By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Salina Central Lady Mustangs are the last area team standing as they head to Emporia on Thursday for the 5A state tournament final four.
The Lady Stangs defeated Topeka-Seaman 66-38 on Monday to advance to the state semi final, in a game that saw Aubrie Kierscht put up a new career high 34 points.
“I really thought our team played a complete game on both ends of the floor,” Lady Mustang head coach Chris Fear said. “We dominated the rebounding, we were efficient on offense and we made things difficult for them offensively as well. I think we’re playing as well as we have all season and now is the time to do that.”
The opponent for Central in this final four matchup will be 23-0 Andover Central. The top-ranked team in class 5A rolled through sub-state with wins of 68-33 over Andover High School and 73-64 over Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
Because the quarter final matchups were unseeded the Lady Jaguars had to battle it out with the third ranked team in the class, but were able to overcome Maize by a final score of 56-52.
“They all can shoot the three and that’s certainly something that stands out,” Fear said. “They don’t really care who they guard and they have a lot of interchangeable parts so between that and their ability to shoot they’re a really special team.”
Andover Central has already met the Lady Mustangs twice this season, winning both contests by scores of 60-52 and 66-56.
“We had a lead in the fourth quarter the first time and things were tight going into the fourth the second time,” he said. “It came down to Andover Central making more plays than we did down the stretch which is just what they’ve done this season.”
The Lady Stangs could very well find themselves in a shootout, as Andover Central and Salina Central boast the #1 and #2 scoring offenses in the state respectively.
The Lady Jags rely on four elite scorers in Brittany Harshaw, Bailey Wilborn, Ellie Stearns and Maddie Amekporfor, who combine to average over 55 points per game.
“We’re going to have to limit their three point makes which is obviously easier said than done,” Fear said. “We can’t allow them to make double digit threes and we must take care of the basketball. They’re so good on offense that you’re not going to win a game with them in the 40s so we have to continue to find ways to score.”
The winner of this final four matchup will advance to the state championship game on Saturday to face the winner of 18-2 St. Thomas Aquinas and 19-3 Lansing at 2pm.
“We have to play 32 great minutes the rest of the way because that’s what the other three remaining teams do every game,” Fear said. “We’re not afraid of them, we believe that we can beat them and that’s our mindset when we head over to take on Andover Central on Thursday.”
Tipoff is scheduled for Thursday at 2pm from Emporia. Stay tuned to the Salina Post for continuing coverage of the Salina Central Lady Mustangs state tournament run.