By JEREMY McGUIRE
Hays Post
Girls: TMP 68, Plainville 38
Boys: TMP 57, Plainville 55
HAYS, Kan-With a Mid Continent League regular season title on the line the TMP Lady Monarchs came out ready to play on Tuesday night in Hays. The Plainville Lady Cardinals came ready to play as well as they played TMP even for the first five minutes before TMP started to pull away to a 22-11 lead after the first quarter.
After a slow start offensively for both teams in the second quarter TMP started to hit shots and bolster their lead. Madyson Koerner and Kayla Vitztum combined for 23 first half points for the Lady Monarchs who held a 41-21 lead at the break. Maeson Dewey led Plainville with 8 points at the half.
TMP pushed their lead to 27 points in the third quarter and had a running clock most of the fourth quarter and picked up a 68-38 win. TMP improves their record to 18-1 on season and 9-0 in the MCL. The win secured the 3rd straight regular season MCL Title for the Lady Monarchs.
Vitztum led TMP with 16 points and Koerner added 15 for TMP who will finish their regular season on Thursday at home against Hutchinson-Trinity. Plainville was led by Dewey with 13 points. The Lady Cardinals are off until next Tuesday when they will open up sub-state play.
ROSE MCFARLAND INTERVIEW
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
It took TMP nearly six minutes in the first quarter to get their first field goal as they played from behind the entire first half in their MCL tilt with Plainville on Tuesday night at Al Billinger Fieldhouse. TMP trailed 15-12 after the first quarter and 31-25 after the break. The Monarchs were in foul trouble the entire first half and were forced to play with some creative lineups throughout the half.
Plainville scored the first bucket of the second to take an eight point lead after a Hayden Friend bucket and that’s when TMP started to get some offense going as they would score the next 10 points to take their first lead of the game at 35-33. The battle was intense from there as TMP led 41-40 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter was back and forth with both teams holding leads at some point. Late in the quarter Plainville held a 52-49 lead when Luke Ruder hit a key three pointer from the corner to tie the game. TMP would take a 54-52 lead on a long two pointer from David McFarland and would not trail again. The Monarchs led by two late and Friend missed a three pointer at the buzzer and TMP came out on top with the 57-55 victory.
With the win TMP claims their third straight MCL regular season title as they finish league play at 8-1 and run their overall record to 11-8. Plainville drops to 13-7 and 6-3 in league. The Cardinals are off until the start of sub-state play next Monday. TMP will play their final regular season game on Thursday at home against Hutchinson-Trinity.
JOE HERTEL INTERVIEW
GAME HIGHLIGHTS