Physical battle ends in 57-51 loss for Lady Red

Liberal’s Keyona Hall puts up a shot against Wichita Southeast Saturday in the Sub-State championship in The Big House. Hall and the Lady Redskins fell behind early before cutting the lady Buffalo lead to one possession several times in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Redskins never could tie the game and fell 57-51. L&T photo/Earl WattEARL WATT • Leader & Times

Wichita Southeast made a case for a shot clock in Kansas high school basketball Saturday after going in to a five-minute stall with a small lead and forcing the Lady Redskins to commit fouls in an attempt to get possession of the ball, and while the Lady Buffaloes had a mediocre performance at the free throw line, it was enough late to hold on for a 57-51 win to end Liberal’s season in the Sub-State championship.

The fourth quarter was filled with drama when the Lady Redskins started the period strong to cut the Southeast lead, but the Lady Buffaloes opted to try to dribble out the final five minutes.

Liberal only had committed two fouls in the second half at that point and had to commit five more fouls to send Southeast to the free throw line.

During that time, the two teams had tempers flare, and after whistles were blown during an altercation, Southeast’s Aniyah Harris and Liberal’s Hailey Contreras were ejected from the game.

Even though the Lady Redskins no longer had their starting point guard, they continued to slice into the Southeast lead, and after a basket from Jenna Ormiston, the Lady Redskins trailed 52-50 with about two minutes to play.

The Lady Redskins had to keep sending Southeast to the line, and freshman Trinity Dixon made six of eight free throws down the stretch to keep the Lady Redskins from being able to complete the rally.

The Lady Redskins started slow against the aggressive Lady Buffalo defense, and turnovers turned into fast break points for Southeast.

By the end of the first quarter the Lady Redskins trailed 17-12.

Southeast continued to frustrate the Lady Redskin offense in the second quarter, and Liberal trailed 31-20 at halftime. But the Lady Redskins came out with more intensity in the third quarter and started to cut into the 11-point Lady Buffalo lead even though Contreras remained on the bench with three first-half fouls.

Lizzy Cisneros connected on a three pointer, and Elle Hatcher made five points from the block by posting up her defender and getting to the free throw line twice.

By the end of the third quarter the Lady Redskins had cut the lead to 43-38. They continued to slice into the Lady Buffalo advantage early in the fourth quarter until the stall began.

Keyona Hall led the Lady Redskins with 11 points. Rylie Hallman scored nine, and Contreras and Hatcher each had eight.

“Our girls are the definition of grit and tenacity,” Liberal coach Brandi Fowler said. “They are great leaders, and they will bounce back and be better human beings because of this.”

The Southeast style of play was not unexpected.

“They were very aggressive, but a lot of the WAC are, too,” Fowler said. “They take the air out of the ball and have really long offensive possessions, and then we got in foul trouble.”

By the end of the game, Hallman, West and Hall all fouled out, and Contreras was disqualified, leaving only Hatcher as the lone starter remaining in the game.

“We couldn’t let them hold the ball forever,” Fowler said. “We trapped it and tried to make them make a bad pass. I’m proud of our girls and their resolve. They never gave up.”

Pushing he ball inside helped.

“We got inside and to the free throw line, and that’s what we needed to do,” Fowler said. 

She also praised her senior.

“The six seniors including our manager are very special,” she said. “They are great female leaders, and our world needs that.  I was blessed to spend four years with them, and I will follow them probably the rest of their lives.”