge City shots that probably should have been called jump balls. They’re getting to the Demons that quick in the shot and playing it well. 8 for 8 on free throws now for 18-9 lead. Another Dodge turnover.

3:15 p.m. — BV Northwest is up 16-9 with less than 30 seconds to go. BV Northwest is playing really well.

That’s the end of the period. BV Northwest has hit all six free throw attempts. Dodge City is committing turnovers and seems to be rushing things offensively and not getting back on defense.

3:11 p.m. — Dodge City is within 8-7 after a three by Rico Hogan. 2:54 to go in the first quarter.

Dodge City has a pretty good contingent. Oh my. There’s a parent standing in the stands, in front of everyone. Just standing. Sir, you can sit. It’s OK.

3:05 p.m. — The game has just gotten started, BVNW has a 3-0 lead two minutes in. I’ve put up videos on a separate post, and I’ll be doing that through the day. If you’re looking for info, comment and I’ll get back to you. Want to chat about your favorite venue at state basketball, let’s chat.

BV Northwest just hit another three, 2 of 2, for the 6-0 lead. Dodge is 0-3 from three.

2:15 p.m. — Honestly, everyone, this blog is the place to be if you’re not here at Emporia’s White Auditorium. I’m going to be blogging every game. I’ll be updating a video post, as well, just as I did on Wednesday.

Blue Valley Northwest fans have already been here 15 minutes. That’s real fans, everyone.

Wow, this BV Northwest kid has some big ‘ol dreads. And I always love the red-and-white striped warm-up pants worn by Dodge City.

Anyway, we’ve got Heights and Maize both playing later tonight in what should be good games.

I’ll be updating this post with videos throughout the day. Some will be interviews, others will be sights and sounds. Enjoy!

Videos of Leavenworth’s Nino Williams, all the student sections from the day — all are below.

Heights’ Dreamius Smith talks after the Falcons’ win over Manhattan

Leavenworth’s Nino Williams

Maize fans during the quarterfinal game with Leavenworth

Leavenworth fans

Manhattan fans during game with Heights

BV North’s Sean McLerran interview after OT win

SM South fans singing.

SM South fans

BV North fans

Dodge City fans

Blue Valley Northwest fans

My favorite fans — George Shaw and Charley Gill

Dodge City’s band

9:40

Miege 62, Mac 47, Final.

Mac just couldn’t get enough to overtake Miege. The night-cap is the upset game this year. No doubt this Miege team is tough though, and the defending champ. Look forward to that semi final tomorrow night. And here’s just a quick look at what the 5A semi finals are for tomorrow.

Boys- No. 1 Bishop Miege v. No. 4 Gardner-Edgerton at 4:45. No.2 McPherson v. No. 6 Topeka West at 8:15.

Girls- No. 1 Andover Central v. No. 4 Bishop Carroll at 3. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas v. No. 6 Bishop Miege 6:30.

9:15

Miege 45, Mac 39 after the third.

Every time Mac makes a couple nice plays in a row, it just can’t get passed Miege. Part of that is Miege’s credit, it’s just beast-like (not in a bad way) on the boards and very balanced. Mac is close though and any time a team is close and is as talented Mac is it’s never done.

I just heard the funniest comment from a fan. A travel was called on Miege and three fans yell at the same time “Call it both ways.” Really? That’s my favorite thing fans say anyway. On offensive calls they yell call it both ways. On defense they want the refs to let them play. And it goes both ways there too. But on a traveling call? Like there is much judgment on traveling. Fouls, OK, I see it, but not on traveling.

9 p.m.

Miege 31, Mac 27 at half.

Some half time stats below.

For McPherson, Casyn Buchman has 11, Katelyn Loecker 6, Tanner Hein 5.

For Miege, Adrianna Maurer has 13 and Shandelyn Stewart has 11.

Miege is shooting 63 percent (12 of 19) while McPherson is shooting 33 percent (10 of 30). Miege has a 17-10 rebounding edge but Mac has 5 offensive boards.

Turnovers are the only reason why Mac is still in it. It’s forced 11 turnovers to just four by the Bull Pups.

8:35

McPherson 14, Miege 14 after the first quarter. Great game here. Casyn Buchman is driving for McPherson while Miege is very strong too. Mac has some second-chance points that are keeping it right there.

8:20

McPherson v. Bishop Miege is getting ready to tip. 

7:55

Aquinas 48, Seaman 32, final.

