Reardan girls power past Adna
Reardan’s slow-starting offense was the equal of its suffocating defense Friday night and that added up to trouble for Adna.
Big trouble.
The Indians rolled to their 30th straight win and a spot in the State 2B girls basketball championship game by humbling the Pirates 74-37 at the Arena.
“Yesterday we weren’t as aggressive on offense, we didn’t have our best offensive game,” said Reardan junior forward Katy Burge, who matched her opening-day output of eight points less than 12 minutes into the game. “We came out with the mentality to power our offense.”
Reardan will defend its title against Brewster, a 62-58 overtime winner over White Swan in the second semifinal. The key shot for the Bears was an improbable, shot-clock beating 3-pointer from the left corner by sophomore Brette Boesel to make it 59-58 just as the clock dipped to less than a minute.
The Indians (26-0) took the suspense out early, rolling to a 20-6 lead after one quarter and then putting together a 15-0 run in the second to lead 38-14 at halftime.
The Indians shot 62.5 percent in the first half – while Adna was shooting 27.3 – and finished at 56.9 even though reserves played the last 12 minutes.
“It’s still exciting,” Burge said. “You can’t expect to be in the championship. That’s what our goal is, of course, but you just have to take it one game at a time.”
Leading scorers Kelsey Moos and Burge, who didn’t untracked in the opener, combined for 21 points in the first half by being much more assertive. Moos, who had 10 a day earlier, had 13 at half and 19 when she exited for good midway through the third quarter.
“Kelsey is such a good ball player, but she’s surrounded by good ball players, so she doesn’t stand out,” Reardan coach Ed Shields said. “But if she wants to take the game on her shoulders she will, as you saw in the first half.”
Adna’s Dani Grosshans and Taylor Wood, who combine for 25 points a game, had one basket at halftime, with Grosshans picking up her third foul in the first minute of the second quarter. Grosshans finished with 13, but Wood never scored.
Shields was confident his defense would again carry the day, but he was just as sure of his offense.
“We were a little upset with our performance yesterday,” he said. “We wanted people to see how good of basketball team we are. I don’t know if the pressure got to them, but the pressure of not playing well, missing 15 layups, was enough to get them going.”
Everybody contributed, with Tori Wynecoop adding 11 points and Chantel Heath 10.
“We like to spread out,” Burge said. “If it’s inside see it, but if you’ve got that shot, take it. You want to keep improving. You want to push yourself. We expect a lot out of ourselves.”