Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010

South girls claim elusive state championship

EMPORIA, Kan. | Navia Palu and Ebonee Bell burst into tears at 5:31 p.m. Saturday evening at White Auditorium.

The Olathe South seniors had just helped the Falcons polish off a 54-49 victory against Wichita Heights for the first Kansas 6A state championship in the program's history. The frustration of last year's runner-up finish and the joy of finally being champions simply overwhelmed Olathe South's girls.

“It was amazing and I never felt so much of a rush come over me,” Palu said. “It was such an accomplished feeling and I was so proud of everyone on this team.”

Junior Natalie Knight also cried, but only after demonstrating why she's a lock for first-team all-state and all-metro honors with another signature performance that included 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Particularly in the first half, her brilliance was needed after starting forwards Brooke Rinehart and Kelsey Balcom each picked up two fouls in the first 4 minutes trying to guard Heights junior post Jhasmin Bowen.

Bowen powered Heights to its first lead with buckets to close the first quarter and open the second, giving the Wichita's Falcons an 18-16 lead. She finished the first half with 14 points and seven rebounds.

But Knight was every bit as dominant, scoring 13 with three assists in guiding Olathe South to a 26-24 halftime lead.

“I knew somebody had to step up, because it was big when Kelsey and Brooke got in foul trouble,” Knight said. “We need them in the game.”

Knight and senior Kelsey Balcom, who scored 14 points, combined for 11 third-quarter points as the lead reached 42-34 before a series of fourth-quarter turnovers fueled a Heights rally.

Down 47-41, Heights parlayed three straight turnovers into five points, cutting the lead to just one with 2:57 remaining, but Knight again rose to the occasion, sinking both ends of a one-and-one then carving up Heights' defense to get the rim and restore Olathe South's lead to 51-46.

“We've been in that position with Olathe East, but we knew it was all or nothing this time,” said senior Ebonee Bell said.

Olathe East handed Olathe South, 24-1, its only defeat in double overtime during the regular-season finale.

Of course, Olathe South, which has been to state six straight years and 10 times overall but had lost all three pervious appearances in the 6A title bout, gladly traded that defeat for the 6A crown.

“It was a mixture of joy and relief, and it almost brought me to tears too,” Ingram said. “But it was a great win for the girls and a nice win for me, because it really is about the girls and what they do.”

Bowen had only three points in the second half on an old-fashioned three with 20 left. She finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

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