7:30

Aquinas 32, Seaman 22 after the third quarter. Oh and swim mom, BC’s band is good, I just hate anyone stealing a fight song! I will survive though.

6:35

St. Thomas Aguinas v. Topeka Seaman tipping off shortly. Carroll v. Newton box below.

6:10

Carroll 43, Newton 38 final. Newton had a shot to bring it to one possession with 10 seconds left but Emily Hiebert missed a three.

5:50

Carroll 36, Newton 25 after the third quarter.

5:25

Carroll 26, Newton 14 with 1 minute left in the second quarter and that’s the score at half too.

I started this update for my sheer disappointment in Carroll’s band for playing the Notre Dame fight song. That song is sacred to the Fighting Irish and shouldn’t be played by anyone else. Period.

OK, some half time stats. Newton struggled to keep  ahold of the ball and that’s an understatement. The Railers had 20 first-half turnovers leading to 15 points for BC, and seven in a row to start the game. Sarah Balderas has 9 points off the bench to lead Carroll.

5:05

Carroll 11, Newton 8, after the first quarter.

Andover Central v. Shawnee Heights box below.

Central wins 57-49. Bias made 3 of 4 free throws and stole an in-bound pass for a layup with 41.9 seconds left.

4:20

Central 52, S-Heights 49 with 53.2 left and Central has the ball after a turnover by the T-Birds.

4:15

Central 48, S-Heights 48 2:12 to go. Cami Gee makes 1 of 2 free throws, Central 49-48 then gets a turnover. 1:57 left in fourth. Gee scored Central’s last five points.

4:05

Central 38, S-Heights 34 after the third.

Thought I was going to write Heights in the lead for a minute, but Tennyson makes another three and has 11, a big key with Henry now with 4 fouls and sat all but 1:30 of the third. Henry back out to start the fourth. S-Heights in 1 & 1 already.

Oh, and I saw Carroll girls, they were in the their uniforms not to worry.

3:40

Central 23, S-Heights 21 at half.

Kaitlin Tennyson made a three with 10 seconds to go in the half to give Central the lead back. Downing missed a three to end the half.

Central went on an 11-2 run to lead 20-15. Bias has 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting (3 of 6 from three). It’s pretty balanced for S-Heights: Downing 5, Sheylon Ric 5, Erin Maxwell 6, Kylee Kennedy 4.

Central has 7 turnovers, but forced 13 (9 steals). Hannah Henry has three fouls and had to sit the final three minutes. It’s pretty even statistically other than FG percentage, S-Heights 8 of 18 44.4%, Central 8 of 26 30.8%, but five offensive rebounds helped counter that for Central.

3:20

Andover Central 9, Shawnee Heights 9 after the first quarter.

It amazes me when KU doesn’t give Cole Aldrich any touches on a possession and Central does it with Bias too. It’s like the girls forget to give the ball to her. However, the Jags are pounding it inside, getting some nice offensive rebounds. They are also defending very well.

Bias made her first 3 pt. shot of the game, the first time I’ve seen that from her, and has 6 points. Bias’ pressure on Shawnee Heights’ Cassidy Downing is impressive.

2:50 p.m.

Well, I just broke the news, that was broken here in a blog by Joanna, to Andover Central coach Staina Jefferson that Tiffany Bias won the 2010 Kansas girls Gatorade player of the year. She immediately got a big smile on her face and we talked of how deserving she is.

Central is warming up for its game against Shawnee Heights in 10 minutes.

I also briefly asked Jefferson how much she and the girls had thought about the rematch with Carroll after last year’s sub-state final loss to the Eagles. She made a quick point to let me know that the Jags aren’t overlooking Shawnee Heights, as any great coach would say. She did say that the girls had a long week after that loss and how much fun it would be to get another shot. I agree, that would be  a great game.

Carroll has to get by an improving Newton team that could put a run up at an upset against the Eagles. I think both have very nice post players which should equal out, so it will have to come down to the outside shots. I think Carroll has just a little more fire pire in that area.

Here’s the sked for the rest of the day:

Andover Central v. Shawnee Heights 3 p.m., Carroll v. Newton 4:45, St. Thomas Aquinas v. Topeka Seaman 6:30 and McPherson v. Bishop Miege 8:15. My winners (and remember I went 3 of 4 yesterday with Topeka West’s upset as my miss) are the hot teams: Central (22-0), Carroll (won 13 of 14), Aquinas (won 19 straight), Mac (won nine straight).

