By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Game is obviously a game of numbers, and the numbers 21, 11 and 3 were the difference Monday night in No. 5-ranked (Class 6A) Washburn Rural's 41-31 girls non-league loss to No. 6 Blue Valley at Rural.
Washburn Rural, the defending Class 6A state champion, turned the ball over 21 times on the night while scoring just 11 points in the second half and three points in the fourth quarter as Blue Valley, third in 6A a year ago, pulled away down the stretch for the double-digit victory.
Washburn Rural senior MaRyah Lutz shared team-high honors with nine points on three 3-pointers in Monday's 41-31 loss to Blue Valley. [File photo/TSN]
Rural coach Kevin Bordewick admitted that the Junior Blues' turnover woes were the single biggest factor in Monday's loss.
"I don't think there's any question about that,'' Bordewick said. "We weren't smart with the ball and it's not only the person making the pass but the person the pass is going to, we're not going to the ball. We're just expecting it to magically appear while they're jumping the passing lanes like crazy.
"Turnovers have been our bugaboo for a long time now and it caught up to us tonight. In offense you want to get in a rhythm and then everything kind of flows together. We couldn't get in a rhythm because we handed them the ball so many times.''
Washburn Rural (14-5) led 13-12 at the end of the opening quarter but Blue Valley (13-6) went in front by six points late in the second quarter before the Junior Blues scored the last five points of the half to cut their deficit to 22-20.
Blue Valley led throughout the third quarter, by as many as six points, but Rural senior Chloe Carlgren ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer to cut the Tigers' lead to 30-28 at the start of the fourth quarter.
That was as close as the Junior Blues got, however, as Blue Valley opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to open up a nine-point advantage.
The final score was Blue Valley's biggest lead of the night.
Oklahoma State commit Jadyn Wooten, a 5-foot-7 junior, scored a game-high 24 points for Blue Valley, which did not have any other player with more than six points.
Washburn Rural did not have a double-figure scorer, with seniors MaRyah Lutz and Brooklyn DeLeye scoring nine points apiece. Lutz scored all of her points in the first half on three 3-pointers.
The Junior Blues face another tough test on Friday, traveling to Emporia to take on the No. 6-ranked (5A) Spartans.
BLUE VALLEY GIRLS 41, WASHBURN RURAL 31
Blue Valley 12 10 8 11 -- 41
Washburn Rural 13 7 8 3 -- 31
Blue Valley (13-6) -- C. Bax 2-6 1-2 6, E. Bax 1-3 0-0 3, Sogard 1-3 0-0 3, Lister 2-8 1-2 5, Wooten 8-18 8-10 24, Jarrell 0-0 0-0 0, Tenpenny 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-39 10-14 41.
Washburn Rural (14-5) -- Lutz 3-5 0-0 9, Hinck 1-5 2-2 5, C. Carlgren 1-7 1-2 4, Bunck 1-5 0-0 3, DeLeye 3-5 3-4 9, Schroeder 0-0 0-2 0, Hirschi 0-1 0-0 0, Ochs 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 9-29 7-12 31.
3-point goals -- Blue Valley 3 (C. Bax, E. Bax, Sogard), Washburn Rural 6 (Lutz 3, Hinck, Carlgren, Bunck), Total fouls -- Blue Valley 12, Washburn Rural 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
