By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
PERRY – It was a swift, easy night for the Silver Lake girls basketball team in the Class 3A sub-state semifinal round against Maur Hill-Mt. Academy on Thursday night, with the Eagles crushing the Ravens, 63-28.
Junior McKinley Kruger was one of three Silver Lake players with 14 points in Thursday's Class 3A 63-28 sub-state semifinal win over Maur Hill-Mt. Academy. [File photo/TSN]
Silver Lake is one game away from returning to the 3A state tournament in Hutchinson after its 35-point win over Maur-Hill Mt. Academy and the Eagles will face its rival, Rossville, on Saturday for the sub-state championship.
"All in all, proud of our effort, and we will turn our efforts to (Rossville)," Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter said. "I just think us playing our game and playing at our tempo is going to be big (on Saturday) and taking advantage of (Rossville's) pressure in the backcourt. Once you get past their initial pressure, that will be big for us.
"All of our kids need to play their specific role. We are a balanced team. We are dangerous because you can't take away just one player. If we show up and play our game, I like our chances."
Silver Lake didn't know they were playing Rossville quite yet, due to Silver Lake playing before the Dawgs. The Eagles had to beat Maur-Hill Mt. Academy before they could focus on its game this Saturday.
The sub-state semifinal game was over before it was over. Silver Lake couldn't be stopped on its way to routing the Ravens. The starting five and second group for the Eagles torched the Ravens on both sides of the ball.
"I thought we came and did what we needed to do tonight," Porter said. "I was especially proud of our bench. Our bench picked us up bigtime. I think it's special when you can have a second group like what we have. To be able to come in and increase the tempo while wearing a team down speaks to what a great job our bench did tonight."
Offensively, Silver Lake was powered by three scorers scoring 14 points each. Senior Taylor Ross and juniors McKinley Kruger and Makenzie McDaniel accumulated 69 percent of the Eagles' scoring. Junior Kaibryn Kruger added 10 points.
"Offensively, we need to continue to run in transition," Porter said. "I think we did a better job in the second half of getting easy buckets in transition."
On the defensive side of the ball, Silver Lake forced the Ravens to shoot 22 percent from the field (eight of 36) while forcing 31 turnovers.
"I think one thing we wanted to do was pressure the ball," Porter said. "I think we did a good job of that and anticipated well off of the ball. "
Silver Lake's dominant night started immediately after the tip. An 8-3 run became a 16-5 run, and it expanded to a more significant margin for the Eagles. The first quarter finished with a commanding 25-8 Silver Lake lead.
In 19 shot attempts, the Eagles converted 11 of those in the first quarter. M. Kruger, who had a quarter-high nine points, stole the show with her signature long-range 3-point bombs.
McDaniel's 6-foot-1 presence was a force in the painted area, scooping up offensive boards easily and getting positive results. McDaniel had eight points in the opening quarter.
Before the first quarter was over, Silver Lake's defense forced Maur-Hill Mt. Academy to three of eight shooting. The Eagles poked the ball free 11 times. K. Kruger and Kailyn Hanni each had three steals.
The second quarter was as dominant as the first. Again, Silver Lake was incredibly efficient on offense. A key catalyst for Silver Lake was the stellar offensive play from 6-foot senior Taylor Ross.
Ross scored eight points consecutively for the Silver Lake offense, including two steals from Ross that turned into four fastbreak points.
"Taylor (Ross) is really dangerous at the high post," Porter said. "A lot of teams are trying to take away Kenzie (McDaniel) inside, and those two feed off each other so well. Whenever they try to do that, Taylor is open a lot, and she really makes teams pay. She finishes around the bucket as well as anybody we have."
The Ravens were stunned by the Eagles' stifling defense, coughing up nine more turnovers in the second quarter.
20 Raven turnovers, Silver Lake's 19 of 33 shooting and the Eagles playing complimentary basketball gave Silver Lake an enormous 42-17 lead.
All Silver Lake needed to do was play the rest of the game clean. The Eagles outscored the Ravens 14-4 in the quarter, and Silver Lake would finish the third period with a whopping 35-point lead.
Silver Lake forced the running clock in the fourth quarter and would coast to the finish line with an impressive 63-28 victory in the 3A sub-state semifinal match.
Silver Lake will try to return to Hutchinson for the 3A state tournament in a War on 24 Part 3 at Perry-Lecompton against Rossville on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
SILVER LAKE GIRLS 63, MAUR-HILL MT. ACADEMY 28.
Silver Lake 25 17 14 7 – 63
Maur-Hill Mt. Academy 8 9 4 7 – 28
Silver Lake (21-1) – Farmer 2-6 0-0 4, McDaniel 6-10 2-2 14, K. Kruger 4-10 1-2 10, M. Kruger 6-10 0-0 14, Ross 7-10 0-0 14, Seele 1-3 0-0 3, Hanni 1-4 2-2 4, Deiter 0-3 0-0 0, Wehrli 0-2 0-0 0. Totals – 27-58 5-6 63.
Maur-Hill Mt. Academy (13-8) – Baniewicz 0-1 0-0 0, Begley 2-5 1-2 5, Kocour 1-6 0-0 3, Urban 1-7 2-4 5, Folsom 0-4 1-4 1, Coady 2-6 0-0 5, Adams 0-2 0-2 0, Koechner 1-3 3-4 6, Hall 1-1 0-0 3. 8-36 6-16 28.
3-point goals – Silver Lake 4 (M. Kruger 2, K. Kruger, Seele), Maur-Hill MT. Academy 5 (Kocour, Urban, Koechner, Coady, Hall). Total fouls – Silver Lake 11, Maur-Hill MT. Academy 7. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
