By John Mesh
The Halstead High School girls basketball team advanced to the Kansas Class 3A state tournament Final Four by dominating Neodesha 50-33 in a quarterfinal game Wednesday afternoon at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The No. 2-seeded Halstead Dragons led the Neodesha Blue Streaks 11-7 at the end of the first quarter, 33-13 at halftime and 41-26 after three quarters. Halstead outscored the Blue Streaks 9-7 in the fourth quarter.
Addisen Wills led the Halstead Dragons with 19 points and added 5 rebounds. 4 assists and 5 steals. Bailey Bernal had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Kaci Young scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Jordy Schroeder scored 6 points.
The Blue Streaks were led in scoring against Halstead with 9 points. Trinity Bell scored 8 points and Prayer Roebuck 7. Alivia Morrison scored 6 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
Halstead, which improved to 23-1 (a school record for wins), advanced to the Class 3A state tournament semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday against Colby (22-2), which defeated Osage City 57-31.
Shaylee Holzmeister and Alizabeth Barton each scored 23 points for Colby. Barton grabbed 17 rebounds. Logan Nolan contributed 8 points.
Colby is making its first Final Four trip in 17 years and the ninth Final Four trip in school history. If the Trojans reach the state championship game, it will be their first title game appearance since 2007 and third in school history.
Kaelyn Boss scored 16 of Osage City’s 31 points. Lexi Boss had 5 points and 8 rebounds. Jewella Kitselman scored 5 points.
Neodesha, the No. 7 seed, finished the season with an 18-4 record. Osage City finished the season with a 22-2 record.
In the third girls quarterfinal game Wednesday, No. 1 Hesston improved to 24-0 with a 52-37 victory over No. 8 Holcomb (18-6). Hesston will make its second straight Final Four appearance and eighth in school history.
The Hesston Swathers got off to a slow start, trailing by as many as 11 points. Hesston went on a 17-7 run in the second quarter to lead at halftime 23-21. Hesston outscored the Longhorns 12-5 in the third quarter and 17-11 in the fourth to win the game by 15.
Abby Proctor led Hesston in scoring with 17 points. Callie Yoder scored 12 and Kendal Brueggen 10. Isabella Galliart led the Longhorns with 11 points. Halle Jones added 8 and Jaylee Wickwar 6.
No. 4 Silver Lake (22-2) defeated No. 5 Girard (21-3) 56-45 in the late game. Silver Lake is the defending Class 3A girls state champion. The second girls semifinal game between Hesston and Silver Lake starts at 6 p.m. Friday.
Silver Lake’s Kailyn Hanni scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, dished off 7 assists and had 5 steals. LKarys Deiter scored 21 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Madison Coaster led Girard with 12 points, followed by Kennedy Keller with 9, Ericka Boatman 8, Karsyn O’Rand 7 and Merli Sieney 7.
The girls semifinal losers play for third place at noon Saturday. The girls semifinal winners play in the 4 p.m. championship game Saturday.
Class 3A boys quarterfinals matchups Thursday: No. 1 Galena (22-0) vs. No. 8 Kansas City Bishop Ward (16-7), 2 p.m.; No. 4 Hesston (21-2) vs. No. 5 Burlington (20-3), 4 p.m.; No. 2 Lakin (22-1) vs. No. 7 Silver Lake (18-5), 6 p.m.; No. 3 Cheney (22-1) vs. No. 6 Goodland (20-3), 8 p.m.
The boys semifinal losers play for third place at 2 p.m. Saturday. The boys semifinal winners play in the 6:15 p.m. championship game Saturday.
Class 2A boys
The Sterling boys basketball team rolled to a 97-48 victory over Chase County in the third quarterfinal game of the Kansas Class 2A state tournament Wednesday at Kansas State University’s Bramlage Coliseum.
According to Sports in Kansas, the Sterling Black Bears turned in the most dominant performance of all state tournament games Wednesday.
Sterling (21-3), which led 58-23 at halftime, will play in the 6 p.m. Final Four boys game Friday against Ell-Saline (21-3), which defeated Rossville 82-78 in the fourth semifinal game Wednesday. The Sterling Black Bears, coached by Derek Schneider, are making their fifth trip to state in the past six years.
Boston Ekart, a 6-foot-6 junior, led the Sterling Black Bears with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Blake Smith scored 19 points, Zane Farney 12, Zachary Dashiell 12 and Davis Thompson 9.
Carson Schriner led Chase County (Cottonwood Falls) with 13 points. Wyatt Griffin scored 11, Hudson Doty 10 and Masen Scott 7.
