By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Yes, Seaman's girls basketball team will go into Monday's Class 5A state quarterfinal at Salina Central as the underdog.
Of course, that's the role Matt Tinsley's Vikings have been in all season while still finding a way to advance to state for the third straight season.
Seaman made it to the 5A semifinals a year ago, but began the season short on experience after multiple returners opted to concentrate on other sports and also had to deal with COVID-19 quarantine issues much of the season.
But the Vikings' progress began to show over the latter part of the year and Seaman put things together, particularly on the defensive end, in a 37-27 win at No. 1 seed Emporia in Friday night's sub-state championship game.
Now Tinsley wants his 7-14 team to approach Monday's 6 p.m. game against the 18-4 Mustangs with the attitude that the Vikings have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"There was no pressure on us coming into this (Emporia) game,'' Tinsley said after the Vikings' victory. "We were relaxed on the bus ride down here. We were relaxed on Tuesday night (against Topeka West) and I told the girls, 'Just go out and have fun.'
"It's just so good to experience this. I'm just so happy for these kids.''
Freshman Taylin Stallbaumer, driving to the basket against Topeka West in the sub-state semis, led Seaman with a game-high 16 points in the Vikings' 37-27 sub-state final win at Emporia. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With just three returning seniors, Tinsley knew that the Vikings were going to experience some growing pains early on, but he is proud of his team for staying the course and said the state tournament berth was a reward for that.
"I told the girls we weren't starting a longterm goal to start the season,'' Tinsley said. "With everything going on in the world, we were just focused on getting better ever day and by the end of the year we (could) put ourselves in a position (to compete) and we did that.' ''
Seaman, which had dropped a 9-point Centennial League decision to Emporia to close out the regular season, trailed 7-4 at the end of the first quarter, but held the Spartans, who finished the season 15-7, to just 2 points in the second quarter while opening up a 12-9 halftime advantage.
Sophomore Jaycee Schumann hit her first 3-pointer of the season with 6 minutes left in the first half to put the Vikings ahead to stay and sophomore Carstyn Anderson canned back-to-back 3s to open the second half as Seaman doubled up the Spartans at 18-9 with 6:26 left in the third.
Freshman Taylin Stallbaumer, who led all scorers with 16 points, hit her second 3-pointer of the night to put Seaman in front 24-14 with 34 seconds left in the third before Emporia junior Gracie Gilpin drained a long trey to get the Spartans back within 7 at the start of the final quarter.
Emporia got within 4 points twice over the first four and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, the last time at 26-22 with 3:25 remaining, but the Vikings got a free throw from senior Riley Cowan and a pair of charities from Stallbaumer to put Seaman up 31-24 with just 55 seconds left.
Senior Riley Cowan and the Seaman Vikings will take on Salina Central in Monday's Class 5A quarterfinal contest. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Gilpin hit a 3-pointer nine seconds later, but that would be the Spartans' final points of the night as the Vikings connected on six free throws over the final 45 seconds.
Stallbaumer, who hit her last six free throws to go 6 of 7 on the night, started the Vikings' game-ending 6-0 run with two free throws while Seaman also got a make from senior Raigan Kramer and three charities from Cowan to end the game.
"We had an answer and that's we were searching for all year and we found it these last two games. We were constandly getting better as the year went on and we just said, 'Keep believing in what we're doing and we're going to be there, we're going to get there.' ''
Salina Central advanced to the 5A quarterfinals with a 48-45 win over Salina South.
SILVER LAKE TO FACE SABETHA IN 3A
Silver Lake's girls basketball team avenged earlier losses to Osage City and Riley County in last week's Class 3A sub-state tournament at Council Grove.
Now Kyle Poter's young Silver Lake team, which regularly plays three freshmen and three sophomores, will get the opportunity to avenge another defeat whe the 11-10 Eagles travel to 21-2 Sabetha Monday night for a 6 p.m. 3A quarterfinal contest.
Silver Lake sophomore Mariah Farmer and the Eagles will travel to Sabetha for a Class 3A girls quarterfinal game Monday night. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After taking a 55-37 win over Santa Fe Trail in the sub-state quarters Silver Lake took a 34-28 win over Osage City in the semifinals and then earned a 3A state berth with a 46-39 win over Riley County, which had handed the Eagles two earlier defeats.
Sabetha, which took an 11-point win over the Eagles in the Burlington Invitational, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 27-24 double-overtime win over Nemaha Central.
