Santa Fe Trail charges past THS
Santa Fe Trail had a ball on Friday against Tonganoxie.
Actually, the No. 15 Chargers were fortunate to have Melissa Ball, the team’s leading scorer.
The senior poured in 24 points as Trail claimed a 53-46 win despite a pesky Tonganoxie press and plenty of Chieftain rally chances.
An all-Class 4A second-team selection last season, Ball scored nearly half of SFT’s points, while Alison Creek was the only other Charger in double figures with 11.
“When she catches the ball down low, she’s hard to defend,” THS coach Randy Kraft said.
The conference contest appeared to be one the Chieftains could eventually win. Tonganoxie’s press would cause turnovers, but then Trail would extend its lead to 10 or 11. Tonganoxie would then make a short run and cut the lead to six. The trend continued throughout the evening, but Tonganoxie’s 12-for-24 performance from the free-throw line seemed to be an even bigger obstacle than Ball.
While the Chargers had six scorers in the game, Tonganoxie evened out with eight.
Madison Weller and Addie Heim each had 10, while Michelle McWilliams had 9. Laura Korb, who was in her second game since tearing her ACL, scored 7.
The Chieftains (7-7 overall and 3-5 in the Kaw Valley League) won’t get a regular-season rematch with the Chargers (10-3 and 7-3). With Tonganoxie in the large-school division and Santa Fe Trail in the league’s small-school division, the teams play just once a year.
Kraft, though, wouldn’t mind another game with the Chargers.
“I’d like to have them at home,” the coach said. “It would be fun to play.”
After Tuesday’s game at Piper, the Chieftains play Mill Valley on Friday at home. The Jaguars are 4-9 and 2-7 on the year.
Tonganoxie 53, Basehor-Linwood 46
The Chieftains avenged a close loss earlier in the year to the Bobcats.
Thanks to a big 21-point second quarter, the Chieftains held on in the second half for the league victory. The loss was Basehor-Linwood’s third straight.
Box scores
Basehor-Linwood 10 15 10 11 — 46
Tonganoxie 13 21 9 10 — 53
Tonganoxie 8 11 10 17 — 46
Santa Fe Trail 15 11 11 16 — 53
Tonganoxie — Michelle McWilliams 9, Addie Heim 10, Laura Korb 7, Madison Weller 10, Sarah Holliday 5, Jennifer Reischman 4, Kelly Breuer 1. Totals — 17 12-24 46