BY BUDDY TABLER
BELOIT – The Beloit Lady Trojans made 23 of 30 free throws to down Larned's girls 61-48 in the Larned 3A basketball substate semifinal.
Larned converted 10 of 13 free throws to get outscored 23-10, the difference in the 13-point win.
Larned's leading scorer Jadyn Crosby scored a hard-earned 20 points with four 3-pointers despite Beloit using a box-and-one defense and a lot of face-guarding. Lauren Sleder added 15 points and Cassidy Wachs seven.
Beloit's Karlie Smith scored 24 points, 18 on free throws with 12 rebounds. Reagan Cheney added 19 points with 15 rebounds. Samantha Thompson scored 11 with a trio of 3-pointers. Ellsworth surprised Beloit 49-45 in Saturday's substate championship game.
“It was a tough physical game," said Larned coach Larned coach Jerrod Smith. "We didn’t do a good job of blocking out and they outrebounded us but we kept hanging in there. I'm very proud of our girls. Beloit is an excellent team. They got to the free throw line a lot. We got a little tired due to our short bench.”
Larned ended their season with a 18-7 record.
The game was played in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd. Beloit and Larned had a large showing of fan support.
In the first half, Beloit rode the hot hand of Cheney's 16-point half and nine rebounds. Beloit led 17-14 after the first quarter and 32-24 at halftime.
In the second half, Beloit’s point guard Smith continually muscled the ball into the paint, drawing fouls. Smith converted 18 of 20 free throws in the game.
Larned trailed by six to 11 points throughout the game and fell behind by 46-31 after three quarters.
The Lady Indians rallied within six points. Beloit answered every challenge, mainly from the free throw line. Beloit made five second-half baskets.
Larned converted 17 of 44 field goals (39%) with four 3-pointers. Beloit made 17 of 51 field goals with 4 of 19 on 3-pointers. Beloit had 10 turnovers and Larned nine.
Larned 14 10 7 17 – 48
Beloit 17 15 14 15 – 61
LARNED (17-7)–Crosby 20, Sleder 15, Wachs 7, Upson 4, Simmons 2, Reynolds 2, Totals 17-44 (4) 10-13 48
BELOIT (18-4)–Smith 3-15 (0-4) 18-20 24, Cheney 9-12 1-3 19, Thompson 3-11 (3-9) 2-2 11, Lorenz 1-4 (1-2) 0-0 3, Channell 1-8 (0-4) 1-2 3, Litton 0-1 1-4 1, Totals 17-51 (4-19) 23-31 61
3A GIRLS STATE QUARTERFINALS (3-11)—Halstead (25-0) vs Marysville (10-14), 2 p.m. WICHITA STATE; Osage City (23-3) vs Girard (19-6), 8 p.m. EMPORIA; Silver Lake (25-1) vs Hesston (17-9), 6 p.m. EMPORIA; Holcomb (24-2) vs Ellsworth (17-6), 6 p.m. DODGE CITY
3A GIRLS SUBSTATES—HAVEN A—Halstead 50, Garden Plain 34; HAVEN B—Hesston 48, Southeast of Saline 31; LARNED A—Holcomb 52, Goodland 36; LARNED B—Ellsworth 49, Beloit 45; SABETHA A—Silver Lake 56, Riley County 41; SABETHA B—Marysville 37, Hiawatha 33; POMONA A—Girard 56, Jayhawk-Linn 31; POMONA B—Osage City 62, Burlington 43