Shawnee Heights’ band gets the most origianal music award after playing “Life is a Highway” and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Hey, Central’s band is good too, but it didn’t play “Welcome to the Jungle.” And as soon as I say that, Central rocked the National Anthem.

8:02 p.m.

With just 1:05 left in the game, Derek Banzhaf of Lyndon has tried to keep his team in it. He has 35 points for the game. Berean leads, 66-60. Lyndon’s pressure forced Berean to call a timeout in backcourt with 1 minute left.

7:44 p.m.

Berean Academy was outscored 20-13 in the third quarter, tightening up the game a little. The Warriors still led, 55-47, but Lyndon isn’t going away.

7:18 p.m.

More on Penner and the Berean shooting: The Warriors hit 60 percent (15 of 25) of their first-half shots, including all four three-point attempts — all of which were taken by (guess who) Penner. Individually, he hit 8 of 9 from the field and his lone free throw. Berean, however, is just 8 of 17 from the foul line (47.1 percent).

7:15 p.m.

Halftime has become a “Battle of the Bands” at Bramlage Coliseum. The Berean Academy band played the theme from “Magnum, P.I.” Not to be outdone, the Lyndon band countered with “Danger Zone” from the movie “Top Gun.”

 7:11 p.m.

At the half, Berean Academy leads Lyndon, 42-27. Lonnie Penner only had two points in the second quarter, but he has 21 points in the first half. Derek Banzhaf and Trey Brown have 11 points each to lead Lyndon.

6:51 p.m.

After one quarter, Berean Academy leads Lyndon, 28-17. Lonnie Penner has hit four three-pointers and had 19 points in the quarter. Trey Brown has two three-pointers and 10 points for Lyndon.

6:30 p.m.

Berean Academy and Lyndon are ready to tip off. Will another high seed fall? The higher seed lost in the first two games of the day. Lyndon wins the tip.

6:12 p.m.

Colgan shot 59.5 percent for the game and held Olpe to 38.5 shooting (15 of 39, but 1-13 from three-point range). The Panthers shot a blistering 68.4 percent (13 of 19) in the second half. Olpe’s Bradley Argabright ended his high school career with a game-high 16 points. Olpe’s next-highest scorer was Austin Bass, who scored eight points before fouling out. Colgan had three players in double figures, led by Jesse Watt’s 13. Zachery Smith scored 11 and Christian Smith had 10.

5:51 p.m.

Pittsburg Colgan has broken the game open, taking a 46-26 lead after three quarters. Olpe had trouble with the Panthers’ cutting and screening, leading to many backdoor layups. The Eagles’ leading scorer, Bradley Argabright, tossed up a couple of long airballs trying to bring Olpe back.

5:35 p.m.

Back-to-back three-point plays by Christian Smith have boosted Colgan’s lead to 29-13, then Olpe’s Austin Bass hit two free throws to cut it to 29-15. But Colgan ran the first minute of the quarter off the clock before attempting a shot. Olpe may find itself in too deep of a hole soon if it can’t stop the Panthers. Foul trouble is beginning to affect the Eagles, who have two players with four fouls at 3:36 of the third quarter.

5:23 p.m.

Colgan shot 50 percent from the field in the first half (9 of 18); Olpe could hit just one-third of its shots (5 of 15). The Eagles have hit one of seven three-pointers and are being outrebounded by the Panthers, 10-8. Each team scored eight points in the second quarter

5:20 p.m.

A tough Pittsburg Colgan squad has a 21-13 halftime lead over Olpe. The Panthers, seeded fifth, have six points each from Zachery Smith and Jesse Watt. Bradley Argabright has seven points for Olpe.

4:25 p.m.

Despite Spearville’s furious comeback, outscoring Nemaha Valley 23-15 in the fourth quarter, the dismal shooting in the first half dooms the top seed. The Lancers shot 45.2 percent from the field in the second half, but Nemaha Valley shot 44.4 percent to keep its lead. Willie Cauley was the game’s leading rebounder (13) and had 9 blocked shots. After Dane Brinker’s 28 points, no other Nemaha Valley player scored more than seven points. Three-point stats: Nemaha Valley 4-12, Spearville 3-23.

4:20 p.m.

Nemaha Valley eliminates top-seeded Spearville, 52-48. Time just ran out on the Lancers. Konrade finished with 23 points for Spearville, and Dane Brinker finished with a game-high 28.

4:18 p.m.

Brinker misses the front end of a one-and-one, but Spearville loses the ball out of bounds with 20 seconds left.

