Moundridge wins semifinal; Jayhawks play for 3rd today

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Third-seeded Moundridge ended Jayhawk-Linn's hopes of winning a State championship by defeating the Jayhawks, 47-32, in the semifinal round of the Kansas Class 2A State Basketball Tournament here Friday night.

The Jayhawks (14-11), the lower-seeded team in every game it's played this post-season, will face top-seeded Oxford for third place today at noon. The Wildcats were dominated by No. 4 seed Brookville--Ell-Saline, 70-35, in the first semifinal.

Jayhawk-Linn and Moundridge were tied at 4-4 early on as Baylea White scored the Jayhawks' first 4 points. But the Wildcats held an 11-8 lead by the end of the period.

Moundridge extended the lead to 27-19 at the half and eventually to 31-19 moments into the third period. The lead was 41-24 after three.

The Wildcats made 8 of 15 field-goal attempts in the second half while holding the Jayhawks to 6 of 20.

Free throws, a Jayhawk strength this post-season, were in favor of the 'Cats in this game as well. Jayhawk-Linn made just 3 of 10 charity tosses while Moundridge made 13 of 16.

Taylor Schrag, the Wildcats' only senior, led Moundridge with 17 points while Tiffany Fisher added 10. White finished with 13 points as she made 6 of 8 shots from the field.

All of the game's points were scored by each teams' starters but Jayhawk-Linn saw just four players score.

Moundridge shot 46 percent from the field for the game on 16 of 35 while the Jayhawks shot 44 percent on 14 of 32. The Wildcats outrebounded the 'Hawks, 26-20. Four players had 3 boards each for Jayhawk-Linn while the other eight rebounds were credited as "team rebounds."

Chelsea Beckman handed out 5 assists for Jayhawk-Linn while Devon Clark had 3 steals.

Moundridge, which is making its 18th State Tournament appearance, goes for its 10th championship at 4 p.m. this afternoon against Ell-Saline, which is in its first State tourney in school history. Moundridge's most recent championship came in 2003.

Brookville--Ell-Saline 70, Oxford 35.

Fourth-seeded Ell-Saline (19-6) is perhaps the hottest-shooting team in the tournament while simultaneously playing the best defense. So far, the Cardinals have made 56 percent of their field-goal attempts in the tournament (49 of 87) while holding their opponents to 23 percent on 23 of 102.

Friday, the Cardinals allowed the top-seeded Wildcats (21-4) no more than 10 points in any quarter and held them to 14 of 52 from the floor for 27 percent. Oxford made only 3 of 21 3-point attempts.

Ell-Saline made 25 of 44 fielders for 57 percent and also converted 6 of 12 3-point attempts and 14 of 21 free throws.

The Cardinals led 31-20 at the half, then held the Wildcats to 5 points in the third in extending the lead to 55-25. Ell-Saline made 13 of 18 fielders in the second half to go along with a 13-of-17 second-half performance in their 56-25 first-round victory over Valley Falls on Thursday in which they outscored the Dragons 22-4 in the third period.

Mariah Jones and Emily Work scored 16 points each for Ell-Saline while Brittany Clancy added 11. Jones scored 18 in Thursday's first-round victory.

Kaitlin Norris led Oxford with 10 points and Shelbie Hutchins grabbed 11 rebounds.

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(7) JAYHAWK-LINN: Krull 0-0 0-0 0, White 6-8 1-3 13, Beckman 3-6 1-3 7, Walters 2-7 0-0 5, Hargrove 3-6 1-2 7, Bruner 0-0 0-0 0, Spencer 0-0 0-0 0, Walrod 0-0 0-0 0, Murrow 0-1 0-2 0, Clark 0-2 0-0 0, Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Whitley 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14-32 3-10 32.

(3) MOUNDRIDGE: Stucky 2-3 0-2 4, Schrag 4-11 8-8 17, Fisher 3-4 4-4 10, Halloway 4-8 0-0 8, Suderman 3-8 1-2 8, Flickner 0-0 0-0 0, Kaufman 0-1 0-0 0, Seeber 0-0 0-0 0, Huxmon 0-0 0-0 0, Wedel 0-0 0-0 0, Bergen 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-35 13-16 47.

Jayhawk-Linn................ 8 11 5 8 -- 32

Moundridge................... 11 16 14 6 -- 47

Three-point field goals: Jayhawk-Linn 1-5 (Walters 1-4, Clark 0-1), Moundridge 2-3 (Suderman 1-1, Schrag 1-2).

Total fouls: Jayhawk-Linn 14, Moundridge 11. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Jayhawk-Linn 20 (4 with 3 each), Moundridge 26 (Schrag 6). Assists: Jayhawk-Linn 5 (Beckman 5), Moundridge 10 (Stucky 4). Turnovers: Jayhawk-Linn 14, Moundridge 11. Steals: Jayhawk-Linn 7 (Clark 3), Moundridge 7 (Suderman 3). Blocked shots: None.

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(4) BROOKVILLE--ELL-SALINE: Wikoff 4-4 0-0 8, Jones 6-10 1-2 16, Clancy 3-10 4-4 11, Work 4-9 6-8 16, Harvey 3-4 0-0 6, T.Albers 0-0 0-0 0, Bird 0-0 2-2 2, Kejr 2-3 0-0 4, Omli 1-1 1-4 3, Wilson 1-1 0-0 2, W.Albers 1-2 0-1 2, Bell 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-44 14-21 70.

(1) OXFORD: Swanson 1-5 0-0 3, Norris 4-12 2-2 10, Hutchins 3-10 1-4 7, White 3-9 0-0 6, Potucek 2-12 0-0 6, Creed 0-0 0-1 0, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Church 0-1 0-0 0, Zimmerman 0-0 0-0 0, Runyan 0-0 0-0 0, Terry 1-2 1-2 3, Whitlock 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14-52 4-9 35.

Ell-Saline....................... 16 15 24 15 -- 70

Oxford........................... 10 10 5 10 -- 35

Three-point field goals: Ell-Saline 6-12 (Jones 3-4, Work 2-5, Clancy 1-3), Oxford 3-21 (Potucek 2-12, Swanson 1-5, Norris 0-1, Hutchins 0-1, Young 0-1, Terry 0-1).

Total fouls: Ell-Saline 12, Oxford 18. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

Rebounds: Ell-Saline 27 (Work 7), Oxford 29 (Hutchins 11). Assists: Ell-Saline 16 (Work 4), Oxford 2 (Hutchins, White). Turnovers: Ell-Saline 14, Oxford 19.