Courtesy of KSHSAA website game recap
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Sterling coach Jill Rowland was hard-pressed in picking which state championship meant more and which was tougher to secure.
But senior standout Kali Briar barely hesitated when posed with the same question.
"I would definitely say this year's," Briar proclaimed following Sterling's 47-38 win over rival Garden Plain in Saturday's Class 2A state championship game at Bramlage Coliseum that gave the Black Bears their second consecutive title. "With all the stress and pressure from the outside noise, it just makes it so memorable."
Make no mistake, each of Sterling's back-to-back Class 2A state championships will hold a special memory for the Black Bears.
Last year's crown was the first in program history, coming after three previous runner-up finishes including one in 2019 when this year's senior class were freshmen. This year's title also was historic as Sterling went to wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in Class 2A, turning back every challenge they faced to finish with the program's first undefeated season at 26-0.
"They're all hard to win, so they both mean so much," Rowland said. "I thought we handled the pressure all year. And we had a lot of pressure. People just expected us to come right back and it would be easy, and it wasn't. My kids grew a lot as people, as ball players and as a team. I couldn't be more proud of the girls this year."
Sterling coach Jill Rowland pumps her fist toward the Black Bear crowd after leading her team to a second straight Class 2A state championship.
That Garden Plain was the opponent in Saturday's title game was fitting. The two have developed solid rivalry at the highest level ever since the Owls moved down to Class 2A in 2019 after winning the 2018 Class 3A state championship.
Garden Plain denied the Black Bears the state title when they met in the championship game in 2019, taking a 47-40 victory. They met again in the 2020 state tournament, this time in the quarterfinals, and the Owls prevailed again, 54-48.
Last year, it was another state showdown, this time in the semifinals. Sterling finally broke through with a 69-52 title, serving as a springboard to a 52-36 win over Pittsburg Colgan in the title game.
So who else should Saturday's title game have come down to having to beat?
"I did joke with (Garden Plain coach Kody) Kasselman that it's really not a state tournament unless we're playing Garden Plain," Rowland said. "I thought we actually might get them in the first round. It is very fitting that we continue to battle with them. Great program, great coach who has great competitors every single year.
"For us to beat Garden Plain on any day is a great day. On this stage, it's just a great feeling."
Garden Plain was more than up to the challenge of trying to spoil Sterling's perfect season early. The Owls hit their first three shots of the game – a 3-pointer from Ryleigh Stuhlsatz and consecutive baskets from semifinal hero Celia Puetz – to get out quickly.
But after Carly Hitt scored midway through the quarter to give the Owls a 9-6 lead, Sterling flipped the switch. The Black Bears' defense swarmed, forcing Garden Plain into five straight turnovers and the offense fed off those Owl miscues.
Kali Briar buried her second 3-pointer of the quarter to start a 13-0 Sterling run that saw the Black Bears get points from four different players. Makenna Linden mixed in Sterling's third 3-pointer of the quarter and Bennie Horsch capped the spurt with a putback as the Black Bears stormed to a 19-11 lead by the end of the period.
Sterling's Kali Briar (right) hit four big 3-pointers for a team-high 12 points in Saturday's Class 2A state championship game.
"We wanted to go inside, but they were smothering Sadie and Bennie in there so we tweaked a few things," Rowland said. "We had to go inside-out a little bit. They did a great job of gunking it up on us inside, but we hit some outside shots that were big and that really loosened things up and opened things up for us."
Though Garden Plain never really recovered from Sterling's first-quarter punch, the Owls also never let the Black Bears deliver a knockout blow until late. After getting down 11 early in the second quarter, Garden Plain fought back to within six midway through the period before Sterling stretched it back out to a nine-point halftime lead.
The Owls opened the second half like they did the game, getting points in a hurry. Sydney Puetz followed a Brooke Hammond runner with a three-point play and then Madelyn Rolfs buried a 3-pointer to cut Sterling's lead to just two.
But just as she had in the first quarter, Briar came up big. She drilled her third 3-pointer of the game to halt Garden Plain's momentum and Horsch followed with a basket to restore a seven-point lead. After the Owls closed back within four, Horsch stepped out and hit a 3-pointer.
Garden Plain's Madelyn Rolfs holds the follow-through on a 3-point attempt during Saturday's 2A title game. Rolfs hit two threes, but the Owls never got over the hump in falling 47-38 to Sterling.
Sterling was just 6 of 16 from 3-point range in the game, but every make the Black Bears had from deep seemed to be killers for the Owls.
"We were going to take our chance with them on the perimeter," Kasselman said. "That was our game plan. We were going to take away the middle as much as we could and take our chances on the perimeter other than Briar. And she still had some big ones."
"I couldn't have done it without my teammates," said Briar, who finished 4 of 9 from beyond the arc for all 12 of her game-high total. "They make it easy for me to get open and I spend a lot of time in the gym so I was just letting it fly."
Briar's last 3-pointer came early in the fourth after Garden Plain once again pulled within five. That was the final dagger as Sterling answered every run the Owls made at them.
It's something Rowland saw from her veteran team – five seniors start -- throughout the undefeated run, particularly in wins over Cheney and Southeast of Saline. In both of those contests, the Black Bears were trailing at key junctures of the game before finding a way to come back and get victories.