Also in the Class 2A boys quarterfinals, No. 1 Moundridge (24-0) defeated Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan 58-25 in the quarterfinals. Colgan finished the season with a 13-11 record.
Heath Churchill led the Wildcats from Moundridge with 12 points. Kepple Adolph scored 11, Bear Moddlemog 10 and Henry Hecox 9. Brock Radell led Colgan with 6 points.
Moundridge will play Valley Falls (20-1) in the 4 p.m. semifinal Friday.
The Valley Falls Dragons, making their third state tournament appearances in five years, defeated Syracuse 58-54 in the 2A boys quarterfinals Wednesday.
Class 6A boys
No. 8-seed Maize upset No. 1 Shawnee Mission South 49-48. Shawnee Mission South’s season ended with a 21-2 record.
Brayden Myovela led Maize (17-6) with 15 points. Ty Willits scored 9. Alex Grill 9, Justin Hanna 8 and Charles Sharpe 7. Conor Kerrigan led SM South with 22 points and John Allen scored 18. Calan Gregory had 7 assists.
Maize will play Shawnee Mission Northwest in the 2 p.m. semifinal game Friday. SM Northwest beat Mill Valley 76-52 in the quarterfinals.
In addition to Class 6A’s No. 1 team Shawnee Mission South going down, the No. 2-seeded Derby Panthers were dominated 69-50 by No. 7 Olathe North.
In the final 6A boys state quarterfinal game Wednesday night, No. 3 seed Wichita Heights took down No. 6 Washburn Rural 64-44. Heights will match up with Olathe North in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
Class 5A girls
No. 8 Aquinas upset No. 1-seeded and previously undefeated Hays High (22-1). Hays led by 4 points at halftime but the Saints put together a 29-point second half to win it.
Alexandra Crouse led the Saints with 21 points. Laila Boylan scored 18 points. Sofia Calovich scored 7 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Molly Martin led Hays with 21 points and Jenna Schmeidler scored 18 points.
The Aquinas Saints (17-7) will play Spring Hill (20-3) at 2 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. Spring Hill defeated Maize South 61-56 in the quarterfinals. The 6 p.m. boys semifinal Friday features Andover (22-1) against Topeka Seaman (23-0).
Andover defeated St. James Academy 49-44 and Topeka Seaman defeated Kansas City Piper 66-54.
Class 4A boys
The Ottawa High School Cyclones improved to 23-0 with a 63-46 victory over Atchison in the Class 4A state quarterfinals Friday at Salina.
Adam McCullough led Ottawa with 18 points, Jayce Mourning scored 15 and Cole McGrath 11. Eric Smith III led Atchison with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Vogt Purdy added 10 points.
Ottawa will play McPherson (19-4) in the 4A boys semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday.
McPherson defeated Baldwin 60-59 in overtime in the quarterfinals on a buzzer-beating shot by Gabe Pyle. There were eight lead changes and eight ties.
Gabe Pyle led the Bullpups with 23 points and added 6 rebounds. Jett Pyle scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Ashton Malm had 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Cooper Carr led Baldwin with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Leo Schoenberger, who scored a bucket to give Baldwin a 59-58 lead, scored 14 points. Colton Collum added 9 points and 8 rebounds.
In the third 4A boys quarterfinal Wednesday, Rock Creek (21-2) defeated Abilene 56-33. It was the third win for Rock Creek this season over its North Central Kansas League opponent Abilene (16-7).
Rock Creek will play Andale in the 6 p.m. semifinal game Friday.
Andale defeated Pratt 45-43 on a shot by Austin Baalman with 2.3 seconds left. The Andale-Pratt game featured nine lead changes and three ties. Andale trailed by 6 points with 2:50 left in the game.
Baalman led Andale with 13 points and Jack Horsch scored 10. Arley Morell scored 27 of Pratt’s 43 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Class 1A Division I girls
No. 1-seed Centralia defeated No. 7 St. John-Hudson 50-27 Wednesday afternoon at Dodge City.
The Panthers (24-6) will play Troy (22-1) in the 2 p.m. semifinal game Friday. Troy defeated Claflin-Central Plains 33-25 in the quarterfinals.
Troy was paced by junior guard Harper Whetstine, who scored a game-high 19 points. Central Plains senior Aevyn Siemsen led the Oilers with 10 points. Senior Marilyn Soeken and sophomore Maggie Strouse each scored 6 points.
In the third Class Division I girls quarterfinal game Wednesday, Little River defeated Colony-Crest 76-27 and will play Quinter in the 6 p.m. semifinal game Friday. Quinter defeated South Gray 65-54 in the late quarterfinal game Wednesday.
