YCHS girls win 1A regional opener

YATES CENTER — Playing in their first-ever Kansas Class 1A Regional Tournament, Yates Center High’s girls posted a 57-34 victory Tuesday night.
The Wildcats ousted Flinthills High’s Lady Mustangs from the postseason. Yates Center is hosting the regional semifinals and finals Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
In the other opening round game Tuesday, Chetopa beat Elk Valley 54-31. Chetopa plays top-seeded and fourth-ranked St. Paul (20-0)  at 6 p.m. Friday at YCHS.
Yates Center (8-12) plays second-seeded Altoona-Midway (10-11) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The championship game is 6 p.m. Saturday.
The top two teams in the regional advance to substate play next week.
The boys semifinals are Thursday with the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Yates Center set the tone early with a 12-3 run in the first quarter. The Wildcats led 28-11 at halftime.
“We played good defense in the first half and finished shots, especially in the third quarter,” said Abbie Collins, Yates Center head coach.
“We got to play a lot of people.”
The Cats outscored the Lady Mustangs 19-8 in the third period. The game finished with a running clock.
Autumn Douglas had 16 points and nine rebounds. Emily Baker scored 10 points. Jessica Hartwig and Drew Spencer each had six steals.
Hope Harsh scored 20 for Flinthills.
Yates Center (12-16-19-10—57) (FG/3-pt): Hartwig 3-0-3-6, Crossfield 0-0-1-0, Spencer 3-0-3-6, Reynolds 4-3-2-11, Douglas 7-2-3-16, Shaffer 1-2-4-4, Estes 0-0-3-0, Knowles 2-0-0-4, Baker 2/2-0-2-10. TOTALS: 22/2-7-21-57.
Flinthills (3-8-8-15—34) (FG/3-pt): Bell 1-0-1-2, Harsh 6/1-5-4-20, Tibbets 0-0-4-0, Cooper 0-1-4-1, Fullerton 1-0-3-2, Finstad 3-3-1-9, Stephens 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 11/1-9-18-34.