By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The top-ranked Seaman girls left nothing to chance Friday in their bid to play in the Class 5A state tournament in Emporia, running away from visiting Piper 57-25 to improve to 21-1 on the season.
Seaman's girls basketball team poses with its Class 5A sub-state championship trophy after Friday night's 57-25 win over Piper. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
The Vikings weren’t about to let happen what they experienced last year when they fell in the sub-state final to Andover Central. That defeat snapped a three-year string of state appearances.
“What is delayed is not denied,” said Seaman coach Matt Tinsley while his team posed with the tournament trophy. “These girls wanted this game.
“Our thought before the game was that we’ve been here before. We know what it takes. We said, ‘Players play, but tough players win.’ We have got some tough kids on this team.”
Leading the way for the was freshman Maddie Gragg, who tallied 19 points on nine of 14 shooting.
The Vikings jumped on the Pirates out of the gate, gaining a 13-6 first quarter advantage. They stretched that lead to 28-12 at halftime. A 22-10 third quarter triggered a running clock for the fourth period, when Tinsley emptied his bench.
Those reserves were praised by Tinsley following the game.
“This game was won in practice,” Tinsley said, stating the backups defeated the starters in a scrimmage during the week. He pointed specifically to junior Elinore Stallbaumer, sophomores Anna McLaughlin, Maggie Moulden and Ally Steiner, and freshman Ryin Miller for pushing the regulars.
“That’s why these girls play so well. They compete and they make each other better. They really don’t care is who gets the credit.”
Seaman shot 50 percent from the field and hit all eight of their free throw attempts. The Viking defense, meanwhile, harassed the Pirates into just 24 field goal attempts to Seaman’s 48.
One of the holdovers from last year’s defeat, sophomore Anna Becker, added 12 points.
“It was devastating losing last year, but we took it as a learning experience,” Becker said. “We really knew what it would take this year and we came out with energy and enthusiasm and let our defense turn into offense.”
The Vikings will learn their 5A state tournament opponent this weekend. But Tinsley said it doesn’t matter who they draw.
“Everybody’s going to be good at state,” Tinsley said. “Everyone’s going in 0-0. We’ve got to have championship practices on Monday and Tuesday. But we’re going to enjoy the heck out of this tonight.”
“We’re going to take it one game at a time from here,” Becker added. “This team has got great chemistry and we believe we can win it all.”
SEAMAN GIRLS 57, PIPER 25
Piper 6 6 10 3 -- 25
Seaman 13 15 22 7 -- 57
Piper (15-7) – A. Vallejo 0-3 0-0 0, Clark 2-7 0-0 4, Marron 2-3 0-0 5, Roth 1-3 2-3 4, Grann 2-6 3-3 7, Ochs 0-0 0-0 0, Collins 1-1 0-0 2, Lockwood 0-0 0-0 0, Arwine 0-1 0-0 0, Fryatt 0-0 0-0 0, T. Vallejo 1-1 0-0 3, Wiseman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 9-24 5-8 25.
Seaman (21-1) – J. Stallbaumer 0-4 0-0 0, T. Stallbaumer 1-6 0-0 2, Becker 4-10 4-4 12, Gragg 9-14 1-1 19, Gormley 3-4 1-1 7, Schumann 2-3 0-0 4, Wilhelm 3-4 2-2 8, Anderson 1-2 0-0 3, E. Stallbaumer 1-1 0-0 2, Moulden 0-0 0-0 0, McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-48 8-8 57.
3-point goals – Piper 2 (Marron 1, T. Vallejo 1), Seaman 1 (Anderson 1). Total fouls – Piper 9, Seaman 7. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
