HAVEN, Kan. – Halstead won the tip in Saturday night’s 3A Sub-State 1 championship game and immediately got a three-point basket from Onnyka Nedich. That set the tone for the night for the defending state champions as they went on to a 16-point win over Garden Plain, clinching their second straight state tournament berth.
Halstead 50, Garden Plain 34 – After Nedich opened the game with the three-pointer, the Dragons got another quick bucket lead 5-0. Garden Plain stayed close until the early part of the second quarter. Lylah Zoglman made a layup to cut the Dragons’ lead to 15-10 early in the second, but a 10-0 run by Halstead gave them a 25-10 lead just three minutes into the quarter. Leading 27-14, Halstead used the final 1:18 of the first half, getting a three-pointer from Jordy Schroeder to take a 30-14 lead into the locker room.
The two teams played to a 20-20 draw in the second half, but Garden Plain had battled back within nine at 40-31 with just over three and a half minutes remaining. Nedich cashed a three-pointer that sparked a 7-0 Halstead run to reclaim a 16-point advantage. The Dragons closed out with that margin of victory.
Addisen Wills, who has led the Dragons in scoring all season, had a game-high 20 points and was stellar on defense with several steals. She was the only double figure scorer, but Halstead got 48 of their 50 points from their starting five. The Dragons improved to 25-0 on the season and won their 37th consecutive game overall. They won their final 12 games of the 2024-25 season on their way to the 3A state title and they will officially begin defense of that championship on Wednesday at 2:00. The Dragons are the #1 seed and will take on #8 seed Marysville (10-14) at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita in the first round.
Garden Plain finished their season at 18-8. Zoglman was the only double figure scorer for the Owls with 13 points.
GP – Zoglman 13, R. Stuhlsatz 8, J. Stuhlsatz 6, Puetz 4, Haukap 2, K. Stuhlsatz 1
Halstead – Wills 20, Nedich 8, J. Schroeder 8, Bernal 6, P. Schroeder 6, T. Williams 2
