File photo from Clifton-Clyde Sub-State Championship
#3 Norwich 49, #6 Rural Vista 35
WICHITA: The Rural Vista Heat had their playoff run come to an end Tuesday afternoon at Friends University. Norwich advanced to the 1A Division I semifinals and will face #2 Beloit-St.John’s Tipton. BSJT defeated #7 Flinthills 62-31 at KWU Tuesday. The semifinal will take place Thursday at 8 PM, at United Wireless Arena in Dodge City. Norwich has never won a State Championship. Their best finish was in 1993, when they finished 3rd.
Tuesday, after initially falling behind 2-0, Norwich used an 11-0 run that spanned most of the 1st quarter and the start of the 2nd quarter, to take control of the game. The Eagles wouldn’t trail the rest of the game and led 10-2 at the end of the opening quarter. Rural Vista got back into the game in the 2nd quarter from the perimeter. The Heat connected on 4 of their 7 three-pointers in the game in the 2nd quarter. Sophomore, Cameron Mistic hit consecutive threes off the bench to ignite the Rural Vista offense, the last coming at the 5:00 mark of the half. Up to that point the Heat had not made a field goal in the game. Norwich maintained their lead at halftime (19-15) because of 6’4” Junior, Lucas Adams. He scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the 1st half.
In the 3rd quarter, the Heat outscored Norwich 11-9 and pulled to within 28-26 as the two teams entered the 4th. In the 4th, Norwich 5’10” Senior PG, Jaydne Benge took over. He scored 12 of his 18 points in the 4th and was 6-7 at the line in the final quarter. Overall, Norwich was 12-17 at the line in the 4th to put the game away.
Rural Vista ended the season at 16-8 under Head Coach, Adam Sobba. It was their first trip to State since his first season in 2018. The Heat went to State in 2017 and 2018.
#3 Norwich 10 19 28 49 – (23-4)
#6 Rural Vista 2 15 26 35 – (16-8)
Rural Vista: Koden Sanford 9, Celian Van Bemten 7,
Cameron Mistic 6, Tucker Mein 5, Grant Eskeldson 5, Kole Riedy 2, Tyler Brockmeier 1
Norwich: Lucas Adams 19, Jayden Benge 18, Drew Kelly 7, Kyedon Schroeder 3, Lane Hilger 2
City Plumbing & HVAC Players of the Game
Senior, Celian Van Bemten 7
Senior, Kole Riedy 2
Senior, Tucker Mein 5
Senior, Tyler Brockmeier 1
Senior, Grant Eskeldson 5
Senior, Koden Sanford 9
Senior, Trent Hoff