4:14 p.m.

This game is far from being decided. Nemaha Valley leads, 47-43, with 1:50 left. Tyler Nolte’s putback gives the Raiders a 49-43 lead, but Konrade answers to make the score 49-45. The teams have just traded three-pointers, Brinker for Nemaha Valley and Clayton Stein for Spearville. Nemaha Valley leads, 52-48, with 38.1 seconds to play. The Raiders will have the ball when play resumes.

4:12 p.m.

With 3 minutes left, Spearville has cut into Nemaha Valley’s lead, getting as close as 44-40 before Brinker strikes again for a 46-40 lead. Cauley just hit 1 of 2 free throws, then puts back a Mitchell Ackerman miss to get the Lancers closer, 46-43, with 2:17 left.

3:59 p.m.

At the end of three quarters, Nemaha Valley has kept the lead and boosted it to 37-25. The Raiders have answered every Spearville basket. As we begin the fourth quarter, Konrade hits a three from the left corner to cut the deficit to 37-28.

3:52 p.m.

Willie Cauleyscores his first field goal on a dunk with 3:21 left in the third quarter. But Nemaha Valley and Brinker have been able to answer. The Raiders lead Spearville, 32-19, with 2:48 left in the third quarter.

3:49 p.m.

Carson Konrade has hit two baskets in the first minute of the third quarter, but Dane Brinker has a free throw and a three-pointer to maintain Nemaha Valley’s 10-point lead, 25-15.

3:41 p.m.

From the halftime stat sheet: Spearville is ice cold from the field, hitting just 4 of 29 shots (13.8 percent). Nemaha Valley has shot 40.9 percent (9 of 22). Dane Brinker has 12 points for the Raiders. Willie Cauley has 5 blocked shots. Carson Konrade has 7 points. Included in Spearville’s shooting is 0 for 11 from three-point range. Nemaha Valley has failed on all three of its tries.

3:35 p.m.

Dane Brinker hits a short jumper with 3 seconds to play in the half, giving Nemaha Valley a 10-point halftime lead, 21-11.

3:33 p.m.

Spearville has missed a number of close shots, which is why it is trailing with less than a minute before halftime, 19-11.

3:29 p.m.

Garrett Steinlage scores for Nemaha Valley and is fouled by Cauley (his second foul). Steinlage hits the free throw for a 17-11 lead.  Cauley scores but is called for traveling, the second time that Spearville coach Jerrod Stanford has been upset with this official.

3:27 p.m.

Cauley has four blocked shots, but he hasn’t scored on the offensive end. Konrade has been held to four thus far. Nemaha Valley leads, 14-9, with 4 minutes left in the first half.

3:19 p.m.

Konrade hits his first basket, is fouled but misses the free throw. Nemaha Valley has an 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

3:15 p.m.

Cauley is called for over the back, but he is so tall that contact is questionable. Carson Konrade has been held scoreless so far with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. Mitchell Ackerman has both Spearville baskets, and Cauley has two blocked shots.

3:11 p.m.

Two buckets by Dane Brinker give Nemaha Valley anearly 4-0 lead, then Mitchell Ackerman gets Spearville on the board. 4-2 Nemaha Valley

3:07 p.m.

Just before tipoff. In addition to having one of the tallest players in the 6-10 Cauley, Spearville also starts one of the shortest in 5-6 Lucas Imel. One of the officials is former Emporia State coach Ron Slaymaker.

2:56 p.m.

As close as I can tell, the rooting sections are about even. But Spearville is concentrated in one section across from its bench, and Nemaha Valley is spread over three sections on the bench (north) side.

2:43 p.m.

Top-seeded Spearville and No. 8 Nemaha Valley are warming up. Having lived in Dodge City the past three years, I had a chance to see Spearville play a year ago in the SPIAA Tournament. Sophomore Willie Cauley, who has already been offered by Kansas State gets a lot of attention, and why not? He’s 6-10. But the key for the Lancers has been 6-3 Carson Konrade, their leading scorer. Key players for Nemaha Valley are 6-2 senior Dane Brinker and 5-11 Garrett Steinlage.

Go here to find out the latest from the Class 4A boys quarterfinals in Salina.

11:27- Not that yesterday was boring by any means, but today’s action in the boy’s semis was drama-filled to say the least.

The most impressive team today was Coffeyville, which took care of Nickerson. The Tornadoes have size, speed and can really fill it up. If I had to pick a champion, it would be the “Does”.

