By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Through the first half of Thursday's non-league game at Seaman, Washburn Rural star Maddie Vickery looked a lot like a player who hadn't played a basketball game in more than six months.
But slowly but surely, the 6-foot-2 junior Kansas State commit started to look more and more like the player local fans have been accustomed to seeing, coming alive in the second half to help Washburn Rural overcome a 19-point deficit in a 50-47 win over the Vikings.
Washburn Rural junior Maddie Vickery (left) made her season debut Thursday at Seaman, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 50-47 win. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Vickery, who suffered a torn ACL late in the summer season, went 0 of 6 from the field in the first half but scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including three 3-pointers, while also grabbing seven rebounds and registering two blocks as the Junior Blues improved to 14-6 overall.
"We talked about that and she's not nervous about the knee, but this was her first game in a long time, so I felt like it was going to take a little while,'' Washburn Rural coach Kevin Bordewick said. "I think if the first one may have gone in maybe not as long, but in the second half she looked really good.
"It was kind of like the old Maddie. She really looked good. She was energetic, she was moving well and her shot looked a lot better the second half. We look up to her and we're excited to have her back.''
Vickery came off the bench for the first time with 5:19 left in the opening quarter and was in and out the rest of the night, playing 19 minutes, 45 seconds.
After her slow shooting start Vickery hit a 3-pointer for her first basket of the night at the 3:23 mark of the third quarter and hit another 3 with 4:17 remaining to put Rural up 43-41 and canned another trey with 2:13 left to break a 45-all deadlock, putting the Junior Blues ahead to stay.
"I wouldn't say it was really nerves because I've put in a lot of work and I've trusted the process,'' Vickery said. "And I know I'm going to be fine because I know God's got me,
"I mean, a little bit of pressure, but other than that I don't think it was really nerves. I haven't played a game in about six and a half months, so it was a little bit different to adjust to. Practice is different than a game. But once I got to the second half ... I kind of settled in and got out of my head and stuff like that.''
And once she got her first shot to fall, Vickery knew she was really back.
"It was kind of a big weight off my shoulders that I was putting on myself,'' she said. "I'm glad the shots kept falling. I'm happy that I'm able to do this and that I was blessed to be given this opportunity and all my hard work is paying off.''
Seaman (9-11) put together a 20-0 run at the end of the first quarter and start of the second stanza to take a 24-5 lead before Rural senior Ella Hirschi hit a 3-pointer with 5:06 left in the half to help stem the tide.
Seaman was still in front 29-13 at the break, but Washburn Rural responded with a 22-8 third quarter to get within 37-35 at the start of the fourth.
Freshman Kamryn Smith came off the bench to lead Washburn Rural with 12 points on four 3-pointers in Thursday's 50-47 win at Seaman. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Freshman Kamryn Smith hit her fourth 3-pointer of a 12-point night with 4:53 left to give Rural its first lead since an early 5-4 advantage.
"I told her in the first half, 'I'm sorry, I can't play you because you're not playing hard enough and that's the standard that we have,' '' Bordewick said. "And then she woke up and she was playing hard on the defensive end. Yeah, her shot was really helping us tremendously, but it's because she's in the flow, she's engaged and she got after it. That's what we asked her to do and she did a great job.''
Seaman got within a point at 48-47 with 1:43 left on a Lydia Dreher hoop, but Rural got free throws from freshman Brynn Anderson and senior Josie Carlgren over the final 16 seconds to account for the final margin as the Vikings missed a desperation 3-point attempt as time ran out.
Senior Josie Carlgren scored 11 points in Thursday's 50-47 win at Seaman. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Carlgren joined Smith and Vickery in double figures for the Junior Blues with 11 points, including a pair of 3s.
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer (13) led all scorers with 16 points, including five 3-pointers, in Thursday's 50-47 loss to Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Seaman junior Brynn Spencer led all scorers with 16 points, including five 3-pointers while senior Maddie Gragg added 11 points.
Washburn Rural will return to Centennial League action Friday at Hayden while Seaman will be at home for a United Kansas Conference game against Basehor-Linwood.
WASHBURN RURAL GIRLS 50, SEAMAN 47
Washburn Rural 5 8 22 15 -- 50
Seaman 19 10 8 10 -- 47
Washburn Rural (14-6) – Rutherford 1-4 0-0 2, Hirschi 2-5 0-0 6, Walker 1-5 0-0 3, Anderson 1-5 3-6 5, Carlgren 3-8 3-4 11, Smith 4-8 0-0 12, Vickery 4-13 0-0 11. Totals 16-48 6-10 50.
Seaman (9-11) – Dreher 2-9 1-2 5, Spencer 5-10 1-2 16, Beaton 3-9 0-0 8, Ayres 1-1 0-0 2, Gragg 3-9 5-6 11, Frickey 0-0 0-0 0, Ketron 0-0 0-0 0, Puvogel 1-5 2-3 5. Totals 15-43 9-13 47.
3-point goals – Washburn Rural 12 (Smith 4, Vickery 3, Hirschi 2, Carlgren 2, Walker), Seaman 8 (Spencer 5, Beaton 2, Puvogel). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 10, Seaman 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
