There’s an old friend at the Mid-States Conference tournament table. And they showed up hungry.
First of all it’s difficult to actually write a sentence proclaiming Crofton girls basketball as some sort of underdog. I mean, Crofton has won eight state titles since 2005, reached three other state finals besides. For goodness sakes, they won 15 games last year and reached the conference tournament final, what do you call that.
Well, disappointing.
Disappointing if you are Crofton girls basketball, anyway. Last year’s young team suffered some bumps and bruises, and won some big games, all while getting their ducks in a row for 2019. The Lady Warriors are 14-3 after Tuesday’s satisfying quarterfinal win over Boone Central/Newman Grove (one of the three teams to have beaten Crofton so far this season) to advance to the semifinals of the Mid-States Conference tournament. Right on track.
Top-seeded Crofton will face No. 5 Battle Creek (11-7) in tonight’s (Thursday) first game at NCC-Norfolk, scheduled for a 6:15 p.m. tip-off, with surprising Pierce (really, three-time state champion Pierce a surprise?) facing No. 2 seed O’Neill (11-4) in the nightcap. About that surprise thing, Pierce is the No. 6 seed and upset No. 3 GACC in the quarterfinals; even so the Bluejays will be facing a red-hot O’Neill team that has won 10 games in a row.
There is that thing about Pierce beating O’Neill 54-53 back in the second week of the season but let’s move along with the tour group.
Eight-time state champion coach Aaron Losing has seen his team take big strides toward improvement with the added playing time, both last season and this.
“Our team this year brings more experience and confidence to the table. Most of these girls were limited with experience last year but have gained valuable experiences that have led to improvements on the court on both the offensive and defensive ends,” says Coach Losing. “We are an improved passing team and that has help our offensive performances become more consistent. Defensively we have learned to play with greater effort and energy in order to create problems for the offense, instead of reacting to what the offenses do.”
Crofton’s rotation is still filled with underclassmen, like, way underclassmen, including sophomore sensation Lacey Sprakel, who leads the team in both scoring (16.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg). Junior Alexis Arens (8.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and sophomore Kaley Einrem (7.8 ppg) are other top scoring options and senior Josie Sanger (4.4 assists, 3.2 steals per game) runs the show from the point guard position.
“The Mid-State conference is a great challenge every year and this year is no different,” says Coach Losing. “Our conference is very even across the board this year and lower seeds are very capable of winning games in bunches. You always know you are going to be challenged in every game and that includes this one.”
* There was a major upset in the Mid-States boys first round as No. 8 Pierce, which had to win a play-in game to get to the quarterfinals, upset top seed Hartington Cedar Catholic on Tuesday night. In the name of full disclosure it should be pointed out Pierce had lost to Cedar by just one point, 64-63, back on Jan. 11, and the Bluejays have lost four games by four points or less. That 6-11 record they have could look a whole lot different but reaching the tournament semifinal makes that record just fine, thanks.
In Friday’s semifinals at NCC-Norfolk, Pierce will now tangle with No. 5 seed Norfolk Catholic (8-9) at 6:15 p.m. and No. 2 Battle Creek (11-6) will face No. 3 Boone Central/Newman Grove (9-8) at 7:45. Pierce beat NC by only three points, 40-37, when they played earlier this season and Boone has lost five of eight but advanced with a quarterfinal win over O’Neill.
Battle Creek comes into Friday’s game on a major roll, having won six of seven, the lone loss coming to 17-2 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge. Then again, Battle Creek edged Boone 73-72 in a crazy game played just last Friday.
“If you look at who’s played who you will see that any team can compete with any other team in the tournament. We’ve already seen that,” says BC head coach Matt Rudloff. “That being said it is important to be prepared and ready to play every night.”
Where Battle Creek has made its money, especially since the holiday break, is on the glass, having out rebounded opponents by a substantial margin, thanks in large part (pun intended) to the presence of interior players Slate Kraft and Luke Stueve, both juniors.
“We are blessed this year to have two bigs like Luke and Slate. They are both averaging close to 12 points a game and both have been rebounding machines,” says Coach Rudloff. “They work well in the high/low and are great passers, finding open guards when teams pack it in.”
But wait, there’s more. Junior Dylan Mettler has been the team’s floor general and plays great defense, averaging about eight points per game, junior Payton Frederick has knocked down 26 threes, and junior Reece Bode is super quick and is the team’s best guard defender. Adding depth to the rotation are junior Koby Heller and sophomores Chase Oltmanns and Mason Mink.
With the No. 1 seed out of the way there is a clear path for the No. 2 seed to the tournament title. Right? Then again, there is that close call with Boone and NC almost beat Pierce, which was in the play-in game for goodness sakes. My advice is the expect the unexpected.
