Bishop Miege boys team and girls team both headed for state championship games
It will be a double-dip of Bishop Miege basketball on Saturday at the Kansas Class 4A, Division I state tournaments in Salina.
Both the boys and girls teams advanced to the state championships with semifinals victories on Saturday at Tony’s Pizza Event Center.
The Bishop Miege boys, seeded third, rolled by second-seeded Abilene 54-36 on Friday night.
The third-seeded Bishop Miege girls, meanwhile, beat second-seeded Towanda Circle 50-39.
It also will be a double-dip for McPherson.
Both the McPherson boys and girls (both No. 4 seeds) advanced to the championships with semifinals wins on Saturday.
The Miege boys will face McPherson in the championship at 6:15 p.m. Miege improved to 21-3 on the season, while McPherson is 20-4.
The Miege girls will play McPherson at 4 p.m.
The Miege girls of course are in familiar territory.
The Miege girls will be going for their fourth straight state championship.
And the Miege girls (21-3) will also be trying for their 20th state title overall on Saturday, and they currently sit among the state’s best because of their defense, which surrendered 50 or more points only twice this season.
Circle (21-3) labored to approach 40 against the Miege girls, making 5 of 28 shots in the first half and 6 of 27 in the second. The Thunderbirds never settled on a philosophy, and Miege shut down all facets of Circle’s offense.
That was key to Bishop Miege’s own offense. The Stags sputtered at times in the halfcourt but turned many of Circle’s 14 turnovers into layups or free-throw chances.
“I tell them all the time, we’ll score some points somehow,” Bishop Miege girls coach Terry English said. “If we play great defense, rebound, hold our own on the boards, we’re going to win.”
English was happy with the disruption that the Miege defense caused. “What we did was take them out of their offense,” English said.
McPherson girls 54, Piper 38
McPherson reached the title game with an impressive third quarter, when it outscored Piper 22-11 to break open a four-point game.
Taylor Robertson matched her quarterfinal production by scoring 22 points. Mandi Cooks had 17 points and 10 rebounds for McPherson, which will try for its first title since 2008.
Piper will (22-2) will take on Circle in the third-place game at noon.
This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Bishop Miege boys team and girls team both headed for state championship games."