By JEREMY McGUIRE
Hays Post

Girls: TMP 57, Smith Center 25
Boys: TMP 59, Hill City 53

HAYS, Kan-The TMP Lady Monarchs matched up with Smith Center for a second consecutive game on Tuesday in the quarterfinal round of the Mid Continent League Tournament.  TMP took control of the game early with a 17-2 first quarter with all 17 of those coming from Madyson Koerner who wouldn’t score the rest of the game.  The second quarter wasn’t much better for the Lady Red as TMP outscored them 18-8 to take a 35-10 lead at halftime.

TMP pushed their lead to 55-17 after three quarters and cruised to the 57-25 win with a running clock in the fourth quarter. TMP improves to 10-1 on the season and face Hill City in the semi-finals on Friday in WaKeeney. The Ringnecks were 43-33 winners over Norton.

HILL CITY, Kan-It was quite a battle in Hill City on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the MCL Tournament.  TMP started the game on a 4-0 run and the Ringnecks answered with a quick 9-0 run to take the lead.  TMP would answer and take a 14-13 lead after the first quarter.

The Monarchs would extend their lead to as many as five points in the second quarter when Hill City answered again and close the gap to a single pint a couple of times.  TMP would use some timely shooting from Ryan Karlin who scored 8 first half points.  That helped the Monarchs to a 27-23 lead at the break.

TMP would extend their lead to eight points in the third quarter and settled for a 44-37 lead after three quarters. Hill City would cut the TMP lead to one twice in the fourth quarter but TMP would score the final five points of the contest from the free throw line and picked up the 59-53 victory.  The win is the third in a row for a Monarch team that improves to 7-4 on the season and will play in the championship semi-finals on Friday in WaKeeney.

JOE HERTEL INTERVIEW

GAME HIGHLIGHTS