HAYS — What Jeff True had hailed as a “David and Goliath” matchup for his Southern Coffey County Lady Titans, didn’t end biblically as he had hoped. THE TITANS came out cold in the third, hitting only two free throws in the period. Hope Beach hit first for the Bulldogs, followed by a field goal and 3-pointer from Kaisha Batman.
The Lady Titans lost in the first round of the Class 1A, division II state tournament, 54-27, to the top-seeded Ingalls High Bulldogs Wednesday afternoon at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Coliseum.
“In the first half, turnovers were key,” True said.
That was an understatement.
The Bulldogs showed their “bite” from the very beginning, with an oppressive full-court press. The Titans were startled, and gave up the ball numerous times, leading to transition points for Ingalls.
The Lady Titans gave up four steals right off the bat. Miranda Alumbaugh hit a free throw to put SCC on the scoreboard, but not before the Bulldogs led 5-0 with six minutes left in the quarter.
Tara Whipple, the high scorer for Ingalls, hit a field goal immediately after. Breanna Isch had a foul shot as well for SCC, followed by a long 2-pointer. Ingalls’ Rebecca Wyatt had yet another steal for a layup, followed by additional shots from Whipple and Deisy Estrada. Sarah Webb hit a foul shot to put the score to 21-5 going into the second quarter.
True was impressed with the scoring ability of the Bulldogs, particularly Whipple, whom he said was better than scouting reports indicated.
“I don’t remember her missing,” he said.
The Titans settled down for the second quarter, but still found difficulties defending Ingalls’ offense.
“When we slowed down and paid attention to what we were doing, we handled things like we do in practice,” True said.
Kalyn Deal hit a jumper for the Lady Titans early in the second, and then responded with another long field goal following a score from Ingalls’ Bulma Galaviz. Martyna Hegwald drove past a defender and hit a layup despite a foul. She hit the free throw to complete the 3-point play.
Galaviz and Whipple responded with scoring drives of their own. Alumbaugh hit a long 2-pointer for SCC before the half to make the score 34-14.
“We didn’t handled the ball well, although we have been doing well in practice the past couple of days,” True said. “It was a lot of fundamental things.”
Ingalls led 45-16 after three.
“The positive thing is that the girls never gave up,” True said. “There are teams that would have quit.”
The Lady Titans were outscored 11-9 down the stretch, in the final quarter of high basketball for seniors Martyna Hegwald, Myranda Hegwald and Sarah Webb.
Webb shed a tear as she went to the bench for the final time.
Webb hit a field goal at the five-minute mark, followed by a 3-point play off of a foul for Breanna Isch. Webb hit once more under the basket to make the score 47-23. Myranda Hegwald and Isch each had free throws, followed by a driving layup from Amber Emmons with under a minute remaining.
Isch led the Titans with six points. Martyna Hegwald and Webb each had five, followed by Deal with four.
“These kids and their parents have been positive all year long,” True said. “This has been a great group of girls for me, I don’t have any complaints.”
While he will miss the seniors that are leaving the team, he is hopeful for the future of the Lady Titans.
“We are going to miss them (the seniors), but we have a good team and a great group of girls coming up,” he said.
He reminded his team of one key detail: “I told them it is important not to wait to pick up a basketball until next season comes around.”
Ingalls advances to Friday’s semifinal round to take on Wilson, which defeated Baileyville B&B, 53-42, in their opener Wednesday.
SCC (5-9-2-11-27)
Ingalls (21-13-11-9-54)
SCC (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Ma. Hegwald 1-3-0-5, Webb 2-1-3-5, Alumbaugh 1-1-3-3, Isch 2-2-3-6, Lyda 0-0-1-0, Deal 2-0-0-4, Emmons 1-0-0-2, My. Hegwald 0-1-1-1, Hall 0-1-0-1. TOTALS: 9-9-10-27.
Ingalls(FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Estrada 0-1-1-1, Batman 3/1-0-0-9, Whipple 7-0-0-14, Wyatt 3-4-2-10, Galaviz 1-2-4-4, Beach 3/1-0-2-9, Andazola 1-0-0-2, Cure 0-0-2-0, Renick 1-1-1-3, Droste 0-0-1-0, Loewen 1-0-0-2, Tremmel 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 20/2-8-14-54.
Top-ranked Ingalls too much for SCC
