MANHATTAN, Kan.— Not only did Celia Puetz not call bank, she wasn't sure the backboard would survive her last-second shot.
"Honest to God, I thought it was going to go through the backboard," the Garden Plain junior said of her 10-foot jumper as time expired in Friday's Class 2A state semifinal game against Smith Center.
It didn't go through the backboard. Instead, it went through the net, banking home at the buzzer to give Garden Plain a thrilling 40-38 victory over the Redmen.
"When it went in, Oh my god!" Puetz said. "I was so shocked, honestly."
Garden Plain's second straight state stunner – the Owls knocked off previously undefeated Pittsburg Colgan in Wednesday's quarterfinals – earned the Owls (19-6) a spot in their first state title game since 2019. The opponent in Saturday's 4 p.m. state championship game will be a familiar one: undefeated and defending champion Sterling (25-0) – the same team the Owls beat for the title in 2019 and also faced in the semifinals the past two seasons, each winning once.
Garden Plain's Celia Puetz (left) gets a hug from Owls assistant coach Ann Holmes after hitting the game-winning shot in Friday's 40-38 win over Smith Center in the Class 2A state semifinals.
"We'll take it and move on," Garden Plain coach Kody Kasselman said. "We've got a tall task ahead of us. We'll have to play really well."
After a back-and-forth opening three quarters, Garden Plain appeared to have taken control early in the fourth quarter against Smith Center. Down 31-28, the Owls got six straight points from junior guard Sydney Puetz – free throws sandwiched around a tough and-one drive – to go up 34-31.
They then stretched the lead to 38-31 on three straight points from Brooke Hammond, the last coming on a free throw with 1:57 left.
But Garden Plain's grip on the game wasn't tight endough and Smith Center stormed back. After missing their first 10 3-point attempts in the game, and four in the fourth quarter alone, the Redmen suddenly found the range. Ashlyn Long nailed one with 1:44 to go that cut the deficit to four and with Garden Plain missing free throws – four straight by Sydney Puetz – Smith Center took advantage of the opening.
Camryn Hutchinson's 3-pointer with 34 seconds left tied the game 38-38.
"We felt like we had traction and then we just didn't close out with free throws," Kasselman said.
After a pair of timeouts, the last coming with 4.8 seconds left, the Owls inbounded in front of their own bench. Celia Puetz wasn't the first option, but when the ball found its way into her hands, she delivered.
"We were going to set a screen for (Brooke Hammond) and she was supposed to come get it," Puetz said. "I just got the ball and I knew there was only a few seconds, so I took a dribble and shot it. … When it went in, I've never jumped like that before. It was crazy."
"Just the way we drew it up," Kasselman said, tongue in cheek. "Good for Celia. She's had her ups and downs, especially finishing, and we'll take a bank shot from 10 feet every day to put us in the finals."
In a way, revenge can be on both team's minds in the title game. Garden Plain topped Sterling 47-40 in the 2019 Class 2A state championship game to earn its second straight state title, the first coming in 3A in 2018. In 2020, the Owls picked off Sterling in the quarterfinals 54-48 before seeing their bid for a three-peat end when the state tournament was canceled prior to the semifinals.
Last year, Sterling got a measure of revenge with a 69-52 win over the Owls in the semifinals on its way to capturing the program's first state championship.
Sterling's Kali Briar (32), Bennie Horsch (14) and Makenna Linden (far right) celebrate after fighting off rival Berean Academy for a 42-35 win in Friday's Class 2A state semifinals. The Black Bears continued their undefeated season and quest for a second straight state championship.
STERLING 42, BEREAN ACADEMY 35
Sterling coach Jill Rowland was dead on when she said there wasn't much glamorous about her team's Class 2A semifinal showdown with Heart of America rival Berean Academy.
"The first one wasn't and I didn't expect this one to be," Rowland said.
But Rowland couldn't ask for much more of a beautiful sight as the final seconds ticked off of a 42-35 victory that sends her Black Bears to the state championship game for the second straight year and third time in four years. In the process, defending champion Sterling continued its undefeated season, improving to 25-0.
"It's surviving," Rowland said. "They know us well and we know them well, which makes this game really hard."
Sterling handed Berean Academy its only loss of the season during the regular season, taking a 44-39 victory in mid-February. That game was a grind-it-out affair and so was Friday's rematch at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
After putting up 73 points in Wednesday's quarterfinal rout of Mission Valley – with standout guard Kali Briar hitting six 3-pointers on her way to 28 points – Sterling had to shift gears for the defensive slugfest against Berean.
Fortunately for Rowland, this model of Sterling comes with multiple options. So when Briar cooled considerably from deep, making just 1 of 3 attempts beyond the arc, and leading scorer Bennie Horsch made just one of her first five shots, the Black Bears turned elsewhere for a spark.
It came from senior post Sadie Beagley, who finished with a game-high 14 points, 10 coming in the second half as Sterling made a concerted effort to pound away inside despite Berean's size and length in the post.