The most impressive player was Micah Swank from Pratt. I love watching this kid play. He is the floor leader. He is the playmaker. He is a stud. I haven’t seen a player take over a game in such a short stretch like he did throughout the final four minutes of the third quarter, when he scored 11 straigh points.

The most impressive moment came from Alfred Belton, who hit the game-winning three for Sumner with :12 seconds remaining to beat Hayden. The seldom used guard stepped up and made a play for the Sabres, which really didn’t get one all game. Belton looked like somebody who had been there, done that but that was his only shot attempt of the game.

The most disappointing moment came from Topeka Hayden, which missed 11 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter and just one more make would have sent the Wildcats to the semis. For any youngsters who might be reading this–PRACTICE FREE THROWS!!!

Man, I love this time of the year. Five months ago, the four teams remaining in each bracket had dreams of having the chance, just a chance to play for a title.

 And now they get it. Should be a great day of games tomorrow.

I’m checking out of the party. Goodnight from Salina.

10:24-Sumner wins 64-63. Hayden misses a shot at the buzzer. Recaps coming in a bit.

10:23- WOW!!!!

Sumner hits a three in the corner to take a 64-63 lead with :10 left.

10:20- Hayden leads 63-61 with :18 remaining. Sumner has the ball.

10:08- Overtime.

10:06- Tie ballgame. 55-55–Hayden has the ball with :12 left.

10:03- Sorry, been busy writing. Hayden leads Sumner 55-53 with :22 left. Sumner on the line shooting two.

9:04-At halftime, Topeka Hayden leads KC Sumner 25-22.

8:44- KC Sumner up 18-13 after one.

8:00- Pratt moves on to the semis with a 64-56 win. More to come later.

One thought though: Micah Swank is a flipping beast (21 points). He could play for any school in the City League.

Period.

7:49-Pratt is up 58-47 with 3:01 to play.

7:37-Pratt now leads 45-31 at the end of the third quarter. Micah Swank went on an 11-0 run by himself for the Greenbacks and gave them a  little cushion.

7:28-With 2:47 remaining in the third quarter, Pratt leads Circle 31-29.

7:08- Despite committing 13 turnovers, Circle is hanging tough with top seeded Pratt, trailing 23-22 at halftime. Pratt coach David Swank has to be ecstatic, because his sons and two leading scorers Matt and Micah Swank are a combined 1 for 13 for six points. It’s hard to get a feel fro this game, but I would assume the Swanks will be better in the second half.

6:49-After one quarter Pratt leads Circle 12-10. Using a trapping defense, the Greenbacks have forced seven turnovers.

6″01- Coffeyville moves on to the semis with a 52-38 win over Nickerson. The Ville will play Ottawa tomorrow, in what should be an interesting game. More to come later.

5:41- After three, Coffeyville 42, Nickerson 29.

5:18-I don’t believe I will go ragging on southeast Kansas basketball again.

At halftime, Coffeyville leads Nickerson 32-20. The Ville cooled off in the second quarter (2 for 10) but Nickerson (2 for 9), wasn’t much better. The Tornadoes shoot a ton of threes and so far tonight, they are making them (6 for 13). Nickerson just doesn’t seem to have the athletes that the Ville has. Even playing a zone, the Panthers had a difficult time containing the Tornadoes penetration and kick out. I would look for more of the same in the second half.

5:00-After one quarter Coffeyville leads Nickerson 23-12. The Ville has made 8 of 11 shots, including four three-pointers.

4:13-Ojeleye makes two more free throws and Ottawa is going to move on with a 46-41 win.

4:11-Holton misses two three-point shots and Semilore Ojeleye makes two free throws for Ottawa, which now leads 44-41 and has the ball with :13 remaining.

4:08-Ottawa had the ball and a 42-41 lead, but an illegal screen call by Shane Steelman gives the ball back to Holton with :45 on the clock.

4:04-Ottawa is clinging to a 42-41 lead–1:20 remaining.

4:01- Ottawa leads Holton 38-37 with 3:17 remaining.

3:56- With 5:17 to play, Ottawa is up 38-34 on Holton.

3:51-After three quarters, an upset is brewing in Salina–No. 7 Holton leads No. 2 Ottawa 34-33.

