By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
The Seaman Lady Vikings continued their strong, undefeated campaign in North Topeka on Thursday night with a convincing 60-26 United Kansas Conference victory over Leavenworth.
Class 5A No. 2-ranked Seaman, 6-0 overall, 5-0 in the UKC, picked up right where they left off from the holiday break, turning in a dominant performance.
Seaman junior Taylin Stallbaumer led the Vikings with 15 points in Thursday's 60-26 UKC win over Leavenworth Thursday night. [FIle photo/TSN]
"We talked a lot about better shot selection over the Christmas break practices," Seaman coach Matt Tinsley said. "Who we want shooting the ball, where we want them shooting from, when we want to shoot it, and I thought we did all of that excellently tonight."
Seaman's front and backcourt couldn't be stopped in transition. Leavenworth dealt with the headache of guarding an athletic Brooklyn Gormley and Maddie Gragg in the paint and tried to keep their eyes on the outside where Taylin Stallbaumer, Anna Becker and Carstyn Anderson were waiting to knock down shots.
T. Stallbaumer had a game-high 15 points and Anna Becker 10 points, while Gormley and Gragg each had nine.
Defensively, Seaman had 11 steals and eight blocks. Gormley led Seaman in blocks with five and T. Stallbaumer led in steals with four.
"Defense is where we hang our hat," Tinsley said. "Being the coach, I'm still a little disappointed that we let up in the fourth quarter. But Brooklyn has really stepped up her game. (Gormley) is twice the player she was last year. (Gormley) is starting to finish inside, she's our defensive rock in there, and she makes it happen.
"Our guards want to get out and penetrate. That's what they want to do. They want to get out and pressure the ball, forcing the other team to take some tough and quick shots. We're better when we can get out, guard, and run."
It was immediately evident that Seaman would have a stellar day in front of its home faithful. In the first quarter, Seaman jumped in front with an 8-3 run. Four different Lady Vikings had a bucket forcing Leavenworth to take an early timeout.
After Leavenworth's first-period timeout, the Lady Vikings seemed to get better after a quick rest. Seaman crippled Leavenworth with a 10-2 run within two minutes after the Lady Pioneer timeout.
"I think we really got after it on defense," T. Stallbaumer said. "The play on defense led to our offense taking good shots. We were able to move the ball well, and I think that was able to help us. We worked on our defense all winter break because that's what we feel can carry us, especially in those bigger games, and I think that really showed today."
T. Stallbaumer was a key catalyst for Seaman in the first quarter, tallying seven points. Gormley had five points and an important blocked shot in the paint, fueling its first enormous offensive run.
The Lady Vikes couldn't be stopped in the transition in the second quarter, similar to the first.
T. Stallbaumer pushed the ball down in the quarter, finding open passing lanes with ease.
Seaman freshman Gragg and sophomore Becker were difference makers offensively.
Gragg and Becker crashed the boards hard, fighting for second-chance points and were successful.
In addition, Gragg, Gormley and Kinley Wilhelm often snagged Seaman's rare miscues from the field.
The Lady Vikings' successful and aggressive offensive rebounding allowed them to avenge any misses they had. It was a long first half for Leavenworth, and the Lady Vikings collectively romped the Lady Pioneers.
Seaman had a 26-point lead going into the halftime break, and it seemed the Lady Vikes had won this game early.
"Our first half is the best we've run our halfcourt offense this season so far," Tinsley said. "I just challenged our girls in this game to play every possession to try and get involved in every possession. Whether that's setting the right screen on offense, blocking out on defense or rebounding, you can find a way to get involved in every play. When we stack those little plays on top of each other throughout the game, you're going to see a lot of success."
The Lady Vikings came out of the halftime break with a defensive vengeance to seal the deal. Seaman only allowed three points in the entire quarter. The starting five for Seaman were swatting shots, forcing horrendous shots by Leavenworth and pressuring the Lady Pioneers to turn the ball over at a high rate.
The young players for Seaman checked in while the starters sat in the fourth quarter with a running clock. It was three quarters of pure dominance from the No. 2-ranked team in Class 5A.
Seaman will hit the road to take on United Kansas Conference foe Basehor-Linwood on Tuesday.
"Every game is tough," Tinsley said. "We have to come back and regroup. That's going to be a tough game on Tuesday on the road."
SEAMAN GIRLS 60, LEAVENWORTH 26.
Leavenworth 6 7 3 10 – 26
Seaman 18 21 13 8 – 60
Leavenworth – Barker 3 0-1 8, Garrett 1 0-0 3, Rieneau 2 1-2 5, West 2 1-4 5, Thomas 0 3-4 3, Gilman 1 0-0 2. Totals – 9 5-11 26.
Seaman (6-0, 5-0) – Anderson 1 0-0 2, T. Stallbaumer 5 2-2 15, Becker 5 0-2 10, Gragg 4 1-1 9, Gormley 3 3-6 9, Moulden 3 1-2 7, Miller 1 0-0 3, Schumann 1 0-0 2, J. Stallbaumer 0 2-2 2, E. Stallbaumer 0 1-2 1. Totals – 21 9-15 60.
3-point goals: Leavenworth 3 (Barker 2, Garrett), Seaman 4 (T. Stallbaumer 3, Miller) . Total fouls – Leavenworth 12, Seaman 11. Technical fouls – none. Fouled out – none
