By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
Friday's semifinal games of the Glacier’s Edge Tournament had three of the top four-ranked teams in Class 6A (Wichita Heights No. 1, Derby No. 2, SM South No. 4) along with the top-ranked and defending state champion from Class 5A, Seaman, battling for the two spots in Saturday's championship game at Emporia High School.
Junior Maddie Gragg (32) scored a game-high 27 points in Seaman's 70-45 win over SM South Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
The Seaman Lady Vikings defeated the Shawnee Mission South Raiders, 70-45 on Friday night, turning a 4-point game at halftime into a rout as Seaman scored 51 points in the second half.
The Lady Vikes improved to 12-0 on the season and will face the Derby Panthers, a 52-46 upset winner over Wichita Heights, in the championship game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Over the first three minutes of the opening quarter, the Raiders jumped out to a 6-3 lead by beating the Lady Vikes off the dribble. The Lady Vikes battled back with 10 points by junior Maddie Gragg and led at the end of the first quarter, 14-11. However, both teams were sloppy with the ball -- Seaman committed seven turnovers and SM South six.
The sloppy play continued in the second quarter, with both teams committing seven turnovers each. Senior Anna Becker made Seaman’s first and only field goal of the quarter with 5:00 remaining in the half. But the Lady Vikes' defense was stingy and held SM South to only two buckets in the quarter and led 19-15 at the half.
“I thought in the first half we struggled to get into a flow of the game,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Too many turnovers and we shot 5-21 from the field. That’s not a good combination, but our defense was solid and kept us in the game.”
Scoring offense made an appearance in the third quarter for both teams, as each team scored more points (Seaman 27, SM South 17) in the quarter than they had in the entire first half.
“The girls made a great adjustment at the half and just made the game simple,'' Tinsley said. "Anna hit back-to-back 3s to kind of jump-start us.”
Along with Becker’s 6 points, Gragg dropped in 8 points and senior Jaida Stallbaumer scored 7 in the decisive third quarter.
Gragg continued her hot shooting in the fourth quarter as she scored 9 more points, leading to the final 25-point win.
“The girls kept looking for Maddie when she was on fire,'' Tinsley said. "We were more disciplined in our game and let the game come to us.”
During the game, Becker became the all-time leading scorer for girls basketball at Seaman.
The Lady Vikes were led by two in double figures -- Gragg with 27 and Becker with 12. Senior Ava Esser pulled down 12 rebounds, Becker led the team with 5 assists and Gragg had 3 blocks.
The Raiders were led by junior Micah Kirkwood with 19 points and sophomore Ella Jack chipped in with 8.
SEAMAN 70, SM SOUTH 45
SM South 11 4 17 13 -- 45
Seaman 14 5 27 24 -- 70
SM South (7-4) -- Merriman 0-0 0-0 0, Kirkwood 6-16 7-8 19, Slaven 1-5 1-2 3, Potts 2-8 2-2 7, Jouras 1-2 0-1 2, Jack 2-10 3-4 8, Berndt 1-5 0-0 2, Kramer 1-4 2-2 4, Miglianti 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-50 15-19 45.
Seaman (12-0) -- Frickey 0-0 0-0 0, Ketron 0-0 0-0 0, Stallbaumer 1-6 5-5 7, Miller 2-4 1-3 5, Spencer 1-1 0-0 3, Beaton 0-5 0-0 0, Becker 4-11 2-3 12, Wilhelm 2-6 3-6 8, Gragg 8-14 6-9 27, Esser 2-3 4-7 8. Totals 20-50 21-33 70.
3 point goals -- SM South 2 (Potts, Jack), Seaman 9 (Gragg 5, Becker 2, Spencer, Wilhelm). Total fouls -- SM South 24, Seaman 17. Fouled out - Jack, Berndt, Stallbaumer. Technical foul -- SM South bench.
GLACIER’S EDGE TOURNAMENT
RESULTS FRIDAY
Topeka High 84, Wichita Northwest 45
Wichita South 47, Emporia 28
Derby 52, Wichita Heights 46
Seaman 70, SM South 45
GAMES SATURDAY
11:00 a.m. -- Wichita Northwest vs. Emporia (7th Place)
11:00 a.m. -- Topeka High vs. Wichita South (5th Place)
12:30 p.m. -- SM South vs. Wichita Heights (3rd Place)
2:00 p.m. -= Seaman vs. Derby (Championship)
