By Tracy McCue
From the moment the Argonia girls were eliminated from the first round of the 2009 Class 1A state basketball tournament, the goal was set to go on and win a state championship.
Well, Argonia has made its way back to the big tournament in Hays starting this Wednesday and running through Friday.
The Red Raiders square off against Lincoln, a school in northwest Kansas, Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the first round.
Argonia (25-0) comes into a very competitive situation. There are three undefeated teams and one with one loss in the eight-team tournament at Busch-Gross Stadium in Hays.
Still, the Red Raiders are confident. After all, the team knows how to win and has answered every challenge that has come its way this season.
"It really helped us that we played a state tournament quality opponent in the sub-state championship game," said Dixie Brewster, Argonia head girls basketball coach about Little River, a team it beat 42-33 in the sub-state championship game in El Dorado. "It proved we can play with the kind of teams we'll see this week in Hays."
Little River, a traditional state-tournament participant from central Kansas, was no slouch. It won the competitive Heart of America league that included teams like Moundridge and Berean Academy. It lost to Hesston, a Class 4A state tournament participant, by four points earlier in the regular season.
The sub-state game was close from the start. Argonia led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter. Then both teams scored just 4 points apiece in the second and the score was 17-14 Argonia at the half.
"We had the ball 30 percent less (time) than they did," Brewster said. "We just held tough defensively and pressed and eventually that wore them down."
Argonia maintained the lead for most of the ball game, but lost it temporarily in the third quarter.
Little River led 19-17 when senior Davi Peetoom, who was held inside all game, hit a 3-pointer, her only points of the game. That put Argonia in front by one and the Red Raiders would never trail again.
Going into the fourth, Argonia was leading by three, but would outscore the Redskins 18-12 in the fourth.
"We pressed in the fourth quarter and they had trouble getting the ball up court," Brewster said.
Argonia now faces a team it knows little about. But Brewster does know one thing — the Red Raiders better stop Lincoln's 5-6 guard Jenna Farris.
Farris has been averaging 23.9 ppg and scored a game-high 49 points earlier this year against Clifton-Clyde.
"We are going to have to stop her in transition," Brewster said. "She has the ability of taking that basket to the hole."
Brewster said from what she can tell Lincoln likes to press and play transition basketball, which, of course, leads to Argonia's strength.
"But I think coaches can make a mistake and take too much stock on what they see on film," Brewster said. "If you see something (on film) and that is your primary focus, you could be surprised when the team comes out and does something completely different."
"In other words, Lincoln may look good in transition, but they may come out in a 2-3 zone. We have to be ready for anything they throw at us."
Argonia goes into the tournament as the No. 2 seed. South Gray (25-0) is the No. 1 seed. St. Paul (25-0) is the No. 3 seed.
"I really like our seeding in the tournament," Brewster said. "In fact, I think I'd rather be No. 2 than No. 1 the way the bracket is set up."
If Argonia gets past Lincoln, it is assured a dogfight the rest of the way. The winner of the Lincoln-Argonia battles St.Paul/Tribune. Take nothing for granted. If St. Paul is undefeated, that's going to be tough. If Tribune (20-5) upsets St. Paul, that team will be tough since it just knocked off an undefeated team.
Then there is South Gray, which may be the Class 1A favorite.
"I guess it ultimately comes down to this," Brewster said. "If you play well, you advance. If you don't, you go home. It is as simple as that."
•••••
The state tournament schedule is as follows:
Wednesday —
Wilson (17-8) vs. South Gray (25-0), 3 p.m.
Frankfort (23-2) vs. St. John (24-1), 4:45 p.m.
Lincoln (18-7) vs. Argonia (25-0), 6:30 p.m.
Tribune (20-5) vs. St. Paul (24-0), 8:15 p.m.
Thursday —
Wilson-South Gray winner vs. Frankfort-St. John winner, 3 p.m.;
Lincoln-Argonia winner vs. Tribune-St.Paul winner, 6:30 p.m.
Friday —
Third place game, 2 p.m.; championship 5:30.
•••••
The Argonia sub-state box scores from Friday are as follows:
Argonia 53 Yates Center 29
Yates Center 0 8 12 9 — 29
Argonia 17 13 11 12 — 53
Yates Center: Spencer 7, Reynolds 9, Bruner 2, Estes 3, Baker 8. Totals: 10 (2) 7-17 29. Argonia: Simon 4, Tracy 6, Brewster 16, J. Peetoom 8, D. Peetoom 8, Stansbury 4, Boatright 8. Totals 19 (2) 13-28 53.
Argonia 42 Little River 33
Little River 10 4 7 12 — 33
Argonia 13 4 7 18 — 42
Little River: Gillespie 9, M. Galyon 4, Lenherr 6, Stagner 6, Barton 2, A. Baldwin 6. Totals 10 (4) 9-13 33. Argonia: Simon 1, Tracy 2, Brewster 11, J. Peetoom 3, D. Peetoom 3, Stansbury 9, Boatright 13. Totals 12 (2) 16-25 42.
Wellington, Kan. —
