The Ellinwood High School girls basketball team will play Salina Sacred Heart for the Kansas Class 2A state title Saturday.
The Ellinwood Eagles defeated the Eureka Tornadoes 50-47 and the Sacred Heart Knights defeated the Moundridge Wildcats 69-56 in the Kansas Class 2A girls state tournament semifinals Thursday afternoon at Emporia’s White Auditorium.
Ellinwood (27-1) will play Salina Sacred Heart (24-4) in the championship game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The victor will win their first-ever state basketball title.
Ellinwood girls basketball coach Greg Maxwell also coached the Eagles’ volleyball team to an undefeated Class 2A state championship in the fall with a 47-0 record.
Eureka (23-3) will play Moundridge (24-3), who won the state titles in 2025, in the third-place girls game at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Ellinwood led 17-15 at halftime after trailing 8-7 at the end of the first quarter. Ellinwood led 35-33 after three quarters and outscored Eureka 15-14 in the fourth quarter.
Mette Maxwell led Ellinwood with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Brynn Widener scored 11 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
Julia Schlesinger scored just 2 points but pulled down 11 rebounds for the Eagles. Alyvia Batchman and Eleanor Joiner scored 8 points apiece.
The Tornadoes were paced by Brenna Rucker with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals. Ellianna Coulter scored 14 points and had 3 steals. Britta Mongeau contributed 13 points.
Ellinwood outrebounded Eureka 37-28 and made 9-of-22 3-point tries. Eureka made 7-of-22 3-point attempts.
The Sacred Heart Knights dominated the Moundridge Wildcat girls. The Knights led 35-20 after one quarter. The teams each scored just 2 points each in the second quarter for a 37-22 halftime lead for the Knights.
Sacred Heart led 50-37 after three quarters. Both teams scored 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Adelyn Lee (27) and Skylar Douglas (23) scored 50 of the Knights’ 69 points. Emerson Lee added 8 points and Nicole Richards 6. Richards grabbed 7 rebounds and Lee handed out 7 assists.
Sacred Heart made 19-of-22 free throws, led by Adelyn Lee, who made 10-of-10 attempts and Emerson Lee, who made 6-of-8.
Hattie Hecox led the Moundridge girls in scoring with 16 points, including three 3-pointers. Cammi Unruh scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Mackenzie Conkling scored 8 points, including 5-of-6 free throws.
Macy Kaminkow scored 7 points and grabbed 7 rebounds for the Moundridge girls. Hallie Hecox scored 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
