For the third time in school history, the Lady Tornadoes basketball team punched their ticket to the state basketball tournament. The Lady Tornadoes went 3-0 at the Pleasanton 2A Sub-State Tournament claiming Back-To-Back Sub-State titles.
This was the sixth straight sub-state championship appearance for the Lady Tornadoes, with them advancing to state in 2019, 2023 and 2024.
This year, the Tornadoes defeated Pleasanton, 6630; Prairie Village-Kansas City Christian, 44-33; and Shawnee-Maranatha Christian Academy, 60-26; to claim the Sub-State Title.
The Lady Tornadoes enter the state tournament with a 19-4 record and were given a 7th place seed. Eureka will face Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan (#2, 23-0), in the 2A State Quarterfinal round this Wednesday, March 6, at 6 p.m. The winner will advance to semi-final action against the winner of the Hillsboro (#3, 22-1) and Wichita-The Independent (#6, 19-3) game. Other teams competing at 2A state include: Leoti-Wichita County (#1, 23-0); Hoxie (#4, 22-1), Wathena-Riverside (#5, 21-2) and Blue Rapids-Valley Heights (18-5) All games will be played at the United Wireless Arena, in Dodge City. If the Lady Tornadoes win on Wednesday, they will be guaranteed a state medal, and would advance to semi-final action on Friday, March 8, at 6 p.m. Winners of the semi-final games will advance to the 2A State Championship at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. The losers of the semi-final games, will play for third place on Saturday, at 12 p.m.
A special basketball send-off was held at Eureka Junior/Senior High School on Tuesday, March 5, at 10 a.m., for the Girls Basketball team.
Members of the 202324 team include: juniors: Kimber Ptacek and Laynie Winfrey; sophomores: Lydia Mason, Madelyn Miller, Britta Mongeau, Hannah Perrier, Brenna Rucker and Alaina Westerman; and freshman Elle Coulter. The team is coached by Shelly Hoyt and Brendan Ptacek.
Results from the Eureka 2A Sub-State can be found elsewhere in this week’s edition.