3:27- Ottawa leads Holton 24-23 at the break. First glance, Ottawa looks like the better team. They are bigger, faster, stronger…but Holton is keeping the game close thanks to its toughness and persistence–six offensive rebounds. Holton is also playing a 2-1-2 zone to neutralize Ottawa freshman post player Semilore Ojeleye and it’s worked as he has scored only two points and grabbed two rebounds. It will be interesting to see what kind of offensive adjustments Ottawa uses in order to get Ojeleye more touches.

3:13-After one quarter, Ottawa leads Holton 10-6.

3:09-I think it would be fair to call Ottawa coach Jon McKowen a miniature version of Kansas State coach Frank Martin. The dude is always in a player’s face and my goodness is he intense–stomping up and down the sideline. It’s very entertaining to watch.

2:40-Breaking news: Ottawa High School does have students…it appears they have brought 26 students today. Gotta start somewhere…

2:35- Hello all! Day two at 4A has arrived we have the boy’s quarterfinals today.

A couple of quick notes real fast:

1. The stats problem that we had yesterday seems to be resolved, which will make life for yours truely and the boys on the copy desk much easier.

2. Aside from Girard–which probably brought its entire town–I was disappointed in the crowds yesterday. In fact, Ottawa brought zero students–pathetic.  I’m hoping we get a little more atmosphere in The Bicentennial Center today, although with as spacious as this place is, it would be difficult for a NASCAR event to make noise.

Ok on to the games. Here are three questions I have for the boys bracket:

1. Can the Swank family when their second title in three years? In 2008, coach David Swank and son Matt led Wichita Trinity to the 3A title and this season the two, along with David’s other son, Micah, have Pratt 21-2 and the top seed. The Greenbacks face Circle at 4:45. I see Pratt winning, with relative ease today.

2. Just how good is Reece Holiday from Kansas City Sumer? He has signed to play at Wisconsin-Green Bay next season and is the Sabres all-time leading scorer. Sumner is 19-4 and the four seed, but that record is VERY disseaving. In fact, I believe Joanna Chadwick picked Sumner to win the whole thing, so then is has to be good, right? The thought of a Pratt-Sumner semifinal sounds enticing.

3. Finally, can Nickerson build off its first sub-state final win since 1994? The Panthers had been in the finals three other seasons in the past seven years but never could advance. Nickerson’s opponent, Coffeyville is 19-3 but that record maybe a little gaudy considering the level of talent in southeast Kansas. If I’m Nickerson, I’m thrilled with the draw and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the Panthers move on to the semis.

I’ll be back every quarter with updates. First up is Ottawa and Holton.

Peace.

Natalie Randolph will be introduced Friday as the head coach at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School. She is believed to be the first woman to coach a high school varsity football team in the U.S .

Coolidge principal Thelma Jarrett said Randolph “quickly emerged as our top choice.” Randolph replaces Jason Lane, who resigned.

The 29-year-old Randolph was an assistant coach at another D.C. high school, H.D. Woodson, from 2006-08. She also played in the National Women’s Football Association.

Girls

Argonia 47, St. Paul 30 –The undefeated Argonia girls will play for their first state championship Friday after outscoring St. Paul 30-13 in the second half.

Ashton Stansbury scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Allison Brewster and Davi Peetoom each scored 11.

St. Paul’s Morgan Westhoff scored 13 points and Allison O’Brien had 11.

South Gray 34, St. John 30 – South Gray ousts the defending champion in the first semifinal, a rematch of last season’s title game.

The Rebels improved to 27-0 behind Kayla Thomas’ 16 points and Mikayla Skidmore’s 14. The duo combined for 14-of-17 shooting. A 12-5 second-quarter advantage helped South Gray take control of the game.

Teresa Wade and Brooke Burgan each scored 13 for St. John.

Boys

Hanover 47, Baileyville 35 — Charles Alexander’s 15 points and 11 rebounds led Hanover to its third straight 1A championship game.

The Wildcats trailed Baileyville 15-11 after one quarter, but outscored the Falcons 27-10 over the next two quarters. Conner Hynek scored 11 and recorded five assists for Hanover, which looks for its second straight title in Friday’s championship.

Ryan Huerter scored 14 points to lead Baileyville.

South Gray 49, Quinter 46 – Chase Clancy scored with 30 seconds to go to give the Rebels the lead.

A Garrison Hendricks steal helped secure the win for South Gray (26-1), which advanced to its third title game in four seasons. The Rebels won 1A in 2007 and 2008.

Clancy finished with 14 points, and Ricky Friesen led South Gray with 16.

Last year’s runner-up, Quinter, had 16 from Scott Ochs and 15 from Matt Bird.

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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