Paola’s 6-4 center dominates in 70-62 girls state semifinal victory over Buhler

The problems that Paola senior Tiana Moala caused for Buhler in Friday’s Kansas Class 4A Division I state semifinals were obvious — her 6-foot-4 frame made her 6 inches taller than Buhler center Kellie Burns.

Moala used that advantage to not only block three shots, but alter every Buhler shot in the lane.

With that advantage, Paola defeated Buhler 70-62 and will take its 24-0 record into today’s title game at 4 p.m. at the Bicentennial Center.

“This is awesome,” said Moala, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. “We’ve been working toward this all season. All my four years, we’ve been wanting a championship. We all love each other, so it’s just business for us to win this next game and be state champs.”

Paola is making its 12th state appearance, but is vying for its first state title. Paola lost in the first round the past two seasons.

“This started back at Stillwater (Okla.), at team camp, wanting to be that kind of team,” Paola coach Stuart Ross said. “We’re here. We’ve got a chance. That’s what I told them, just give us a shot.”

Moala picked up her second foul late in the first quarter, and Buhler responded by driving to the basket. By the 6:12 mark of the second quarter — after an Alex Keller three — Buhler had a 25-14 lead.

“We were playing their game,” Moala said. “We needed to slow it down, good passes, pass fakes. We need to run our offense. We were getting too excited.”

Ross said it wasn’t a gamble to bring Moala back in the game.

“She doesn’t get a 31 on her ACT because she’s dumb,” he said. “She’s a smart kid.”

Moala only got one more foul and played 29 minutes.

“She has a wing span that is like (Michael Jordan) at times,” Ross said. “It changes things. It really does.”

Buhler held a 28-24 lead at the half after Jessica Steffen hit a three at the buzzer. She opened the second half with a driving layup and finished with a game-high 21 points.

But Paola pulled away in the third quarter. Even when Buhler turned to the press, the Panthers were able to break it and beat Buhler to the goal for open layups.

Buhler had 21 turnovers.

Paola’s Lyndsee Johnson scored a team-high 20 points and Morgan Laudan added 19 points.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Paola’s 6-4 center dominates in 70-62 girls state semifinal victory over Buhler."