There will be a new 3A champ as Belle Plaine upends Halstead in first round
A building program started its promising sub-state tournament with the defending 3A champion and is rewarded with a team that has beaten it twice.
Belle Plaine beat Halstead 64-46 on Tuesday in the first round of the Dragons’ postseason. They play Kingman on Friday in Haven. Sophomore Eli Wiseman finished with a game-high 22 points and said he wasn’t worried about facing the champs and won’t be against Kingman.
“We took tonight the same as any other team,” he said. “We just had to play our hearts out and come out with a W, and we did.”
Belle Plaine has had one of its best seasons in the past decade. The Dragons are 15-5 and are the No. 2 seed in the deepest sub-state tournament in Kansas. None of the eight teams have a losing record, and entered Tuesday with 99 wins in 152 games.
Coach Josh Corbett said his group is taking it one game at a time.
Belle Plaine’s lead was never in real danger Tuesday. The Dragons jumped on Halstead early, getting out to a 9-2 lead. It was 30-20 at half and neared 30 in the fourth quarter.
They held Halstead senior Andrew O’Brien in check with five points in the first and third quarters combined. Senior forward Tristan Warren was responsible and matched O’Brien’s length in the low post.
In the second half, Wiseman turned an already-hot group of Dragons into a machine. He went off for 16 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Senior Bo Gooch, who had 11, said he knew Wiseman had potential to take over.
“At the beginning of the fourth quarter, I told him, ‘Just go be aggressive,’ ” he said. “He did.”
Gooch has been a perennial starter at Belle Plaine. Tuesday was his last game on the home floor. Corbett said the entire 2019 senior class has been instrumental to the Dragons’ rebuild. He said winning a sub-state title is a long way away, but this group has the potential to do it.
“I’ve had three older brothers in this school,” Gooch said. “I grew up watching basketball here, so that’s my dream to get a championship for this school.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 12:03 AM.