By Riley Bean
Halfway, MO – What a difference a week makes.
Just eight days ago, the Wheatland Lady Mules welcomed in Hermitage to their home floor in the last game of the regular season. Hermitage took that game 61-55, spoiling senior night for Wheatland.
But on Saturday, the Lady Mules got some revenge on the Lady Hornets 60-46 to claim the Class 1, District 7 championship.
“Compared to last Friday, we had a lot more momentum,” said Madi Sutt, a standout sophomore forward for Wheatland. “I felt like we played our game and just played more of our style of ball.”
Through three quarters, the two teams were virtually neck and neck. Wheatland held just a three-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Until that point, no team led by more than five.
But Wheatland absolutely pulled away in the final frame. They went on an 11-4 run to begin the fourth, and then closed the game on a 12-5 run to secure the victory.
“We came out and they battle with us,” said Wheatland coach Jeremiah Bryan. “Fourth quarter, we finally stepped up and played our type of basketball. We ran the floor. Transition is our type of basketball. We can’t slow it down with teams like this because whether they have bigger post players or stronger post players, we don’t match up very well. So we try to run the floor and do the best we can.”
Wheatland’s style of ball has everything to do with running and pushing the ball, as well as pressuring the ball on the defensive end. That’s exactly what they did in the second half after going to a full-court press.
This is even more impressive considering the Lady Mules had seven active players on Saturday.
“I don’t have a lot of girls, and the ones that go in there step up and they play hard,” Bryan said. “We run a lot at practice. We run a lot of down-and-backs. They’re in pretty good shape, and it shows up late in the year like this.”
Sutt had a terrific game, leading all scorers in the district title game with 24 points. Freshman guard Aleah Asare added 15 for Wheatland.
Sheridan Corum led Hermitage with 16 points and Sadi Hostettler put up 14.
Wheatland (24-2) will square off with Leeton (25-2) in the sectional round on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The two teams played in the Lakeland Tournament on Jan. 18. Wheatland came out on top in that contest 81-69.
Until then, they’ll enjoy nabbing their second-straight district championship.
“We were settling for nothing less than district champs this year, which we did that, so we’re going to see how far we can get,” said Sutt.
Wheatland – 11 – 10 – 16 – 23 – 60
Hermitage – 11 – 7 – 16 – 12 – 46
Wheatland – Madi Sutt 24, Aleah Asare 15, Gracie Fatino 8, Ashley Horton 6, McKinsey Bryan 5, Katlin Pickens 2
Hermitage – Sheridan Corum 16, Sadi Hostettler 14, Anna Ginnings 9, Alyssa Owens 4, Makayla Hostettler 2, Lindsey Smith 1
