Garden Plain girls take Central Plains lead with win over Independent

With sole possession of first place in the Central Plains League secure, Garden Plain girls basketball coach Kody Kasselman still didn’t feel comfortable.

The Owls became the final unbeaten team in league play on Tuesday night, defeating previously-undefeated Independent 50-36 to create a one-game cushion over Independent and Cheney with six games remaining.

To remain in first place, Garden Plain will have to answer the looming challenge coming in one week against Cheney, the team Garden Plain beat by 19 points in the season opener that is desperate for a rematch.

“I don’t know if anybody is playing better than Cheney right now,” Kasselman said. “Last time we played them we shot lights out and they didn’t. We’re definitely going to be in for a dog fight next Tuesday.”

Independent entered with an eight-game winning streak and was fresh off winning the Sedgwick tournament, although it came at a cost: Anna Riedmiller, the team’s second-leading scorer and a University of Denver signee in tennis, suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“To tell you the truth, we’re learning how to play again,” Independent coach Chris Porter said. “When you lose Anna Riedmiller, the best athlete in the state, to a torn ACL, then you’ve got a problem. Our girls fought their hearts out tonight, but it just wasn’t enough.”

Without the steady dosage of scoring and defensive intensity of Riedmiller, Independent (10-4) struggled to keep pace with the high-scoring Owls (11-3). Lea Coccettella connected on six three-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points, but only Janell Douvier (10 points) scored more than two points for the Panthers.

Garden Plain led 14-5 after the first quarter and never allowed its lead to slip under eight points for the remaining 24 minutes.

“I told our kids that it was really important to set the tempo,” Kasselman said. “We watched Independent play on film and they’re really good at getting up into people and speeding people up. We wanted to come out and control the pace and I thought we did a good job of that.”

Taylor Joplin came through with another superb offensive performance, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Piper Bourne (11 points, four assists), Ryann Flax (eight points, six assists), and Lauren Danahy (seven points, three steals) all played their roles for Garden Plain.

When Independent rallied to within 32-24 in the third quarter, Garden Plain reeled off a game-sealing 10-0 run to extend its lead to 18 points. The lead swelled to as many as 23 in the fourth quarter.

Even after an impressive win, Garden Plain knew it would take more against Cheney (10-3).

“We’re ready, we’ve been ready,” Joplin said of the rematch. “They’ve improved so much since the first time we played them, so it’s definitely going to be a great game.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Garden Plain girls take Central Plains lead with win over Independent."