SALINA – The Circle Thunderbirds had been flying high after claiming the Maize South sub-state to get to the Class 4A girls state tournament at Salina’s Bicentennial Center for a chance with destiny.
The T-Birds couldn’t sky over Cheney post player Merissa Quick and ended their season with a 60-36 loss to the Cardinals in a first round contest.
The six foot-three inch Quick scored 20 of her 25 points in the first half, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked three shots in leading the unbeaten Cardinals to a semifinal matchup against Holton.
“She a dominant post player,” said Circle coach Brian Henry. “We thought we could do well because we thought we could be physical and get good help. We tried to use the help side, but our rotations weren’t necessarily getting there; and when they did, she did a good job of keeping the ball up.
“We also didn’t apply enough pressure around the perimeter to the level we needed to make them not feed to her. She was like her name, she was quick.”
The Thunderbirds never really could get into a good rhythm on offense as Quick blocked all three of her shots in the first half and the other four players on defense constantly got into passing lanes.
Circle finished with 15 turnovers and a number of shots altered due to the height of the Cardinals. Cheney scored nine points off of turnovers and 12 more from second chances.
Kyrstie Ehm led Circle (19-5) with 19 points, but no other T-Bird scored more than four in the game. Henry said the Thunderbirds had a lot to be proud of this season and hopes they can use this season as a foundation.
“They’re proud of where they’ve gotten to,” Henry said. “They gave a great effort tonight. They feel they could have done better, but they have a lot to be proud of. They’re mostly underclassmen and they’ve seen losing, so I’m sure they’re going to be more determined next year.”
The two teams traded the lead twice in the first quarter with Cheney leading 10-9 after the opening quarter.
The margin stayed around one until the Cardinals went on an 11-point run to push the lead up to 12 midway through the second stanza, and extended it to 33-20 by halftime.
Cheney scored the first seven points of the third quarter to lead 40-20 and Circle never got closer than 16 points after that point.
CIRCLE (36) – Kyrstie Ehm 19, Taci Richard 4, Ally Burden 4, Haley Barrett 4, Hanna Flaming 3, Charity Hon 2. Totals 15 5-10 36.
CHENEY (60) – Merissa Quick 25, Allyssa Nikkel 14, Payton Scheer 7, Whitney Pinkley 2, Courtney Traxson 4, Kylie Patterson 4, Hailey Twietmeyer 4. Totals 21 14-26 60.
Circle 9 11 7 9 – 36
Cheney 10 23 15 12 – 60
Three-point baskets – Circle 1 (Ehm 1), Cheney 2 (Nikkel 1, Scheer 1). Records – Circle 19-5, Cheney 24-0.
