Olathe South girls advance to Class 6A state semifinals

Although Olathe South recorded a double-digit victory against Shawnee Mission Northwest in the regular season, the Cougars gave the Falcons all they could handle Wednesday.

Nursing a one-point lead after Brenni Rose hit a three-pointer for the Cougars, Bailey Rinehart drew a foul on the inbounds pass and knocked down a free throw to deliver a 59-57 victory for Olathe South in the Class 6A state quarterfinals on Wednesday at Koch Arena in Wichita.

The Falcons improved to 21-2 and will face defending Class 6A state champion Wichita South on Friday.

The score was tied at 35 to start the fourth quarter, but Shawnee Mission Northwest held a 46-41 advantage moments later. Olathe South responded with an 8-0 run which included two steals on inbounds passes which led to quick layups by Kala Holder.

“The turning point was getting a couple steals, pressure and easy baskets to change the momentum a little bit,” Falcons coach Steve Ingram said. “Luckily we’ve got good ball handlers that make big free throws so that helps down the stretch too.”

Olathe South’s Rinehart and Kylee Kopatich went a combined 10 for 14 from the line in the final two minutes of the game.

“You always want to be the team that’s getting fouled and getting to the free throw line because it could mean the game,” Rinehart said.

Kopatich led the Falcons with 16 points and Rinehart followed with 15 points. Rose finished with 16 points for the Cougars.

The game started with five consecutive turnovers between Shawnee Mission West and top-seeded Manhattan and ended in a disappointing loss for the Vikings. By the end, the two teams tallied 30 turnovers and 37 fouls.

“Offensively we weren’t aggressive at all trying to get it inside or even attack off the dribble,” Vikings coach Scott Aldrich said. “On the other end they had offensive rebounds galore and that’s what killed us.”

Manhattan pulled down 17 of its 37 rebounds on offense while Shawnee Mission West combined for just 16 overall.

Wyoming signee Marleah Campbell led Shawnee Mission West with 12 points and Caroline Ballard led Manhattan with 14. The Vikings finished the season 13-10.

Despite trailing Maize for most of the fourth quarter, the Blue Valley North girls basketball team had the lead in the final minutes with a chance to advance to the state semifinals.

However, the Mustangs allowed 13 consecutive points by the Eagles. Blue Valley North carried a 26-21 lead into halftime, but was outscored 34-19 in the second half.

“We just got out of character and got tight,” Mustangs coach Ann Fritz said. “We didn’t step up like we needed to and execute offensively. Then defensively, we had some breakdowns.”

Micaela Delagarza and Bria Pierce had 14 points each for the Mustangs, and Brianna Johnson scored 19 points for the Eagles.

This story was originally published March 12, 2014 at 11:17 PM with the headline "Olathe South girls advance to Class 6A state semifinals."