Aquinas keep quest for 4th straight hoops title alive as three KC 5A teams advance
Undefeated Maize South hit four buckets in the second half.
St. Thomas Aquinas led from start to finish in an impressive 47-29 win over Maize South on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Kansas Class 5A girls state basketball tournament. The Saints’ size was unlike anything the Mavericks had seen.
Beatrice Culliton, a 6-foot-3 freshman, scored a game-high 18 points. She said the mindset to dominate started Tuesday night when coach Rich Hetzel addressed the team.
“He got us ready,” Culliton said. “We were all excited to come out and play our hardest no matter what the coutcome was. The message was simple: Just play hard. Work your butts off.”
Maize South shot 12.5 percent from three-point range in the loss and 26.3 percent from the floor. The Mavericks did not play like an undefeated team.
Maize South entered the state tournament as the No. 5 seed despite no losses after the Kansas State High School Activities Association ruled senior Zayda Perez ineligible ahead of the sub-state tournament before reversing the decision and deeming her a “partial transfer.”
Perez moved from Valley Center, where she lived with her mother, to Maize, where she lived with her father. But because her dad did not change his address, the transfer was not bona fide. Although Perez was ruled eligible for the state tournament, the Mavericks were given a five-loss penalty.
“I guess we’re the eighth seed,” Aquinas coach Rick Hetzel said. “It was kind of goofy, everything that happened with them. But we don’t worry about them. We worry about ourselves.”
Neither Hetzel nor Culliton said they anticipated Wednesday’s lop-sided result. But Culliton said playing against an unbeaten team only added to their motivation.
Aquinas had three of the game’s top four scorers. Sophomore Madison Skelton, who scored 17, and senior Blythe Pearson, adding 7, rounded out the Saints’ top three.
With the win, Aquinas has reached its fifth straight state semifinal and keeps its run alive for a fourth straight championship. Hetzel said this year’s group makes up for a loss in athleticism with an outstanding basketball IQ.
The Saints play the defending Class 4A-Division I champion McPherson in the semifinal round at 3 p.m. Friday.
“I’m really happy to be a part of a community that just wants to win,” Culliton said. “We’re ready. We’re ready to win it.”
Schlagle pulls through Heights at the buzzer
With 1.4 seconds left, the clock became KC Schlagle’s best defender.
Wichita Heights inbounded to sophomore Laniah Randle in the left corner, who drove the lane and tossed up a prayer that fell through the hoop, but the referees ruled it too late as the Stallions pulled out a 69-67 win to reach the Class 5A semifinals.
With 8.2 seconds left, Schlagle junior Camille Evans hit her second of two free throws. Heights junior Marcazian Zeigler ran the floor but lost the ball about the three-point line. Schlagle sophomore Tylieea Wallace fielded the groundball, but Heights senior RaJone Callahan wisely clamped down on the ball.
Schlagle celebrated down the court as the Stallions believed the clock ran out, but the referees called a jump ball, possession Heights to set up the final play.
Wallace finished with 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting. She was key throughout the final three quarters to Schlagle’s comeback, trailing by as many as seven in the third quarter.
“I can’t say enough about Tylieea Wallace,” Schlagle coach Mark Western said. “We don’t get anywhere in this game if she doesn’t shoot like she did tonight. She’s usually a walking double-double.”
Schlagle junior Ishante Suttington went out with an injury, and Western said Evans and Wallace became pivotal to carry the team down the stretch.
Evans finished with 18 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, 12 rebounds and seven assists, many of which went to Wallace in the low post. Wallace said everyone came together late Wednesday night, but even through a remarkable effort, it came down to a split-second decision at the buzzer.
“I’m not gonna lie; I was nervous a little bit,” she said. “I had faith my team was gonna pull it off, but it was just a good fight at the end.”
With the win, Schlagle advances to the state semifinal against Blue Valley Southwest in a No. 6 and 7-seed matchup. Western said his program has been building toward getting over the hump in the state tournament for the past four years.
He said he was especially proud of the Stallions’ effort against the No. 3 seed in 5A.
“Friday should be a hell of a game,” Western said. “Credit to the players tonight. They stepped up and made the plays, and at the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to.”
BV Southwest pulls comeback on Goddard
With about 20 seconds to go, Arielle Sargent took over.
The Blue Valley Southwest senior post got a block in the lane on Goddard’s Brooke Sullivan. Then, seconds before the buzzer, Sargent got another on the Lions’ Kade Hackerott. Both preserved the Timberwolves’ 36-34 state quarterfinal victory.
Sargent was Southwest’s leading scorer with 11 on 4-of-5 shooting, but her biggest contribution came defensively in the fourth quarter. Blue Valley Southwest entered the final frame facing a 32-26 deficit.
The T-Wolves allowed two free throws in the fourth quarter, no buckets.
Goddard entered tied with the second best defense in Kansas’ top three classes, allowing 31 points per game through the regular season. The game favored the Lions’ style of play, but Blue Valley Southwest stepped up defensively.
Junior Madeline Garretson finished second on the team with seven points, including a pair of vital three-pointers. And senior point guard Ashley Loeffelbein added six points and four assists.
With the win, Blue Valley Southwest will play the winner of Wichita Heights and Kansas City Schlagle in the state quarterfinals, the T-Wolves’ first appearance in the final four since 2015.
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Aquinas keep quest for 4th straight hoops title alive as three KC 5A teams advance."