Lady Tigers Punch Ticket to State
Tigers Stymied Visiting Wamego in a Dominant 35-21 Sub-State Win
by GC Telegram Kevin Thompson on March 03, 2019
Launch the media gallery 1 playerPrior to Saturday’s sub-state championship game in Ulysses, Tigers head coach Tim Hofferber told his team to think back to the last time the Ulysses girls basketball program had been to state.
There was nothing but puzzled looks, Hofferber said. That’s because none of the girls had been born, yet. In fact, they were about two decades away from being born, as 1981 was the last time the orange and black had been seen at state. Fans will get a good look this year, as the Tigers stymied visiting Wamego in a dominant 35-21 win in the 4A sub-state championship game at Ulysses.
“It’s hard to keep from smiling,” Hofferber said. “It was awesome. I’m really, really proud of them.”
The Ulysses program has been to state three times — 1973, 1979 and 1981 — but none since, Hofferber said.
To get there, the Tigers (17-4) clamped down on defense, holding the Red Raiders (11-9) to just five first-half points to take a 15-point lead into the second half.
“We played great defense,” Hofferber said. “They’re a team that likes to dribble-penetrate, and they’ve got very good guards who are good at jab-stepping and getting in and dumping it out to the perimeter. We wanted to deny that, and we wanted to make them one-dimensional, and we really did that.”
No Wamego player had more than five points.
“It’s not that they shot the ball horribly, it’s that we limited the shots they wanted to take,” Hofferber said.
Gina Ballesteros led the Tigers’ attack with 14 points — with four three-pointers — while Alyssa Castilleja and Madison Haney added eight each.
“They have a very good half-court trapping zone,” Hofferber said of Wamego, “and we really spread them out and knocked down some shots early that forced them to get out of that trap.”
The Tigers advance to the Class 4A state tournament Wednesday through March 9 at Tony’s Pizza Events Center in Salina, with bracket opponents yet to be determined.
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Wamego (11-9)
Billings 1 0-0 2, Alexander 1 0-0 3, Schoenbeck 1 0-0 2, Hoobler 1 0-0 3, Donnelly 0 0-4 0, Pettay 1 0-2 2, Beachler 2 0-0 5, Underwood 0 2-4 2, Quaker 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 2-10 21.
Ulysses (17-4)
Castilleja 3 1-5 8, Haney 3 0-0 8, Oglevie 1 0-0 2, Edwards 1 0-0 2, Ballesteros 5 0-0 14, Lerma 0 1-2 1, Rojas 0 0-1 0. Totals 13 2-8 35.
Wamego;3;2;8;8;—;21
Ulysses;8;12;7;8;—;35
3-point goals: Wamego 3 (Alexander 1, Hoobler 1, Beachler 1), Ulysses (Castilleja 1, Haney 2, Ballesteros 4).