CLAFLIN — The Central Plains High School Lady Oilers basketball team punched their ticket to the Class 1A Division II Girls State Basketball State Tournament by defeating the St. Paul Indians, 51-32, Monday at home in Claflin.

Central Plains, ranked No. 4 at the state tourney, will play the No. 1 seed 24-0 Golden Plains-Rexford Bulldogs at 3 p.m. today (Thursday) at Barton County Community College in Great Bend.

Lady Oilers Coach Pat Stiles likes his team’s chances of winning.

“If our girls play as well as they did last night, we’ll be a tough team to beat,” Stiles said Tuesday afternoon during a telephone interview with the Independent-Reporter. “We’ll have to play well.”

Stiles and the Lady Oilers are looking for their seventh “straight” state title after the State tournament was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. The Oilers defeated Ingalls in the 2020 state quarter-finals 93-47.

Leading the Lady Oilers scoring effort Monday was sophomore standout Brynna Hammeke with 30 points, followed by senior Jennah Jeffries with 10 points, junior Kassidy Nixon with 8 points, and senior Lexi Oeser with 3 points.

Central Plains dominated the scoring against St. Paul, chalking up 12 points in the first quarter vs. 4 for St. Paul. In the second quarter, the Lady Oilers scored 12 points while limiting the Indians to just 2 points. In the third quarter, Central Plains once again led with 13 points vs. 11 for St. Paul. The scoring in the fourth quarter was tied, with both Central Plains and St. Paul each scoring 13 points.

On March 6, the No. 1 ranked Lady Oilers defeated No. 2 McPherson-Elyria Christian, 50-31, in the Class 1A Division II Sub-State Championship game in Peabody. McPherson-Elyria Christian defeated Lost Springs-Centre 37-16 in their semi-final game March 4.

Hammeke once again led the scoring effort for Central Plains with 17 points, followed by Jeffrey with 12, Nixon with 10, Lexi Oeser with 9, and Short with 2.

On March 4, Central Plains advanced to sub-state after defeating the No. 4 Hartford Jaguars, 70-18, in Peabody.

If the Lady Oilers are victorious today against Golden Plains-Rexford, they will play for the state championship Saturday at Barton County Community College against either St. John’s-Tipton of Beloit or Cunningham.

NEXT UP AT STATE

The Central Plains Lady Oilers basketball team plays the Golden Plains-Rexford Bulldogs at 3 p.m. today (Thursday) in the Class lA Division II Girls State Tournament at Barton County Community College in Great Bend.