MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Smith Center girls basketball team will play in the state championship game for the first time in school history.
The second-seeded Lady Red (23-2) used a devastating scoring run throughout the second and third quarters in their semifinal with third-seeded Sterling (21-4) Friday to post a 62-59 win.
Smith Center will battle top-seeded Jefferson County North (23-2) for the Class 2A crown at 4 p.m. today at the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
The Lady Red held a only three-point advantage after one quarter, and allowed Sterling to earn a 22-21 lead with 4:31 left in the second quarter.
From there, Smith Center turned it on.
The team went on a 7-0 run to close out the first half, taking a 32-28 lead into the locker room. That surge would continue out of the break, as Smith Center scored the first nine points of the third quarter to take a 41-28 lead.
To read more, see Saturday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune e-edition.>>>
