By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Seaman's girls cleared a couple of major hurdles in Thursday's 51-38 Class 5A state quarterfinal win over De Soto at White Auditorium.
Junior Anna Becker led three double-figure scorers for Seaman in Thursday's 51-38 Class 5A state tournament win over De Soto. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
The Vikings not only completed the always tough task of beating the same team three times in the same season but Seaman also wiped away the bad memories left by a 23-point first-round loss to St James Academy in the 2023 state tournament.
"DeSoto's a great team, they're well-coached, and their players probably knew our scouting report and we knew theirs,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "It really just came down to execution and I told the girls before the game, 'This game's going to have ebbs and flows.'
"We started off and we got them out of the gate. They came back and hit us hard, so it was back and forth but we knew it would be a game like this and we made just enough plays at the end.''
With Thursday's win Seaman (21-2) advanced to Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal to face undefeated top seed Andover (23-0), a 65-42 first-round winner over Blue Valley Southwest.
"We're enjoying the moment,'' Tinsley said. "We've got a good team and everybody here is good. I really feel like we have a special team and they know what it takes. Last year was an eye-opener for us. It was a learning experience for us and that's been our goal, to get back here and we want to make some noise.''
Seaman never trailed against United Kansas Conference rival De Soto after a dominating opening quarter that saw the Vikings score the first nine points and lead 19-5 before ending the quarter with a 21-10 advantage.
But 19-4 De Soto, which suffered three of its four losses against Seaman, came storming back in the second stanza, ending the quarter with a 10-0 run to pull within 23-20 at the half.
The Vikings didn't flinch, however, scoring the first seven points of the second half, capped by a Jaida Stallbaumer 3-pointer, to push its lead back to double-digits at 30-20 with 6:13 left in the third.
Seaman went on to lead by 13 in the quarter (39-26) before De Soto cut its deficit to nine (39-30) at the start of the fourth.
The Wildcats got within four points (42-38) with 4:03 left before Seaman went eight of eight on its final eight free throw attempts to pull away.
"I consider us a good second-half team and we work on free throws every day at practice and it just came down to doing the little stuff,'' said junior Anna Becker, who led the Vikings with 15 points and hit five free throws over the final 2:40, including her last four charities.
"You've got to go out there every day and be ready to compete.''
Sophomore Maddie Gragg scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Seaman's 51-38 Class 5A state tournament win over De Soto Thursday in Emporia. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Junior Jaida Stallbaumer (4) scored 10 points in Seaman's 51-38 Class 5A state tournament win over De Soto, including a pair of 3-pointers. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Joining Becker in double figures for the Vikings were sophomore Maddie Gragg with 14 points and J. Stallbaumer with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Junior Ava Esser led Seaman with 10 rebounds.
Despite fighting foul problems Ava Esser led Seaman with 10 rebounds in Thursday's 51-38 win over De Soto. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Violet Conley led De Soto with a game-high 18 points, including a 10 of 12 performance at the free throw line while Addison Tower added 10 points with the Wildcats' only two 3-pointers.
SEAMAN GIRLS 51, DE SOTO 38
De Soto 10 10 10 8 -- 38
Seaman 21 2 16 12 -- 51
De Soto (19-4) -- Addison Tower 4-15 0-1 10, Farmer 2-9 0-0 4, Amanda Tower 1-6 0-0 2, Conley 4-10 10-12 18, O'Brian 2-4 0-0 4, Kmiecik 0-0 0-0 0, Cinotto 0-0 0-0 0, Lawson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-44 10-13 38.
Seaman (21-2) -- J. Stallbaumer 4-8 0-0 10, T. Stallbaumer 2-9 2-2 7, Becker 5-14 5-8 15, Gragg 4-14 5-6 14, Esser 2-5 1-2 5, McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, E. Stallbaumer 0-2 0-0 0, Steiner 0-0 0-0 0, Beaton 0-0 0-0 0, Wilhelm 0-0 0-0 0, Moulden 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 13-18 51.
3-point shots -- De Soto 2-16 (Addison Tower 2-9, Amanda Tower 0-4, Conley 0-2, Farmer 0-1), Seaman 4-16 (J. Stallbaumer 2-3, T. Stallbaumer 1-4, Gragg 1-6, Becker 0-1, E. Stallbaumer 0-2). Total fouls -- De Soto 20, Seaman 15. Fouled out -- T. Stallbaumer, Farmer, Amanda Tower. Technical fouls -- none.
