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Cedar, Wynot girls punch their tickets to State

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NORFOLK — Two Cedar County teams – Cedar Catholic and Wynot – kept their dreams of a girls basketball title alive, while another – Laurel-Concord-Coleridge – saw its fall short during District title games last week.

The state tournaments are set for Lincoln beginning Thursday.

The Lady Trojans pulled off what was arguably the biggest upset in all of Class D1 when they beat the No. 4 seeded Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, 71-59, in the District title game at Norfolk.

It was quite the showing for the then No. 13 Cedar Catholic girls, who now face No. 1 Weeping Water (25-1) at 9 a.m., Thursday.

“The girls fought hard all game,” CCHS head coach Craig Wortmann said. “We had a plan of guarding their three strong players and they worked it very well.

“We controlled the boards and played the best defense we have played all year.”

Brynn Wortmann scored 26 points and Makenna Noecker added 21 points.

“Both girls got key buckets throughout the game to keep us in front,” their coach said.

“Defensively, Megan Heimes and Abby Hochstein played excellent against Humphrey’s leading scorers,” Coach Craig Wortmann said. “Brynn and Makenna put together a combined, great game offensively. The girls played at a very high level on the defensive side of the ball. They were able to answer throughout the game when Humphrey went on a run.”

The Cedar “D” made the Lady Bulldogs struggle from the start.

The Bulldogs slowly climbed out of the early hole, to pull within a possession in the fourth quarter, but then gave it away on three straight trips down the floor to give Cedar the huge 71-59 upset victory.

The loss ended the Bulldogs hopes for a third straight trip to Lincoln and sends the Trojans back to Lincoln for the second time in three years. Cedar is playing in Class D1 for the first time this season.

HLHF made 23 of 48 overall and 18 of 34 from inside the arc. Their shooting woes can be directly pinned on the Cedar defense.

Senior point guard Brittney Veik, who averaged over 11 points per game, was held to just seven.

Cedar was just 7-13 before the postseason, but they have seemed to click as of late with Brynn Wortmann and Makenna Noecker leading the way.

Cedar 13 20 15 23 — 71

HLHF 8 13 19 19 — 59

VALENTINE— The Wynot Lady Blue Devils are headed back to the state tournament again in 2020.

The Lady Devils punched their ticket Friday night at Valentine, when they defeated the Crawford Lady Rams.

The Lady Blue Devils continued their stellar shutdown, defensive efforts as they rolled to another lopsided 54-13 win. Wynot’s full court pressure would hold the Lady Rams to just three baskets in each half as they recorded their 22nd win of the season. Crawford season ends with a 14-10 record.

Wynot was led by Michaela Lange who took scoring honors for the game with her 17 point effort. Ten other players would enter the scorebook in a balanced attack.

Crawford was led by Blake Dodd who accounted for 10 of the Lady Rams 13 points.

The Blue Devils started slowly but ramped up their play after the halfway mark of the first quarter thanks in part to a pair of 3-pointers by Michaela Lange and one by Kendra Pinkelman. Crawford got a trio of baskets from Blake Dodd but Wynot held the early 16-6 lead.

Cold shooting and turnovers plagued the Lady Rams in the second quarter, as they were held scoreless by the relentless pressure of the Lady Devils’ defense. Meanwhile Wynot got baskets by Shaelee Planer, Noelle Wieseler and Michaela Lange and eight free throws to increase their advantage to 30-6 at halftime.

The blitz continued in the third quarter. Wynot got 3-pointers by Kaitlyn Heimes and Michaela Lange and a bucket in close by Karley Heimes, along with a couple of fast break baskets by Autumn Lawson and Kendra Pinkelman, to increase their lead to 45-9. Blake Dodd hit a bucket for the Lady Rams.

In the final period, Katelyn Heine connected on a trey and conventional basket and Kaitlyn Heimes and Amy Tramp each contributed two points for the Lady Blue Devils.

Blake Dodd and Carly Lemmon each hit from thefield for the Lady Rams, but this one was decided early as Wynot earned the 54-13 win.

Wynot 16 14 15 9 — 54

Crawford 6 0 3 4 — 13

SCORING Wynot-Michaela Lange, 17; Katelyn Heine, 6; Kaitlyn Heimes, 5; Shaelee Planer, 5; Kendra Pinkelman, 5; Karley Heimes,5; Noelle Wieseler, 4; Autumn Lawson, 2; Amy Tramp, 2; Whitney Hochstein, 2. Crawford-Blake Dodd 10, Carly Lemmon 2, Natale Barry 1.