By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Chapman girls basketball team will begin their sub-state run on the road at Clay Center, looking to knock out the 5-seed to advance to the sub-state final.
The Lady Irish come into this game at 8-12 while the Tigers enter at 14-6, just outside the Class 4A rankings.
Despite the records, two of the six losses suffered by Clay Center this season came at the hands of Chapman, who will look to win their third game against the Tigers this year.
“We know that it will be difficult and we know they aren’t just going to lay down and give us a victory, it should be a battle,” Irish head coach Michael Wahlmeier said. “It’s hard to beat a team 3 times in a season but I think this was the best matchup for us because the girls truly believe that we can win.”
Both of Chapman’s wins over Clay Center have been fairly convincing by final scores of 40-28 to kick off January and 41-35 to kick off February.
The Irish would love nothing more than to continue that trend, and begin the month of March with another win over a Tigers team that has been very inconsistent this season.
Regardless of how this sub-state tournament goes, Chapman’s rebuild is well ahead of schedule after a 1-17 season in 2019-20.
“I’m very happy with the development,” Wahlmeier said. “We were able to hit the ground running and I think the Abilene and Clay Center games bookending Christmas Break were huge for us. They proved to the girls that they could win and really boosted their confidence.”
Chapman will need every bit of that confidence against a Clay Center team that has held opponents to under 32 points per game this season.
“Their biggest strength is always their defense,” he said. “We’ve handled their pressure well in the first 2 meetings. If we can keep that up I like our chances. We’ve tweaked a few of our plays and put in a couple of new sets just to keep them from anticipating our every move.”
While the Tigers are favored by seed and the Irish hold both regular-season wins, this is anyone’s game come Tuesday night.
“We just have to play our game,” Wahlmeier said. “We don’t see it as an upset. We know that we had four or five games in our season that could have gone either way. We also know that the records could completely be reversed. The best part about the postseason is that every team is 0-0.”
Tip-off between the Lady Irish and Tigers is set for 7 pm at Clay Center High School with the winner advancing to the sub-state final to take on 15-5 Clearwater or 4-16 Concordia.
For continuing coverage of the Lady Irish throughout sub-state, stay tuned to the Salina Post.