Sterling's Sadie Beagley came up big in the Black Bears' semifinal win over Berean Academy, scoring 14 points.
We knew we had to get it inside," said Beagley, who made 4 of 8 shots and was 6 of 6 at the free-throw line. "We did that last time and we just really had to work to do it again. … All of us can score and that's hard to guard. When one person has a bad game, the others can step up and have a great game."
Up just 14-11 at halftime thanks to Briar's lone 3-pointer late in the half, Sterling got back-to-back buckets from Horsch and Beagley to start the second half to finally gain a little separation. That spurt was all the Black Bears really needed.
After another basket inside from Beagley pushed Sterling's lead to nine, 24-15, Berean never really made things uncomfortable for the Black Bears. The Warriors got as close as five on five occasions in the second half, but only had two possessions with a chance to make it a one-score game.
"To scout us, it would be tough," Rowland said. "If you look at two games, the next two games could be very different. … It's a lot of balance.
"We like to get (the ball inside) and the second half … my post players played hard."
Horsch added 10 points for Sterling, eight coming in the second half, while Briar finished with 11 points. Sally Wine led Berean with 13 points.
Sterling is now one win away from a second straight Class 2A state championship. The Black Bears have navigated a brutally tough schedule unscathed and are looking for the first undefeated season in program history.
"We've fought with focus because there's a lot of distractions with winning it last year and not having a loss this year," Rowland said. "A lot of people assume that since we won it, we'd just walk back here and do it again. It's hard to get to the state tournament, let alone win all your games. We just stayed focused on the short-term things and don't spend a lot of time talking about winning the state championship. It's 'Let's win this next ball game, beat this team, win our league.' Keep it in smaller bites."
STERLING 42, BEREAN ACADEMY 35
Berean Academy … 7 … 4 … 8 … 16 … -- … 35
Sterling … 5 … 9 … 12 … 16 … -- … 42
Berean Academy (23-2) – Morgan 0-4 0-0 0, Timken 1-5 0-0 2, Veer 3-7 0-0 6, Wine 6-13 0-0 13, Smith 2-5 2-2 6, Wiebe 0-3 0-0 0, Koontz 1-3 0-0 2, Mullins 3-8 0-0 6. Totals 16-48 2-2 35.
Sterling (25-0) – Farney 0-1 0-1 0, Linden 1-6 2-2 4, Horsch 4-9 2-4 10, Briar 3-11 4-5 11, Beagley 4-8 6-6 14, Rowland 0-3 1-2 1, A. Linden 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 13-40 15-20 42.
3-point goals – Berean 1-8 (Wine 1-2, Veer 0-2, Wiebe 0-2, Timken 0-1, Koontz 0-1); Sterling 1-8 (Briar 1-3, Horsch 0-2, M. Linden 0-2, Rowland 0-1). Rebounds – Berean 35 (Wine 6), Sterling 31 (Beagley 7). Assists – Berean 8 (Timken, Veer 3), Sterling 9 (Briar 4). Turnovers – Berean 14, Sterling 9. Total fouls – Berean 17, Sterling 9. Fouled out – none.
GARDEN PLAIN 40, SMITH CENTER 38
Smith Center … 14 … 7 … 8 … 9 … -- 38
Garden Plain … 7 … 12 … 9 … 12 … -- … 40
Smith Center (20-5) – Hrabe 1-6 0-0 2, Long 6-13 0-0 13, Kattenberg 4-6 0-0 8, Hutchinson 1-1 0-0 3, Rentschler 4-9 2-2 10, Kirchhoff 0-0 1-3 1, Parsons 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 16-35 4-7 38.
Garden Plain (19-6) – Stuhlsatz 2-6 0-1 5, C. Puetz 3-5 1-2 7, Dooley 1-4 0-0 3, Hammond 2-3 4-8 8, S. Puetz 4-8 4-9 13, Hitt 0-2 0-0 0, Rolfs 1-11 2-4 4, Zoglman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-40 11-24 40.
3-point goals – Smith Center (2-13 (Long 1-6, Hutchinson 1-1, Hrabe 0-3, Kattenberg 0-2, Rentschler 0-1); Garden Plain 3-16 (Stuhlsatz 1-4, Dooley 1-1, S. Puetz 1-2, Hammond 0-1, Hitt 0-1, Rolfs 0-6, Zoglman 0-1). Rebounds – Smith Center 26 (Kattenberg 5), Garden Plain 31 (Stuhlsatz, Hammond, S. Puetz, Rolfs 4). Assists – Smith Center 7 (Long, Kattenberg 2), Garden Plain 2 (Hammond, Zoglman). Turnovers – Smith Center 17, Garden Plain 13. Total fouls – Smith Center 17, Garden Plain 8. Fouled out – Smith Center: Kattenberg.
Garden Plain's Madelyn Rolfs (left) and Ryleigh Stuhlsatz (middle) mob teammate Celia Puetz (right) after she hit the game-winning shot in a 40-38 victory over Smith Center.