By CHARLES SPURLOCK
TopSports.news
Entering the final two weeks of the regular season, teams are beginning to get prepared for the second season -- the state playoffs.
That was apparent in Tuesday night’s game between the Seaman girls, ranked second in Class 5A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, and Leavenworth, with the Vikings played a very unselfish, team game in defeating the Pioneers in a home United Kansas Conference contest, 59-22.
The Lady Vikings jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first four minutes and extended the lead to 18-6 at the end of the first quarter. Seaman shot 7-14 from the field, with sophomore Maddie Gragg hitting 4-5 shots and totaling nine points.
Seaman’s shooting improved in the second quarter with the team shooting 8-12 and holding Leavenworth to only one point -- a free throw with 3:42 remaining in the quarter - to take a commanding 36-7 lead to the halftime break.
The second half saw both teams play zone defense for the majority of the time and Seaman outscored Leavenworth 23-15, cruising to the 37-point win.
“They play basketball the way you should play and that is unselfish,'' Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Our ball movement was the best it’s been all year.”
The Lady Vikings had 16 assists on their 24 baskets.
“Before the game we talked about playing hard and together and when you do that good things happen,” Tinsley said.
The Lady Vikes were led by two in double figures -- junior Anna Becker scored a game-high 16 points, followed by Gragg with 14. Gragg totaled five assists and four steals while Becker contributed four assists and junior Jaida Stallbaumer had four steals.
The Pioneers were led by senior Eva Clements with 10 points while fellow senior Kylee West grabbed 8 rebounds.
Seaman (16-1 overall, 13-0 UKC) will travel to conference foe Basehor-Linwood on Friday.
SEAMAN GIRLS 59, LEAVENWORTH 22
Leavenworth 6 1 11 4 -- 22
Seaman 18 18 13 10 -- 59
Leavenworth (5-12, 3-10) -- Barker 0-2 0-0 0, Garrett 1-3 0-0 3, N. Walker 1-2 0-0 2, Gilman 0-3 0-0 0, A. Walker 0-3 0-0 0, West 2-8 1-4 5, Clements 5-8 0-0 10, Bagosbah 0-1 0-0 0, Spencer 0-0 0-0 0, Garcia 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 10-33 1-4 22.
Seaman (16-1, 13-0) -- J. Stallbaumer 2-7 0-0 5, Miller 1-1 0-0 2, E. Stallbaumer 0-1 0-0 0, Steiner 0-0 0-0 0, Beaton 1-2 0-0 3, T. Stallbaumer 3-6 0-0 9, Becker 6-11 2-2 16, Wilhelm 1-3 0-0 2, Gragg 6-7 0-0 14, Moulden 1-1 0-0 2, Esser 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 24-45 2-2 59.
3 point goals -- Leavenworth 1 (Garrett), Seaman 9 (T. Stallbaumer 3, Becker 2, Gragg 2, J. Stallbaumer, Beaton). Total Fouls -- Leavenworth 3, Seaman 6. Fouled out - none.