Lady Wildcats advance following 2-1, third-place District showing
March 2, 2022
A 2-1 showing with a third place finish in last week's District Tournament gives the Fleming Lady Wildcats a spot in the Region 2 bracket this week. The Lady Wildcats took a round-one win over Weldon Valley at Northeastern Junior College last week to open District play. They suffered a semifinal loss to Merino to pit them against Haxtun on Saturday in a contest that would decide who would advance in the post season.
Fleming took a commanding win over the Lady Warriors of Weldon Valley in Tuesday's opening round. The score closed at 75-15 to allow the Lady Wildcats to move into semifinals on Thursday.
Thursday's game brought Merino to the court to take on Fleming for the second time this season. Fleming defeated the Lady Rams in the first outing in early January, 54-37.
Merino advanced out of Tuesday's play with a 45-26 win over the Prairie Lady Mustangs. The third-ranked Lady Rams evened the win tally with second seeded Fleming, handing the local ladies 58-41 loss that would put them in a contest with Haxtun early Saturday morning.
The Lady Wildcats faced off with Haxtun in Saturday's contest - a contest that ended Haxtun's season, but allowed Fleming to move onto Regional play with a third place finish at Districts. The two squads battled with Fleming ultimately coming out on top, 43-32.
Senior Whitney Chintala contributed 38 points in the three-game tournament. She led the group against Merino on Thursday with 14 points, added 13 against Weldon Valley and closed Saturday's win over Haxtun with 11 points.
Junior Kally Kirkwood followed with 35 points for the week. She earned 19 points in the tournament opener against Weldon Valley and put up anther 11 against Merino.
Several other players made solid offensive contributions. Sophomore Madi Serrato tacked on 18 points to the Lady Wildcat score across the three games. Senior Zoey Vandenbark and juniors Lexi Schaefer and Maddy Harms also hit double digits for the week.
The Lady Wildcats shot 100 percent from the free-throw line on Tuesday against Weldon Valley with junior members Schaefer, Hunter Donovan, Harms and Kirkwood going seven for seven combined.
Vandenbark and Serrato brought down the team-high rebounds on Tuesday. Both players grabbed five boards. Kirkwood led on Thursday with 13 giving her a double-double for the night. Harms and Chintala led in Saturday's contest with 12 and 11 rebounds respectively.
Just one win stands between the Lady Wildcats and the State Tournament. The team earned a number-two position heading into the Region 2 Tournament which allows them a round-one bye. They're set to take on the winner of a contest between fifth ranked Kiowa and eighth seeded Idalia. That contest is scheduled for Friday, March 4 at 1 p.m. in Brush. Fleming's next court appearance is set for Saturday, March 5 at 4 p.m. at Brush Secondary Campus in Brush. For a complete Tournament bracket, turn to page 9.
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