By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post Sports
HAYS – The TMP-Marian Lady Monarchs used a 41-7 run to erase an
early deficit and take down the Sterling Blackbears in the first round of the
2A Smith Center sub-state Thursday, 56-33 at Al Billinger Fieldhouse in Hays.
Sterling took advantage of a slow start by the Monarchs, who opened the game just 3-for-13 from the floor in the first quarter, as the Blackbears led 14-7 with just over five seconds left in the first quarter.
Paige Koenigsman, who knocked down the team’s first three-pointer in the first quarter, was fouled on a three-point shot with no time left in the first quarter and converted on two of three shots at the free-throw line.
The free throws sparked the run that covered the next two quarters for the Monarchs.
They held Sterling scoreless for seven and a half minutes, only allowing one free throw in the second quarter while TMP built a 21-15 lead at halftime.
With the momentum on their second TMP, it continued to make it tough for Sterling to get anything going offensively in the third quarter.
The Bear managed just six points in the third frame.
Meanwhile, TMP had turned the 14-7 first-quarter deficit into a 48-21 lead through three quarters of action, a 41-7 run that covered 16 minutes and 5 seconds off the game clock.
Sterling outscored TMP 12-8 in the fourth quarter, but the TMP lead was too much for the Bears to overcome in a 56-33 TMP victory.
Sterling is the sixth opponent in the last seven wins the Monarchs have held under 40 points.
TMP was led by Hannah Rose, who scored a game-high 16 points. Brynn Rebel added nine.
Twenty-two of the Monarchs' 56 points came off the bench.
TMP will travel to Medicine Lodge on Tuesday, after the Indians defeated the Plainville Cardinals.