CHS girls defeat Red Raiders, 43-33
The Concordia High School Panthers remained perfect at home in North Central Kansas League play this season by turning back Wamego 43-33 Friday night in the Concordia Junior-Senior High School gymnasium.
Concordia, picking up its fourth consecutive win, is now 4-0 at home in league play.
The Panthers improved to 10-7 overall and 5-2 in the league. They are just a half game back of Clay Center for first place.
Wamego, which lost two key players to injury, suffered a third loss in the past four games and is now 14-4 overall and 5-3 in the NCKL.
The Red Raiders went 13-1 to begin the season.
“That was huge for us,” Concordia coach Trey Kuhlman said of the win. “They had probably their two best players out with injuries, but there is a culture that has been built there. Their intensity and aggressiveness, especially at the defensive end, hasn’t changed with those two out. I thought our girls did a nice job of taking care of the basketball, being aggressive and shooting with confidence.”
Giving up just one basket in the first 5:18, the Panthers jumped out to a 12-2 lead on Wamego.
“I thought we brought the energy right off the bat. We were ready to go,” Kuhlman said.
Leah Winter scored on a drive and Sara Springer hit a three-point shot to get the Red Raiders within five points, 12-7.
A layup by Taylor McDaniel gave Concordia a 14-7 lead heading into the second quarter.
Springer knocked down another three, and Wamego was down 14-10.
Rylie Jessup scored off an offensive rebound to start a 9-0 run by the Panthers that Charlize Cash capped off with a steal and layup that made it 23-10.
Concordia took a 25-14 lead into halftime.
Wamego scored the first five points of the second half to cut the deficit to six points, 25-19.
Jessup buried a three to give the Panthers a 28-19 cushion.
Winter scored for the Red Raiders off an offensive rebound.
Concordia shut out Wamego over the final 4:54 of the third quarter and scored eight straight points to open up a 36-21 lead.
Hannah Bridwell made a three 41 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it a 39-21 game.
The Panthers would go 6:16 without scoring.
Starting with a three-point basket by Amber Kinsley, the Red Raiders put together a 10-0 spurt to close to within eight points, 39-31.
“It looked like our girls got a little tired. And give credit to Wamego, they started hitting some shots,” Kuhlman said.
Two free throws by Cash ended the Panther scoring drought and upped the lead to 41-31 with 1:03 remaining.
Winter made two free throws for Wamego.
Kinsleigh Bethune went two of two from the free throw line with 32 seconds on the clock, and Concordia led 43-33.
Neither team scored after that.
“I think our girls did a nice job of not panicking and we still controlled the basketball game,” Kuhlman said.
Cash led a balanced Panther attack with 10 points. She also had six steals.
Jessup scored eight points. McDaniel and Carlie Carlgren added seven points each.
Winter paced Wamego with 10 points.
Concordia, which is battling for a league title and the possibility of hosting a Class 4A sub-state game, has three games this week.
The Panthers have a makeup game at Chapman tonight, host Clay Center on Tuesday and play a makeup game at Wamego on Thursday.
“These next three games are big for us. Not only for league play but our chances of being able to host a sub-state first-round game,” Kuhlman said. “We are right where we want to be. I told the girls I want teams to be chasing us and us not chasing other teams. I think our girls have buckled down and taken that challenge.”
WAMEGO (33)
Panzer 1-0-4 2, Winter 3-3-4 10, Kinsley 1-0-0 3, Wilber 3-0-2 6, Pittenger-Reed 2-0-1 5, Springer 3-0-2 7, Frazier-Brown 0-0-2 0. Totals: 13-3-15 33.
CONCORDIA (43)
Bisnette 0-0-1 0, Bethune 0-2-0 2, Jessup 3-0-0 8, Carlgren 3-1-1 7, Bridwell 1-0-3 3, Cash 4-2-2 10, McDaniel 3-1-2 7, Roush 3-0-1 6. Totals: 17-6-7 43.