By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural girls basketball is off to a Class 6A sub-state final after taking down Wichita South, 60-32, at home Tuesday night.
Junior Maddie Vickery scored a game-high 18 points in Tuesday's 60-32 Washburn Rural sub-state win over Wichita South. [File photo/TSN]
The Titans only had seven players suited up for Tuesday's game and Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick wasn’t shy in giving them praise.
“We were hoping we could wear them down, but I was impressed with the energy and stamina those girls had, I thought they played hard all the way through,” Bordewick said. “I thought our defense wasn’t as intense as it needed to be, I don't think at the start. We weren’t in a good offensive flow, but then once we got a couple of boards we ran some fastbreak, and I thought our offense looked a lot smoother.
"We talked about that at halftime that we’re more seamless in transition. We had a lot of good interior touches and that definitely opens up our outside shooting.''
Wichita South jumped out to a 5-1 lead to begin but Rural climbed back to tie it at five as senior Hallie Walker scored the first five for Rural.
Wichita South kept pace, leading 8-7, but that would be the last lead the Titans would have.
Rural freshman Brynn Anderson nailed two 3-pointers and Kansas State commit Maddie Vickery put home a jumper as the Junior Blues' advantage grew to five (14-9). The Junior Blues led 18-13 after one quarter.
In the second quarter senior Josie Carlgren scored the first five points to push the Rural lead to 10 (23-13), and then Vickery went on a scoring run of her own, helping Washburn Rural to its biggest lead of the game (33-16) after two free throws. The Junior Blues took a 35-18 lead into the break.
It was a slow moving third quarter to begin with, but the Junior Blues kept building its lead, as Rural freshman Kamryn Smith scored four of the first six points in the quarter. Vickery had an and-one opportunity, missed the free throw but Walker cleaned up the miss and kissed it off the glass for two, making it 45-22. Walker ended the night with 15 points.
Anderson continued her solid performance, converting an and-one and then capped off the quarter with a trey in the corner before the buzzer, pushing the Rural lead to 56-28. She finished with 13.
Eight different players scored in the game.
“We’ve been really aware of getting paint touches and Hallie has really come along a lot, especially the second half of the season about finishing plays on the inside,'' Bordewick said. "Just getting Maddie back is another dimension that adds an inside-out, Brynn is an inside-out and we left quite a few points on the floor by not finishing free throws, layups or two foot shots.
"Ella (Hirschi) and Josie are good shooters and they didn’t get enough to get going but when they do, we can be a pretty potent offense.''
Washburn Rural only needed two more points for the running clock in the fourth quarter and got it with two free throws (58-28) at the 6:33 mark from Vickery, who finished with a game-high 18 points as the Junior Blues went on to improve to 16-8.
Rural will play at Derby (21-3) on Friday at 6 p.m.
“They have a lot of athleticism, a lot of talent, they can drive it, they can shoot, defend, they’re going to press you in at least two or three different presses,'' Bordewick said of the Panthers. "They’re going to try to wear you down and make mistakes and our job is trying to not let that happen. so we’ll see what happens on Friday.''
WASHBURN RURAL 60, WICHITA SOUTH 32
Wichita South 13 5 10 4 -- 32
Washburn Rural 18 17 21 4 -- 60
Wichita South (9-12) – Hart 1 4-8 6, Malaysia Ingram 1 4-4 6, Sallee 1 0-0 3, Chiles 1 0-0 3, Samarah Ingram 0 0-2 0, Cathay 2 2-4 7, 2 1-2 7.
Washburn Rural (16-8) -- Smith 2 0-0 4, Hirschi 1 0-0 2, Vickery 6 5-7 18, Walker 5 5-6 15, Hinck 0 1-2 1, Anderson 4 3-3 13, Carlgren 2 0-0 5, Peterson 1 0-0 2.
3-point goals -- Wichita South 5 (Parker 2, Cathey, Chiles, Sallee), Washburn Rural 4 (Anderson 2, Vickery, Carlgren). Total fouls -- Wichita South 15, Washburn Rural 14. Fouled out -- Cathey. Technical fouls -- none.
