South Haven girls, Caldwell boys eliminated from state tournament competition

March 10, 2022 Cueball

Britain Dark of South Haven being stifled by the Hutchinson Central Christian defense.

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The South Haven girls fell to Hutchinson Central Christian 49-40 and was eliminated from the Class 1A Div. II State Tournament in Great Bend Thursday afternoon.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Caldwell boys did the same, losing to Bucklin 65-41.

The South Haven girls, a fourth-seed going in with a 20-3 record, was able to erase an 18-point deficit in the second half in a five-minute span against the Green Cougars of HCC. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalize on it.

The Cardinals were down 35-17 with 2:47 in the third quarter after allowing HCC to score the second half’s first 10 points. South Haven would then go on a stunning 20-2 run and tie the game at the 5:33 mark in the fourth after freshman Aubrey Pond scored seven consecutive points.

But HCC, which led the whole game, wasted no time taking the lead back with a bucket and scoring a three-point lead on simultaneous possessions to open a 43-38 advantage.

Jacee Theurer for South Haven vs. Hutchinson Central.

South Haven could not recover thereafter, scoring just two free throws in the final four minutes.

The Cardinals end a very good season where it spent much of the year in the top 1o and enjoying a top 10 Kansas Basketball Coaches Association ranking. It was their first state tournament performance since 2012 when Eric Adams was coaching the team.

Macey Pond led South Haven with 13 points, while A. Pond had 10.

But the Cardinals lost this game because they had no answer for Kaylee Kauffman who scored 26 points. Samantha Ramsey also scored 14 points to lift the Cougars to victory.

HCC held a 10-5 lead after the first quarter and built the advantage to 17-9 midway through the second. It was 25-17 at the half.

The Cougars then added 10 more before South Haven was able to find the basket again when M. Pond drained a three from her right wing. Alyssa Bridges then stole the ball and made a layup and in a matter of about five seconds, it was 35-22.

Macey Pond shoots three free throws to end the third quarter and spark the South Haven rally.

M. Pond was then fouled to end the third quarter on a 3-point attempt. She would nail all three, and suddenly South Haven was down 37-26.

Kamdyn Butler swished a three, and M. Pond followed with a steal and layup to make it 37-31.

Then A. Pond went to work by single-handily scoring a 3-pointer, and back-to-back deuces to make it 38-all. The South Haven fans were delirious.

But as stated, HCC wasted no time regaining the momentum, outscoring South Haven 11-2 down the stretch, much of that at the free throw line.

South Haven was not particularly good shooting going 14-of-47 from the field, compared to 17-of-41 for HCC. The Cougars would out-rebound South Haven 36-24.

Click to enlarge.

BUCKLIN 65, CALDWELL 41

Bucklin captured its first state tournament win in program history, wearing down six-player Caldwell late to pull away for the 24-point win.

The Red Aces, making thier first state tournament appearance since 1994, struggled from the perimeter (7 of 32), but their high-tempo attack yielded enough firepower to stay in control.

“We wanted to get up and down the floor, that’s kind of just how we play,” Bucklin coach Derek Bevan said. “We were hoping it would bode more in our favor tonight. We pride ourselves on being an in-shape team, so hopefully by the fourth quarter, no matter what team we’re playing, we wear them down some.

“Sometimes our games will be close at half and then we kind of extend it out, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Caldwell hung around with the Red Aces in the first quarter, trailing 14-12 at the end of the frame. Bucklin (20-5) led 30-23 at halftime and stretched it to 49-36 heading to the fourth.

“We’ve never been in a game like this, up at state, so I knew there would be some jitters, nerves or whatever word you want to use,” Bevan said. “But we loosened up a little bit and started playing our ball.

“I think the kids, they’ve been dreaming of this for a while, and they got it. We did something tonight that Bucklin boys basketball has never done — we won a game at state. That was our first step, and now the ultimate goal is to get to that later game on Saturday.”

Scott Price scored a game-high 23 points for Bucklin. He was joined in double figures by Jaron Lindsay (12) and Andrew Bowman (10).