YATES CENTER — Yates Center High’s girls were efficient early on offense and even better on defense Friday.
Their opening spurt gave the Wildcats all the cushion they needed to defeat visiting Altoona-Midway High 40-28.
The victory, in the semifinals of the Class 1A regional playoffs, puts Yates Center in tonight’s championship game against top-seeded St. Paul. Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s contest, Yates Center is assured of a berth in the substate playoffs next week.
Despite being the lower seed, Yates Center will play at home tonight because it’s the host school. Tipoff is at 6 o’clock.
But before Yates Center could plan for the undefeated Indians, the Wildcats had to first take care of Altoona-Midway.
The Wildcats took the upper hand early with an 11-2 run, a margin they maintained until the end.
“We ran our offense really well at the start, but then we stopped running our offense,” Wildcat head coach Abbie Collins said.
Yates Center led 21-14 at the half and 30-22 after three periods. The Wildcats closed the game with a 10-6 run to seal the win.
Jessica Hartwig led the way for the Wildcats with 11 points, while Kassy Reynolds added six points and 15 rebounds. Autumn Douglas scored eight.
Kaylee Leck drained three three-pointers to lead Altoona-Midway with 16 points.
“We played really well on defense,” Collins said. “Leck was able to hit a couple of shots in the second quarter.”
Advancing to the substate playoffs is a marked improvement for Yates Center, which had failed to win a postseason game since 2003.
“The girls did a good job,” Collins said.
Yates Center (11-10-9-10—40) (FG/3pt): Hartwig 3/1-2-4-11, Spencer 0-1-2-1, Reynolds 3-0-4-6, Douglas 3-2-3-6, Adams 2-0-0-4, Shaffer 2-1-3-5, Knowles 0-0-1-0, Baker 1/1-0-2-5. TOTALS: 14/2-6-19-40.
Altoona-Midway (2-12-8-6—28) (FG/3pt): Spears 2-0-5-4, Leck 2/3-3-3-16, LaCrone 1-0-2-2, Powers 1-2-3-4, Reaves 0-0-4-0, Gatlin 1-0-5-2. TOTALS: 7/3-5-22-28.
