By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Seaman girls basketball team, ranked No. 1 in the 5A classification, completed the regular season undefeated by winning at Shawnee Heights Friday, 52-35.
Senior Anna Becker (right) led a balanced Seaman attack with 13 points in Seaman's UKC 52-35 win at Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Ava Esser (40) scored 12 points in Seaman's 52-35 UKC win over Shawnee Hights while Kaydence Torrez (20) scored 10 points for the T-Birds. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Seaman coach Matt Tinsley celebrated in the locker room just long enough to write “20-0” on the dry erase board. Then he wiped the board clean and wrote “0-0.”
“It hasn’t been, all season, the focal point,” Tinsley said. “We never said we want to go undefeated, or we want to get so many wins. That’s never been the talk. The talk has been how can we get better today.
“We took some time in the locker room to talk about how special it feels to accomplish what (we) have accomplished. But then we said, ‘It’s a new season. We put ourselves in a position. Now it’s time to go.’ ”
The Vikings were clicking from start to finish in the season finale. They hit an efficient 21-41 from the field and 7-9 from the line. They got balanced scoring from their five starters. Anna Becker scored 13, followed by Ava Esser with 12, Kinley Wilhelm 9, Maddie Gragg 8 and Jaida Stallbaumer 6.
After falling in an early hole, the T-Birds cut the Seaman lead to 17-13 midway through the second period. But the Vikings snuffed that threat with a 7-0 run over the next four minutes. Seaman led 24-15 at halftime and gradually turned it into a rout.
“It was businesslike,” Tinsley said. “We lost here last year, and the year before that, we won by two. So, we really haven’t played good in this gym for whatever reason. So, it was nice to come out and get a win here.”
“Last year I was definitely a little bit nervous when we played here,” Esser said. “Tonight, we really just stuck in there and did what we needed to do. This gets the jitters out and gets us ready for the games coming up.”
The Vikings will be the top seed in the West sub-state bracket of 5A. They will learn over the weekend their path to repeat as state champs. Tinsley said there is much more ahead, but he did want the girls to enjoy the accomplishment of an undefeated season.
“I told the girls that we want to make sure they are enjoying the journey along the way,” said Tinsley, who noted that no Seaman girls team has ever completed the regular season without a loss. “It’s been challenging, too, don’t get me wrong. We’re going to enjoy it for a day, and then we’re 0-0 like everybody else.”
“It’s such a huge accomplishment for us, but we definitely don’t try and focus on it that much,” Esser said. “We want to look ahead to the future games ahead of us.”
Shawnee Heights, led in scoring by 10 points apiece from Haley Bowers and Kaydence Torrez, finished the season with a mark of 13-7. The T-Birds will play in the 5A East sub-state bracket.
SEAMAN GIRLS 52, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 35
Seaman 15 9 18 10 -- 52
Shawnee Heights 6 9 12 8 -- 35
Seaman (20-0, 16-0) – Stallbaumer 3-8 0-2 6, Becker 6-10 0-0 13, Wilhelm 4-7 0-0 9, Gragg 2-5 3-3 8, Esser 4-6 4-4 12, Beaton 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 2-4 0-0 4, Spencer 0-0 0-0 0, Frickey 0-0 0-0 0, Ketron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-41 7-9 52.
Shawnee Heights (13-7, 10-6) – Emmot 3-14 0-0 6, Brees 0-4 0-0 0, Bowers 4-7 0-0 10, Torrez 5-10 0-3 10, Vega 2-8 3-4 7, Euwer 1-6 0-0 2, Hanshaw 0-1 0-0 0, Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals15-51 3-7 35.
3-point goals – Seaman 3 (Becker 1, Wilhelm 1, Gragg 1), Shawnee Heights 2 (Bowers 2). Total fouls – Seaman 7, Shawnee Heights 5. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
