It was expected to be a great opening round Class 3A game between the four and five seeds with identical records of 20-3.  On Wednesday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, the Sabetha girls took their first lead of the game with 4:30 remaining in the contest and held on for a victory against Beloit 55-52.

Sabetha 55, Beloit 52

Beloit got 8 points from Shaylyn Krone in the first quarter and jumped to an 18-10 advantage.  They stretched the lead briefly to 11 points at 23-12, but Sabetha, who missed several easy buckets and shot only 32 percent in the first half, finished the second quarter on a 10-2 run to pull within 25-22 at halftime. The Bluejays tied the score at 29 on the third trey of the game by Taryn Schuette and a basket by Emily Meyer, who had went 0-5 in the first half.  After another tie at 32, Beloit regained a 41-38 advantage into the final stanza.  

Sabetha took their first lead of the game 46-45 with 4:30 to play and got another basket by Meyer to go back on top 48-47.  Beloit answered with a three point shot and a couple charity tosses by Kaley Broeckelman as Beloit led 52-49 with 1:20 remaining.  Yet, the Bluejays scored the final 6 points of the game as two free throws by Meyer put Sabetha up for good 53-52 with :47 left and she hit two more free throws with 8 seconds to play to seal the win.   

Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha "Player to Bank On," Emily Meyer scored all 13 of her points in the second half and 9 came in the final quarter as she went 7 of 8 from the foul line.  For the game Sabetha made 13 of 22 foul shots while Beloit was just 3 of 4.  The Lady Jays were the attackers and more aggressive team throughout the night with 10 steals and multiple tied possessions on the defensive end and Sabetha outrebounded Beloit by 9 in the second half, while hitting 44 percent of their shots to pull off the comeback.  

Taryn Schuette had 14 points and 9 rebounds plus 3 steals and 2 assists and Alexis McAfee added 11 points and 6 dimes plus 4 steals.  Mariah Huenke added 8 points and made a big fourth quarter basket along with key layups off drible penetration for both McAfee and Heidi Heiniger.  Sabetha outscored Beloit 17-11 in the fourth quarter to end the Lady Trojans season at 20-4 and keep them winless in state basketball tournament games.  The senior duo of Krone and Broeckelman combined for 29 Beloit points, but the Trojans had 14 turnovers in the loss.  

With the win, Sabetha is 21-3 and will face undefeated Hesston, who was a 51-25 winner over Galena and is the girls 3A defending state champions.  That semifinal game is at 6:30 on Friday night with live coverage on KNZA 103.9 FM and www.mscsports.net.  The Bluejay boys try to join the Lady Jays in the Friday semifinals as they have a first round game against Riverton at 6:30 Thursday night in Hutchinson.