By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Matt Tinsley and his Seaman Vikings decided they had waited long enough.
Seaman's lone seniors, Taylin Stallbaumer (with championship trophy) and Elinore Stallbaumer (12) celebrate with fans after Saturday's 54-41 win over Maize South in the Class 5A state championship game at Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman is presented the Class 5A state championship trophy after Saturday's 54-41 win over Maize South at White Auditorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
A night after earning Seaman's first championship-game berth in 23 seasons, Tinsley's Vikings captured the school's first girls state basketball championship in 33 years Saturday night at White Auditorium, rolling to a wire-to wire 54-41 victory over Maize South.
"I'm just thankful to be their coach,'' Tinsley said as the Vikings' players and fans celebrated all over the court. "They work hard and they're special people and I feel like good things happen to special people.
"We talked about it every day, you've got to be a champion -- on the floor, off the floor, bringing that consistency to practice. And when you have a team that buys in like that, I'm just in awe. I really don't know what to say. I'm just so proud of the girls.''
Seaman set the tone when it jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Mavericks and the Vikings never trailed (one tie at 8-8) en route to capping a 23-2 campaign.
Seaman led 12-10 at the end of the opening quarter, but pushed its lead to 14 points (29-15) late in the first half and Maize South (23-2) never got within single-digits the rest of the night.
The Vikings turned the game into a rout when they opened the third quarter with a 16-3 run to take command at 45-20 with 2:41 left in the quarter.
Maize South began to chip away with a 5-0 run to end the third stanza and throughout the fourth but the Mavericks never got any closer than 11 as Seaman closed out their first title since Ron Vinduska's team won the 6A state title on the same White Auditorium floor in 1991.
Sophomore Maddie Gragg (32) led Seaman with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Seaman's 54-41 win over Maize South in the Class 5A state championship game. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Anna Becker had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and two steals in Seaman's 54-41 win over Maize South Saturday night at Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman got a big offensive lift from sophomore Maddie Gragg and junior Anna Becker, who scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, to lead the Vikings.
Both Gragg and Becker had struggled shooting the ball in Friday's 49-45 win over previously-unbeaten Andover but the Viking duo combined for 17 of Seaman's 29 points in the first half.
"They say shooters have got to shoot and that's what we did,'' Becker said. "We practice and we put the work in and every game's a new game and we've just got to go out there with confidence. Everyone on our team was hitting their shots tonight. It was great.''
Gragg, who was in double figures by halftime with 10 points, said it was great to get off to a good start Saturday.
"It was really important,'' Gragg said. "It just started off with my teammates. We moved the ball so well and it just all came together.''
Gragg recorded a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds while Becker added 8 rebounds, a game-high 5 assists and two steals.
Junior Jaida Stallbaumer, who led the Vikings with 16 points in their semifinal win, also cracked double figures against Maize South, finishing with 12 points.
"From the beginning of the summer, all of our summer workouts, we were always just taking it one day at a time and knowing deep down that once we got here we could do it,'' Becker said.
Senior Ashley Singhateh scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Mavericks and senior Ava Howie added 11 points with three 3-pointers but no other Maize South player had more than three points.
Seaman graduates seniors Taylin Stallbaumer and Elinore Stallbaumer off this year's team but will return four starters.
But Saturday was all about celebrating the Vikings' title, which came after a 5A state championship run in volleyball last fall.
"This is something that I've always wanted,'' Tinsley said. "Being a graduate of this school and coaching with my high school coach (Steve Darting) and with Steve Alexander, who's been a longtime coach, and Dan Ruda and Aubree Taylor, we've invested a lot into this and it's just nice to see the kids get to experience this.''
SEAMAN GIRLS 54, MAIZE SOUTH 41
Maize South 10 7 11 13 -- 41
Seaman 12 17 18 7 -- 54
Maize South (23-2) -- Ashley Singhateh 6-15 10-11 23, Hurley 0-1 0-0 0, Peters 1-5 0-0 3, Brunton 0-0 0-2 0, Howie 4-10 0-0 11, Davee 0-0 0-0 0, Seals 1-4 0-2 3, Lassley 0-3 0-0 0, Ponce 0-0 0-0 0, Aliyah Singhateh 0-6 1-2 1, Kurth 0-0 0-0 0, Parr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-44 11-17 41.
Seaman (23-2) -- J. Stallbaumer 3-9 3-4 12, T. Stallbaumer 2-7 1-2 6, Becker 5-8 3-6 15, Gragg 5-10 7-11 18, Esser 1-3 0-0 2, McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, E. Stallbaumer 0-0 0-0 0, Wilhelm 0-2 1-2 1, Moulden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 15-25 54.
3-point shots -- Maize South 6-18 (Howie 3-7, Ashley Singhateh 1-2, Peters 1-4, Seals 1-2, Lassley 0-2, Hurley 0-1), Seaman 7-20 (J. Stallbaumer 3-8, T. Stallbaumer 1-4, Becker 2-4, Gragg 1-4). Total fouls -- Maize South 17, Seaman 16. Fouled out -- J. Stallbaumer. Technical fouls -- none.
