Featured image courtesy of Tanner Colvin
ANDOVER — Salina South’s girls got a closeup look at why the Andover Trojans were the top seed in the West and why they are heading back to the Class 5A state tournament for a fourth straight year.
Andover’s stifling defense and a slew of second-chance points all added up to a season-ending 55-19 sub-state championship loss Saturday for the Cougars at the Andover High School gym.
“They’re a really good basketball team. Defensively, they’re exceptional,” said South coach Justin Ebert, whose Cougars finished with a 14-11 record, their best in 13 years. “They’re really physical and we had a difficult time getting shots.”
“They got into us a little bit and we struggled against their pressure.”
Not only did the Trojans (23-1) limit South to six baskets in 25 attempts for 24%, including 1-for-11 from 3-point range, but also forced 19 turnovers. Of the turnover total, 17 came in the first three quarters before a 30-point Andover advantage led to a continuous running clock in the fourth period.
All 14 South points in the first three quarters came from senior center Paityn Fritz, who had five of her team’s six baskets. Senior guard Brooklyn Johnson broke that string by sinking a pair of free throws with 5 1/2 minutes left.
Lauren Crow, another of the Cougars’ eight seniors, hit a 3-pointer with less than two minutes left to close out the scoring.
“Our plan on offense was to try to make it a low-block game,” Ebert said of Fritz’s success inside. “We knew that it would be a challenge to get good shots, and part of that was they sped us up.”
South was better on the defensive end, limiting Andover to 33.9% shooting that included 30.7% on 26 3-point attempts. But the Trojans were relentless on the offensive boards to make up for the lack of accuracy.
“I thought on the defensive end the girls battled hard,” Ebert said. “Defensively, we were good until the ball hit the rim, and you’ve got to rebound it.”
“They got a lot of second chances. The first half they had 30, and I think 23 were second-chance points, and obviously that told the tale.”
Andover, which led 14-4 after one quarter and 30-8 at the half, got 18 points from junior forward Grier Hand and 10 from junior guard Asiah Sullivan. The Cougars held leading scorer Bella Bouddhara to eight points, 12 below her season average, on 4 of 19 shooting.
For South’s eight seniors, the loss ended a successful season that included a 55-45 sub-state semifinal victory over rival Salina Central on Wednesday. The class included starters Fritz, Jordan, Elle Barth and Brylee Moss, along with Sophie Daily, Isabelle Maxton, Crow and Promyce McNeal, who missed most of the season with an injury.
“It’s the best season that we’ve had in 13 years at South High, and the seniors have meant a lot to the program and have been developing since they were freshmen,” Ebert said. “It’s not very often we have eight girls that go through four years of high school basketball together like this group has.”
“We’re personally going to miss them as well. They’re incredibly good people. We said it’s the end of one chapter, but we expect to be part of their lives for the rest of their books, so we’re sad that it ended but happy it happened.”
