By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
The Wamego girls basketball team will play for a third-place finish at state today as they prepare to take on the #1 ranked team in Class 4A in Wellington at noon.
The Lady Raiders fell to Eudora 49-41 in the state semis on Friday while Wellington was blown out in an upset 82-42 in their semifinal matchup with Meige.
“Wellington plays a lot like we do,” Wamego head coach Brian McIntosh said. “They’re a little taller but they play good defense, they have four kids in double digits and they can get up and down the floor on you in a hurry. We’ve got three kids like that and I think if anybody’s got gas left in the tank this is going to be a fun game and I’m excited for it.”
Throughout their previously undefeated run, the Crusaders leaned heavily on senior Airalyn Frame, who brought senior leadership and big points performances to a potent offense.
On the other side of that coin, Wellington has successfully pressured and turned over opponents at will this season and play a similar style to the Lady Raiders.
“They pressure you full-court man and try to use their length so we’ll have to handle that,” McIntosh said. “I think once we settle into our offense we can give them some trouble but we have to handle their trap.”
With so many games in so few days, this final matchup of the year will test both sides, but each can be one of the two teams in Class 4A to go out with a win.
“I think we have to come out with a lot of energy and be a little tougher than we were last night,” he said. “It’s going to be a gut check with this being the third game in four days and neither one of these teams are very deep personnel-wise. Hopefully, we can settle in because I think this is a really good matchup.”
Regardless of what happens at noon on Saturday, this season will go down as one of the greatest in Wamego’s history thanks in large part to an amazing trio of seniors in Paige Donnelly, Ryann Alderson, and Cadence Kueker.
“Over 50 years of basketball at Wamego this is the third-best record in our team’s history,” McIntosh said. “We’ve been to back-to-back state tournaments and regardless of what happens today, this will be one of the best finishes we’ve ever had. It’s hard to appreciate in the moment but this group has done some really special things here.”
Tip-off between the Lady Raiders and Crusaders is set for noon on Saturday at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina.
For continuing coverage of Wamego at state stay tuned to the Little Apple Post.