February’s in the rearview for the Wabaunsee girls and the rest of the calendar-observant world. It was simply a bittersweet month for the Chargers.
They took their share of lumps but here they are as 2024’s third month arrives, still playing basketball.
Winning basketball. After their 62-50 win over Salina-Sacred Heart at home Thursday in the 2A sub-state semifinals, the third-seeded Wabaunsee girls are headed to the sub-state final against No. 1 Valley Heights behind Kaci Meseke’s 34 points.
In the first five days of February, Rossville and Silver Lake punished Wabaunsee and before any Happy New Year salutations cooled, the Chargers got sunk in six of eight games. Thanks in part to Leap Year, the last four days of the month swung to Wabaunsee’s favor.
The Chargers absorbed four lightning-strike 3-point shots from Sacred Heart in Thursday’s first period. They responded with lightning bolts of their own, just not from distance, but from the rugged inside play of Meseke, a senior post. The 5-foot-8 Meseke was locked in and not to be denied.
Meseke scored 19 of her game-high points in the first half to help keep the Chargers afloat. In the early going, Sacred Heart looked like it was dialed in from deep to drill 3-pointers by Adelyn Lee, Maegan Torrey and finally a pair of corner-3s by Skylar Douglas. Katie Weiss led the Knights’ own charge with 18 points, 12 in the second half, all of which came on 3-point shots.
In just more than five minutes, the Knights assembled an eight-point advantage with only one basket by Meseke in the first five minutes. She was just getting started, though, and the Chargers’ dynamic backcourt made timely and well-placed entry passes.
“I work before I get the ball,” Meseke said. “Every time I put my hand up, they know… get me the ball. It’s pretty fun when you just get layups after layups.”
Meseke got to the line twice then sealed a defender for inside position to give Wabaunsee a 19-18 edge at 4:44 of the second period. Her own six-point swing was offset when Sacred Heart compiled a 7-0 blitz, and despite Meseke’s 3-pointer with 1:10 left before half, the Knights held a 28-26 halftime lead.
That Wabaunsee backcourt of Reese Michaelis, Harley Ridder and Taryn Maike — all 5-foot-4 and smaller — put on relentless pressure. The trio tallied eight points but buttered Wabaunsee’s bread by feeding Meseke again and again and again. Maike started the fourth quarter with a coast-to-coast, steal-and-score before Wabaunsee pushed its lead to a game-high 16 points.
Talen Orton, a 5-foot-10 freshman, was another factor. She started the second quarter with an and-1 finish and completed a 13-point night in the Charger win.
“We’re fairly young at the guard spot,” said Wabaunsee coach Trevor Keller, “but we have a lot of players that we can play and feel comfortable with.”
The Chargers host the top-seeded Mustangs for a shot at state on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Alma.
WABAUNSEE 62, SACRED HEART 50
Wabaunsee (14-9) – 8; 18; 20; 16 – 62
Sacred Heart (14-8) – 14; 14; 6; 16 – 50
INDIVIDUAL SCORERS
Wabaunsee – Zeller 4; Maike 4; Ridder 5; Orton 13; Kaci Meseke 34; Karli Meseke 0; Michaelis 2; Perrin 0. Totals: 24 (1 three-pointer) 13-18 62.
Sacred Heart – Weiss 18; Torrey 3; Douglas 12; Lee 9; Richards 0; Eshleman 8; Goetz 0; Patterson 0. Total: 17 (11 three-pointers) 5-10 50.