"Both of those games, we had to battle and that's been very beneficial," Rowland said. "I thought our composure was really good both of those nights and we never got rattled. … I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure tonight because (Garden Plain's) a good team who was going to come at us."
Sterling's Kali Briar flashes a heart sign to the crowd after getting her state championship medal.
The journey complete, Briar and her teammates soaked it all in, dogpiling near mid-court after the final buzzer sounded.
"It was tough," Briar said. "You go into the season ranked No. 1, target's on your back and everybody would kill to beat you. It was definitely a lot of stress, but I think we handled it as a team really well. We went one game at a time.
"It's so special. Us seniors have been playing together since we were in the third grade. I love those girls and I'd do anything for them."
Horsch backed Briar with 11 points, while Beagley tallied nine and Linden eight. Celia Puetz led Garden Plain, which finished 19-7, with eight points and Rolfs and Hammond each had six, Hammond saddled with foul trouble for the bulk of the contest.
"We just couldn't get over the hump," Kasselman said. "I'm proud of our kids and how they battled. I told them nobody expected them to be in the state finals and yet here we were."
SMITH CENTER 44, BEREAN ACADEMY 37
After falling at the buzzer to Garden Plain in Friday's semifinals, Smith Center bounced back to top Berean Academy for third place to finish the season 21-5.
The Redmen did the bulk of their damage at the free-throw line, going 20 of 31 at the stripe in the game. That included makes on 16 of their last 19 attempts as they fought off Berean.
Ashlyn Long made 8 of 10 free throws and led the Redmen with 15 points while Tallon Rentschler added 13 points.
Berean, which lost to someone other than Sterling for the first time this season, finished 23-3 and got 12 points from Tayton Smith and 11 points from Lillie Veer.
Sterling's bench prepares to erupt in celebration as the final seconds ticked off the clock in Saturday's Class 2A state championship game.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
STERLING 47, GARDEN PLAIN 38
Garden Plain … 11 … 8 … 13 … 6 … -- … 38
Sterling … 19 … 9 … 11 … 8 … -- … 47
Garden Plain (19-7) – Stuhlsatz 2-5 0-0 5, C. Puetz 3-7 2-2 8, Dooley 1-5 0-0 3, Hammond 2-6 2-2 6, S. Puetz 1-7 2-4 4, M. Rolfs 2-8 0-0 6, Zogleman 0-0 1-2 1, Hoheisel 1-2 1-1 3, C. Roldfs 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Hitt 1-6 0-0 2, Miles 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-46 8-11 38.
Sterling (26-0) – Farney 1-1 1-2 3, M. Linden 3-10 1-2 8, Horsch 4-6 2-4 11, Briar 4-10 0-0 12, Beagley 3-11 3-6 9, Rowland 0-1 0-0 0, Gray 2-8 0-2 4, A. Linden 0-0 0-0 0, Ekart 0-0 0-0 0, Brownlee 0-0 0-0 0, Cornelius 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 7-16 47.
3-point goals – Garden Plain 4-19 (M. Rolfs 2-7, Stuhlsatz 1-3, Dooley 1-3, S. Puetz 0-3, Hammond 0-1, Hitt 0-2); Sterling 6-16 (Briar 4-9, M. Linden 1-5, Horsch 1-1, Rowland 0-1). Rebounds – Garden Plain 30 (Dooley, Hammond 5), Sterling 40 (Briar 9). Assists – Garden Plain 8 (C. Puetz, Hammond, S. Puetz 2), Sterling 5 (M. Linden 2). Turnovers – Garden Plain 15, Sterling 15. Total fouls – Garden Plain 15, Sterling 14. Fouled out – Garden Plain: Dooley, Hammond.
CONSOLATION GAME
SMITH CENTER 44, BEREAN ACADEMY 37
Smith Center … 12 … 4 … 9 … 19 … -- … 44
Berean Academy … 14 … 3 … 5 … 15 … -- … 37
Smith Center (21-5) – Hrabe 0-2 1-4 1, Long 3-9 8-10 15, Kattenberg 1-3 3-4 5, Hutchinson 1-3 2-4 4, Rentschler 5-8 2-2 13, Kirchhoff 1-3 3-5 5, Parsons 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 11-28 20-31 44.
Berean Academy (23-3) – Morgan 1-4 0-0 3, Timken 1-5 1-4 4, Veer 4-8 1-2 11, Wine 1-9 0-0 2, Smith 2-8 8-8 12, Wiebe 0-0 0-0 0, Koontz 2-3 0-1 5, Mullins 0-4 0-0 0, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-41 10-15 37.
3-point goals – Smith Center 2-8 (Long 1-4, Rentschler 1-1, Hrabe 0-2, Kattenberg 0-1); Berean 5-14 (Veer 2-5, Morgan 1-2, Timken 1-4, Koontz 1-1, Wine 0-1, Mullins 0-1). Rebounds – Smith Center 23 (Long, Hutchinson, Kirchhoff 4), Berean 30 (Smith 9). Assists – Smith Center 9 (Hrabe 4), Berean 5 (Smith 2). Turnovers – Smith Center 18, Berean 20. Total fouls – Smith Center 15, Berean 23. Fouled out – Berean: Veer.
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