3A girls: Bench leads Cheney into championship game

It was a gamble to be sure.

And moments after sitting leading scorer and 6-foot-2 standout Haley Albers with her second foul less than three minutes into Friday’s Class 3A girls semifinal against Thomas More Prep, Cheney coach Rod Scheer was looking down the bench deciding whether to put her back in.

Down 5-2 when Albers went out, the Cardinals found themselves trailing 10-2 a minute later and testing Scheer’s nerve.

“I tried to milk it and milk it,” Scheer said. “The kids were playing great, though.”

Scheer’s gamble paid off in a big way. Cheney not only weathered TMP’s early charge and Albers’ absence, but rose to the occasion. The Cardinals put together a 10-2 run to finish the quarter tied and led for the bulk of the game on its way to a 54-43 upset of the tourney’s No. 2 seed.

The victory moved Cheney (21-4) into its first championship game since winning the Class 4A title in 2010. The Cardinals, who beat No. 3-seed Council Grove in the quarterfinals, will now get a shot at No. 1, facing undefeated Hugoton (25-0) in Saturday’s 4 p.m. championship game.

When Albers went to the bench, Scheer had no true intention of sitting her for the remainder of the half. But nine points off the bench from the combination of Emily Monson (4), Kalie Jones (3) and Madison Freund (2) helped spark the Cardinals and allowed Scheer to protect Albers.

Monson got all four of her points of the half in a 10-4 run to start the period, capping the spurt with a three-point play. Cheney led 24-19 at halftime.

“The kids came off the bench and hit some shots,” Scheer said. “With about two minutes left, we were up seven and we said, ‘We’re good for the half.’ That group that came in just did a great job.”

The reserve trio finished with a combined 15 points for the game, none bigger than their early efforts.

“I definitely think all of us, it clicked in our head that our leading scorer was on the bench and we all needed to step up,” said Monson, who led the bench with eight points. “All of us knew we had what it took to step up and fill her spot and make up for that.”

Led by standout Kayla Vitztum, TMP charged back in the third quarter. Down 29-22 after buckets by Kadie Smith and Albers to start the second half, the Monarch roared back as Vitztum scored their first 12 points of the quarter to make it 31-31.

A Megan Koenigsman knotted things again at 34 after Cheney scored three straight, but Albers got a putback in the closing seconds for a 36-34 lead and then opened the fourth with a three-pointer.

TMP got as close as 39-37 in the fourth before a three-point play from Smith and bucket by Albers gave the Cardinals some breathing room. Only a rough performance at the free throw line in the fourth (7 of 19) prevented Cheney from completely burying the Monarchs, but it was enough to secure the win.

“We were down to Conway the first time. We should have lost twice to Hesston. We were down to Garden Plain at half,” Scheer said. “When they tied it up, we gutted it up and took care of business.”

Smith finished with a game-high 14 points for the Cardinals, while Albers added 14, each grabbing eight rebounds and Cheney out-rebounded the Monarchs 41-21. Vitztum led all scorers with 25 points, but the Monarchs were 3 of 13 from three-point range.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 9:16 PM with the headline "3A girls: Bench leads Cheney into championship game."