Goessel advances to 2nd round in girls substate
Staff writer
One county team already has advanced to the second round of substate play.
In the first round of the substate playoffs Monday, Goessel coasted to a 30-point victory over Northern Heights.
Goessel girls will travel Saturday to Madison for a substate semifinal.
Goessel led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter Monday, hitting all six of their free throw attempts.
The Bluebirds scored 12 unanswered points to take a commanding lead into halftime.
The pace slowed in the third period as Goessel became more deliberate on offense. The Bluebirds led 44-16 after three periods and won by a final score of 51-21.
Leading the scoring for Goessel were Abbigail Funk with 20, Delaney Duerksen with 9, and Aimee Funk with 8.
Monday’s was the third game in five days for the Bluebirds.
The Goessel girls played Thursday night in a snow-delayed home game against Rural Vista, coasting to a 40-30 victory in its final Wheat State League game of the season.
Aimee Funk scored 17 and Abbigail Funk added 13.
On Friday, the girls stumbled out of the gate and fell behind Hartford 21-13 at half-time.
Abbigail Funk swished a 30-foot shot at the buzzer and the Bluebirds took advantage of Jaguar errors to tie the game at 24-24 in the third quarter.
“We made some adjustments on defense at halftime,” coach Ryan Hoopes said, “but in the second half our shots started going in.”
Goessel trailed 29-27 at the end of the third quarter, but Logan Bryant banked in a basket from short range and Delaney Duerksen muscled in a layup to take a two point lead.
The Jaguars’ strategy appeared to be to send the Bluebirds to the free-throw line. Goessel responded by hitting 10 of 12 free throws and won by a final score of 41-35.
Abbigail Funk ended the night with 15 points, Aimee Funk added 11, and Brooklyn Wuest dropped in 8.
Hillsboro
The Trojans showed no mercy Friday against Nickerson, winning 69-12.
Amyah Werth led Hillsboro with 31 points and 7 rebounds. Ella Potucek followed up with 23 points. Addison Jost and Talia Jost pulled down six rebounds each.
“On offense, we were able to capitalize off of steals, creating fast-break points,” coach Micah Ratzlaff said. “We also shared the basketball really well and were able to hit shots.”
Hillsboro will be host for its first round substate game Friday against Sacred Heart.
“This is a tough matchup for us against a good team,” Ratzlaff said. “We look forward to the challenge and competing at a high level.”
Marion
The Warriors ended their regular season at home Friday with a 40-34 victory over Central Christian Academy.
Kenna Wesner scored 14 points and had 6 rebounds. Taryn Kraus scored 10. Erin Regnier scored 4 with 6 assists.
“This was a fun game to be a part of, as the atmosphere was great,” coach Jason Hett said. “We knew coming into this game it was going to be a battle. It was great for our seniors to finish the regular season on a win on their home floor. They earned the right to host a first-round playoff game.”
That game will be at 7 p.m. Friday against Wichita Classical.
“We will game-plan this week to attack a good Wichita Classical team Friday and hopefully have another great turnout,” Hett said.
Centre
Centre’s postseason ended Monday with a 54-46 loss to Thunder Ridge-Kensington Monday in substate play.
The Cougars led by 10 in the second quarter but fell short in the second half.
Centre closed out the regular season Friday, losing 50-32 to a tough Chase County team, ranked No. 9 in the state.
Senior Olivia Carlson led Centre in scoring with 15 points. Jaycee Stika scored 6, and Kelbie Kidd scored 5 while pulling down 9 rebounds. Sydney Smith and Ryleigh Jones each scored 3. Senior Hailey Barton had a career-high five assists.
“We shot 31% from the field for the game, which is decent for us, and were able to knock down three three-pointers in the first half, but Chase County shot 44%,” coach Alan Stahlecker said.