By JEREMY McGUIRE
Hays Post

TMP 53, Russell 36

RUSSELL, Kan-A battle of two state ranked teams did not disappoint on Saturday in Russell as the TMP Lady Monarchs traveled to Russell for the 3A Sub-State Championship game.  The two teams combined for 34 straight wins heading into the game.  TMP had 19 in a row and Russell had 15.

The number one seeded Lady Monarchs started out hot in the first quarter taking an 18-5 lead on a three pointer from Megan Koenigsman and helped her team an 18-7 lead after the first quarter.  TMP pushed their lead to 15 points, 24-9 on, on a Kayla Vitztum put back.  That’s when Russell went on an 11-2 run to end the first half and close the gap t0 26-20 at the break.

The Lady Monarchs came out breathing fire at the start of the third quarter scoring the first six points capped off by Katelyn Zimmerman’s only bucket of the game to give TMP a 32-20 lead.  Russell would not get the game back to single digits the rest of the way.  The Lady Monarchs led 40-30 after three quarters and would lead by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter before settling for the 53-36 win.

Koenigsman led TMP with 18 points on the night, Vitztum had 13.  Russell finishes their season at 19-4.  TMP improves to 22-1 on the season and will travel to Hutchinson on Wednesday for the opening round of the 3A State Tournament.

ROSE MCFARLAND INTERVIEW

GAME HIGHLIGHTS