Four Little River girls scored in double figures, led by Havana Olander with 16 points. Saelyn Raleigh and Avery Laffery each scored 12 and Adeline Strecker added 10, Arika Feldman scored 8, Macy Schubert 7 and Evie Look 6.
Cursten Allen led the Colony-Crest Lancers with 7 points.
Central Plains finished the season with a 19-4 record, St. John 18-6, Colony-Crest 14-8.
Class 1A Division II girls
No. 8 Linn upset No. 1 South Haven in Game 1 of the quarterfinals Wednesday at the Colby Event Center.
Marcela Huerta led Linn with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Isabelle Rogge had 10points and 10 rebounds. Kelly Theurer led South Haven with 9 points and Adele Helsel tallied 8.
The Bulldogs (17-6) handed South Haven (21-2) its second loss of the season. Linn will match up with Attica in the 2 p.m. semifinal Friday.
Attica (21-3) defeated Bucklin (20-4) 47-40 in the quarterfinals. It will be the first Final Four appearance for the Attica Bulldogs, who are making the second state tournament appearance school history. Neither Linn nor Attica has played in a state championship game.
Zoie Regate led Attica with 17 points. Liberty Swingle scored 15 and Emma Asper 8.
Bucklin junior Emmerson “Emmy” Kirk scored 17 points and passed the 1,000-point milestone in the Red Aces’ final game of the season. Karlee Evans added 12 points and 7 rebounds.
In the late quarterfinal games Wednesday, Lebo defeated Hodgeman County (18-6) 44-24 and Hanover defeated Wallace County 64-46 to advance to the Final Four.
The Wolves (21-2) will play Hanover in the 6 p.m. semifinal Friday in a rematch of last year’s 1A DII girls state tile game won by Hanover.
Lebo was led in the Hodgeman County contest by Allison Konrade with 14 points. Saige Hadley scored 12 and Siara Crouch added 10. Hodgeman County was paced by Kylee Reece with 9 points.
HutchCC softball team sweeps Seward County
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon softball team swept Seward County in a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference doubleheader Wednesday at Fun Valley.
Hutchinson won the first game 5-3 and the second game 9-1.
Hutchinson’s Tailor Golly hit a home run in Game 2.
The Blue Dragons improved to 13-5 overall (7-1 KJCCC, 7-1 at home).
The Blue Dragons play a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at Colby Community College.
Buhler wrestlers recognized on AVCTL Division III/IV Team
Members of the Buhler High School wrestling team were recognized on the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Divisions III/IV Teams.
First team girls: Macey Parks, the state championship at 145 pounds; Lillie Ledford, 135 pounds.
First team boys: Cruz Hershberger, 144 pounds; Luke Kerns, 165 pounds; Jacob Burklow, 175 pounds.
Second team boys: Sammy Herhsberger, 132 pounds; Stryker Avery, 138 pounds.
Honorable mention boys: Jake Kerns, 157 pounds.
Honorable mention girls: Kennedee Applegate, 130 pounds.
Ashley Nehls named volleyball coach at Buhler High School
According to the Hutchinson Post, Ashley Nehls will be named as the next head volleyball coach at Buhler High School, beginning with the 2025 season.
The announcement was made by Buhler athletic director Justin Seuser.
Nehls was approved at the USD 313 Buhler March Board Meeting held on Tuesday evening.
She brings a wealth of knowledge with head coaching stints at Dodge City Community College and William Woods University (Mo.). She also has numerous years coaching club volleyball throughout the midwest.
Nehls’ most recent head job at the school level was at Emporia High School.
Nehls played collegiately at Butler Community College from 2004-06, where she led the Grizzlies in aces.
Nehls’ husband, Brock, is the head baseball coach at Hutchinson Community College. He is in his second season.
Ad Astra Athlete of the Week: Central Christian’s Jayden Linscheid
Ad Astra Radio announced that Hutchinson Central Christian High School senior Jayden Linscheid is the Athlete of the Week.
For the week, Linscheid had two monster performances in leading Central Christian to a pair of upset wins and a Class 1A Division II substate championship.
He has been a double-double machine this season for Central Christian, which heads to the state tournament in Colby with a 13-10 record.
The Cougars (13-10), the No. 7 seed, will play No. 2 Axtell (22-1) in a first-round game at 6 p.m. Thursday.
He’s averaging 10 points and 13.3 rebounds a game, plus 1.7 blocked shots, 1.7 assists and 1.3 assists a game.
Linscheid has signed to compete in track and field next year at Fort Hays State.