Albers leads Cheney past Kingman in Haven first round

To say that Cheney post Haley Albers had a well-rounded game doesn’t quite do justice to all she brings to the Cardinals.

Albers, a 6-foot-1 junior, drew a lot of attention Thursday from Kingman, She still scored 20 points, but some scoring help at the right time pushed the Cardinals to a 47-45 victory in the first round of the Wildcat Classic.

Sophomore Kirsten Campbell scored all eight of her points in the second half, and Cheney managed to escape.

“Coach (Rod Scheer) pulled me aside and said, ‘OK, you just start driving and you’ll see the hole a lot more,’ ” Campbell said. “That’s what I did, and I found the shots.”

The Cardinals (8-3), seeded fifth, will take on top-seeded Wellington (10-0) in Friday’s semifinals.

Albers scored 10 points in each half, including a three-pointer, and even handled the ball when the Eagles’ press began to frazzle the Cheney guards. Her three-pointer from the top of the key helped the Cardinals escape their largest deficit of six points, cutting it to 20-17 with 4:52 left before halftime. Eighteen seconds later, teammate Miranda Ortiz hit one from the same spot to pull Cheney to within 22-20.

“That was one of Haley’s better games,” Scheer said. “She bailed us out a couple of times.”

“My teammates just did a good job of getting me the ball, and I just took advantage,” Albers said. “It’s good that (Campbell) stepped up and hit big shots. It took the pressure off of me.”

Later, once Cheney was able to beat the press, that left the frontcourt open, and Campbell got two key baskets in the final five minutes.

The Cardinals didn’t take the lead for good until Ortiz hit a layup with 2:22 to play. But Kingman hung around, and had a chance to tie or lead, missing on two chances just before the buzzer sounded.

Kingman was led by sophomore Bailey Bangert, who hit 16 of her game-high 24 points in the first half, and finished with four three-pointers.

Kingman (8-3), seeded fourth, will face Chaparral.

Eagles coach Justin Batt said turnovers and missed shots at crucial times hurt his team’s chances.

“We gave away way too many opportunities,” he said. “We couldn’t secure loose balls, threw some balls out of bounds, just things we don’t typically do.”

Albers’ presence inside posed many problems, he said.

“We don’t have anybody that big,” Batt said. “She can shoot – she made some tough shots. Those turnaround 15-footers aren’t easy shots, no matter who’s on you.”

Wellington 53, Chaparral 16 – Senior Grace Mitchell scored 23 points in playing just three quarters, hitting three three-pointers for the Crusaders (10-0).

Goddard 42, Nickerson 23 – Sam Schwab scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Lions (10-1) stay comfortably ahead of Nickerson (3-8).

Rose Hill 40, Haven 34 – The Rockets (5-6) jumped to a 20-11 halftime lead and held on for a victory over the tournament host Wildcats (8-3). They will face Goddard in the semifinals.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 11:32 PM with the headline "Albers leads Cheney past Kingman in Haven first round."