Walker leads Andover girls basketball to first Kansas high school state win since 1996
Playing in her first Kansas high school state tournament game didn’t affect Brooke Walker, who made play after play down the stretch to lead the Andover girls basketball team to an opening-round victory on Wednesday.
Walker scored a game-high 26 points, including eight crucial points in the fourth quarter of Andover’s 58-48 win over hometown Emporia at White Auditorium on Emporia State’s campus.
In Andover’s first state tournament appearance in a decade, Walker, a star junior, helped the Trojans improve to 21-2 and win their first game at state since 1996.
“It says a lot about our perseverance and preparation,” Walker told Sports in Kansas after the game. “We had really good practices and we just wanted it more. I think that’s what it’s all about in the postseason. Everybody stepped up and I’m really proud of my team.”
Walker is considered one of the best recruits in Kansas in the class of 2024 and showed why in the fourth quarter when she hit the biggest shot of the game, a 3-pointer well beyond the arc to extend Andover’s lead to 49-45 with 3:29 remaining.
Andover made its free throws down the stretch to pull away from what had been a thrilling back-and-forth game up until the final minute.
“Brooke’s leadership out there means so much to us,” Andover coach Hannah Alexander told Sports in Kansas. “What she does talking to the girls on the side and in practice, she’s a great motivator and she tells them little cues here and there. Not everybody sees that, but what she brought today and she just made everybody step on board. That’s what is so great about this team. Their team chemistry and they are just fearless. They’re not going to stop until the very end.”
In another first-round 5A game, Bishop Carroll exacted revenge on Andover Central, which handed the Golden Eagles one of their two losses this season, as Carroll won 58-47 to advance to Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal to face Andover.
Carroll coach Taylor Dugan was well aware her team will have their hands full on Friday, as the game will be a rematch of a sub-state championship game from last season that Carroll won.
“They’re just like us, they’re a better team than they were last year,” Dugan said. “We’ve improved and we’re continuing to improve and I think it will be a great game. We’re going to have to be ready defensively. Brooke Walker is hard to stop.”
But Carroll has weapons of its own, which were on full display Wednesday as Leah Henke finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Brynn Steven chipped in 14 points and Landon Forbes scored 14.
When Andover Central rallied to tie the game in the third quarter, Carroll immediately pushed back to gain control of the lead and never gave it back up. Forbes delivered a superb two-way performance, Dugan said. “Landon just has an amazing motor,” Dugan said. “She’s go, go, go all the time and her teammates follow suit. That’s what you want out of a senior leader is to be a good example.”
Maddi Amekporfor scored a game-high 19 points to lead Andover Central, which ended its season with a 17-6 record and a fourth straight state tournament appearance.
Meanwhile, Carroll advanced to its first semifinal since 2018.
“We’re a pretty fast team and we don’t let up,” Dugan said. “We have this relentless motto with this group where we just keep going. When we can play fast and get up the court, we’ve done a good job. I think that’s what has made us hard to guard this season.”
Class 3A recap: Cheney’s Campbell Hague delivers double-double in win
No one could stop Cheney senior Campbell Hague in the opening game of the Class 3A state tournament at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The 6-foot-2 senior, signed to play Division 1 volleyball at San Diego State, collected 17 points and 22 rebounds in Cheney’s 65-48 victory over Eureka on Wednesday to advance to the state semifinals to face top seed and unbeaten Phillipsburg at 2 p.m. Friday.
Cheney built a 10-point lead after the first quarter and the game was never much in doubt after that, as Hague registered a massive double-double and added three assists, three blocks and a steal. Elina Bartlett added 16 points and four assists and Reagan Ayres finished with 13 points for Cheney, while Ashley Singhateh scored 14 points to lead Eureka, playing in just its second state tournament in program history.
Meanwhile, Cheney is back in the state semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The Cardinals (22-2) will be looking for their fourth title appearance in that span on Friday.
Class 1A recap: Norwich keeps state title dream alive
In Class 1A Division 1, top seed Norwich survived and advanced with a 42-34 victory over Canton-Galva at the state tournament in Dodge City. Brooklyn Scheetz finished with 12 points and six rebounds to help Norwich (22-2) advance to the semifinals to face Doniphan West (19-5) in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinal.
Norwich is playing in its seventh state tournament in the last 12 years and is looking for the school’s first state title since 1988 this weekend.
At the Class 1A Division 2 state tournament in Great Bend, Hutchinson Central Christian trailed by nine points to Beloit-St. John’s Tipton with less than five minutes remaining in the game, but rallied to within 41-38 with 1:45 left on a 3-pointer by Kaylee Kauffman. Central Christian even had a chance to potentially tie on its next possession, but the shot beyond the arc missed and it never had a chance to tie again and Tipton advanced with a 45-40 victory.
Kauffman scored a game-high 19 points, while Emerie Boman added 11 points for Central Christian, which ended its season with a 16-8 record and a fourth state berth in the last seven years.
Kansas high school girls basketball state tournament scores
Class 5A (Emporia)
St. James Academy 65, Topeka Seaman 42
St. Thomas Aquinas 66, Highland Park 22
Bishop Carroll 58, Andover Central 47
Andover 58, Emporia 48
Class 3A (Hutchinson)
Phillipsburg 40, Riley County 27
Cheney 65, Eureka 48
Goodland 53, Frontenac 48
Silver Lake 72, Santa Fe Trail 41
Class 1A Division 1 (Dodge City)
Norwich 42, Canton-Galva 34
Doniphan West 60, Central Plains 40
Quinter 57, Olpe 47
Frankfort 61, South Gray 53
Class 1A Division 2 (Great Bend)
Lebo 56, Pawnee Heights 12
Bucklin 44, South Haven 35
Hanover 63, Wallace County 32
Beloit-St. John’s Tipton 45, Hutchinson Central Christian 40
Friday’s KSHSAA state basketball bracket schedule
Class 5A (White Auditorium in Emporia)
No. 8 St. James Academy (18-5) vs. No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas (20-3), 2 p.m.
No. 2 Bishop Carroll (21-2) vs. No. 3 Andover (21-2), 6
Class 3A (Hutchinson Sports Arena)
No. 1 Phillipsburg (24-0) vs. No. 4 Cheney (22-2), 2 p.m.
No. 2 Goodland (24-0) vs. No. 3 Silver Lake (23-1), 6
Class 1A Division 1 (United Wireless Arena in Dodge City)
No. 1 Norwich (22-2) vs. No. 5 Doniphan West (19-5), 2 p.m.
No. 2 Quinter (21-3) vs. No. 3 Frankfort (21-3), 6
Class 1A Division 2 (Barton Community College in Great Bend)
No. 2 Hanover (24-0) vs. No. 3 Beloit-St. John’s Tipton (21-4), 2 p.m.
No. 1 Lebo (24-0) vs. No. 5 Bucklin (20-4), 6
This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
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