Print edition: 
HUTCHINSON_ Something about what Sarah McCormick was seeing inside the Garden Plain gymnasium in late December gave her an inkling something like Thursday night in Hutchinson was possible.
No one player improved overnight. No roster additions have been made. But those same Owls — the ones with three losses entering Christmas break — advanced to the Class 3A semifinals with a 55-47 victory over Hillsboro.
"I knew we had the potential," said McCormick, the Owls' coach. "They just had to figure it out for themselves."
What Garden Plain lacked was an identity. The team was missing a purpose. The Owls had reservations like everyone else to qualify for state, but it couldn't find means of transportation.
"We knew what we wanted to get done," Garden Plain senior Ann Pauly said. "We just didn't know how exactly to do it. We didn't know what roles to take."
The evaluation process took time, but once Garden Plain found its identity — each of the eight players in the rotation has a specific role — the team found its purpose.
"I think we decided what our goal was," senior Camille Hubert said. "Once we all got on the same page, everything just came together."
Much like things did for the Owls in the first half against Hillsboro. Garden Plain scored the game's first 12 points, made 14 of 21 shots and owned a 34-23 halftime lead.
Hillsboro whittled Garden Plain's lead to seven points entering the fourth, then tied the score with 5:43 remaining.
But the Owls stayed true to themselves.
Said Owls' senior Nicole Dooley of her role: "I have to keep the girls focused. I'm not really a top scorer or anything. I'm more about defense."
Yet, there Dooley was with a runner in the lane 21 seconds later to stamp out the Hillsboro run and steady the wobbling Owls. It was Dooley's only shot.
"You think you're almost there, then all of a sudden you have to battle back again," Hillsboro coach Nathan Hiebert said. "You use a lot of energy just to get back."
To close out the win, all five of the Garden Plain players on the floor scored.
Pauly (9 points) and Jordan Hoheisel scored baskets. Samantha Ledy, Hoheisel, Dooley, Hubert (12 points) and Pauly clinched the game with 9-of-12 free-throw shooting the final three minutes.
Hillsboro had Dakota Kaufman, Candace Weinbrenner and Tena Loewen combine for 31 points.
Next up, the Owls (19-5) face top-seeded Thomas More Prep. But it's not an unfamiliar situation — just a week ago Garden Plain upset Collegiate, then ranked second in 3A.
The game plan is always the same now for these Owls.
"Teamwork," Hubert said.
Marion 49, Beloit 44 —Julia Zeiner thought her work was complete in advancing Marion to tonight's semifinals against Jefferson County North.
After leaving the game with five seconds left and a five-point lead, Marion had to call upon Zeiner, its senior leader, again in the last second to clinch victory two free throws.
Zeiner finished with a game-high 17 points and was 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to go along with eight rebounds.
"It didn't really throw me off at all," Zeiner said. "I knew what we had to do, we had to make the free throws, so that's what I did."
Marion led for the final 26 minutes, though Beloit cut the lead to three points four times in the fourth quarter. The Warriors had the answer every time.
"We knew we had to keep going," Zeiner said. "Good teams make runs and they're a good team. We didn't want them to get back in it, so we just had to play our game."
And that was playing stifling defense, holding Beloit to 15-of-57 shooting.
Lindsay Hett added 12 points and eight rebounds for Marion.
