By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
The #4 Wamego girls basketball team punched their ticket to the state tournament in dominant fashion, eliminating the Holton Wildcats in the sub-state final for a second straight season, this time by a score of 53-26.
The Red Raiders will head to Salina next week while the Wildcats season comes to a close at 14-8.
“I'm extremely proud of our team for what we've accomplished so far this season,” Wamego head coach Brian McIntosh said. “They overcame a lot of adversity to achieve a few of their goals (NCKL champs and sub-state champs). They still have a few left, but I loved seeing the joy on their faces last night.”
Wamego dominated from start to finish thanks to a 22-point night from Paige Donnelly and 12 more from Ashten Pierson.
Defensively, the Raiders locked down the paint, keeping Holton’s inside scorers off the glass and out of rhythm for 32 minutes.
“Holton is a very physical and well-coached team,” McIntosh said. “We knew that we would have to limit their post touches in order to win the game. I thought our defensive pressure really hurt them. We also shot the ball well from the three-point line which was big since they were playing a zone.”
This year’s state bracket will be loaded as all five of the top teams in Class 4A, including #4 Wamego, survived upset bids at sub-state.
The competition will be fierce but the Raiders will be intent on making some serious noise in Salina next week.
“We want to play on Saturday,” McIntosh said. “In order to do that, we will need to lock in on whoever we play Wednesday. Staying present and attacking each day has gotten us to this point. We will need 4 days of good preparation then execute our game plan. When we are playing our style of basketball, we are pretty hard to beat.”
For coverage of the Wamego girl’s basketball team at the state tournament next week, stay tuned to the Little Apple Post.