BY CHARLES CHANEY
AUGUSTA, Kan. — The confidence is riding sky high for the Augusta Lady Orioles.
You saw all of that and more in the win over rival Circle on Tuesday night. They used a team effort to beat the Lady Thunderbirds, 43-42, and more importantly, they’re in prime position for a playoff home game.
The win moves Augusta to 10-9 on the season.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” Augusta head coach Kyrsten Crawford said. “We’ve been putting some things together in these last couple of games and you can see they’re playing with more confidence and seeing themselves as the team that, if it’s like the game, they’re the team that can be there and take care of it.”
Chloe Wignall made use of her minutes in the first half, becoming a sharp-shooting threat for the Lady Orioles. The sophomore stepped into big minutes, hitting two first half threes and it kept the defense honest early on.
“Chloe Wignall, man… she kept us afloat in that first half,” Crawford said. “She was a big reason why we won this game.”
Wignall would finish with a team high 13 points for the Lady Orioles.
For Wignall, she’s just happy to do her part and still learning to let the game come to her.
“It’s still different [from sub-varsity],” she said. “Seeing the first one going in gets me going.”
Wignall’s big buckets helped Augusta pull out in front of Circle, 16-8, behind a Wignall 8-0 run. Wignall would hit another three that to the lead, pushing Augusta up 19-10. The last time the Lady Orioles led by as much as nine in the first half was when Delaney Ratcliff’s layup put them ahead 21-12 with just over four minutes to remaining in the half.
Circle’s Emma Johnson kept the Lady Thunderbirds in the game. There won’t be many players on the floor who will be tougher than her and it showed as she was out-working everyone, especially in the second quarter. She’s not afraid to scuff her knee diving for a loose ball and that’s what helped Circle’s come back at the end of the first half.
Johnson was involved on every bucket in the 8-0 run to end the half. Whether it was deflecting a ball, picking up a dribbler near mid-court she made plays to help pull Circle back into the game.
Augusta led 21-20 heading into the break.
Circle (9-10) regained the lead on a Lauren Swilley layup with 5:43 remaining in the third quarter. Augusta responded with a three from Ella Bourm, creating a seesaw on the scoreboard.
Circle’s Katelyn Vogts layup put the Lady T-Birds in front but Emma Bourm’s 3-pointer and lay up put the Orioles in front, 31-28 with 1:18 remaining in the third.
For Bourm and it was realizing the time was right for her take over.
“It’s kind of hard having my two other starters on the bench and then having to kind of take charge of that,” she said. “When they got back and we were able to get over and keep going and closed up the game.”
It would be Ragan Pfeifer picking up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, but coach Crawford chose to let her ride it out and it paid off. Pfeifer was able to get to the basket and have an impact with back-to-back buckets as Augusta pulled in front 38-34 with 3:08 remaining in the game.
“It’s a gamble for sure but we talk a lot about, those defensive fundamentals, and we just tell her no more,” Crawford said. “She came through for us.”
Circle was able to cut as close as 40-39 on a layup from Johnson but never could get over the top and take advantage when they were able to get a stop.
Emma Bourm was able to hit a three, get a loose ball and then take it to the rim for a lay up in the final two minutes to keep the Lady Orioles out in front.
For the seniors on the roster for Augusta, its’ been about building a foundation going forward. The Bourm sisters came in as essentially, year-round basketball players. They built trust within their teammates that they all could right the ship and get Augusta girls’ basketball back to where it’s been.
“We’ve changed the culture,” Ella said. “We’ve said we’re going to find a way every day and tomorrow to win. That’s the standard we want.”
It’s what they’ve done. the most wins since 2018-19. They have a shot at hosting a playoff game for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
Emma Bourm had 10 points, with eight coming in the second half.
Johnson led Circle with 14 points.
They still have work to do host the playoff game. They need a Circle loss to Mulvane or they have to beat Buhler (16-3) on Friday.
“It’s been one of the goals we’ve been talking about the last couple weeks is earning that home game for sub-state,” Crawford said. “There is one more obstacle in that way and we’re going to approach it you know one quarter at a time, one possession at a time, it just continued to build on what we’ve been building.”
Augusta 43, Circle 42
Circle 8 12 12 10 – 42
Augusta 14 7 12 10 – 43
CIRCLE 42: Johnson 4 6-10 – 14; Patty 4 1-2 – 9; Coble 2 0-1 – 4; Swilley 4 0-0 – 8; Vogts 2 (1) 0-0 – 7. TOTALS: 16 (1) 7-13 – 42.
AUGUSTA 43: Ratcliff 2 0-0 – 4; Ella Bourm 1 (1) 0-0 – 5; Lichlyter 2 3-6 -7; Pfeifer 2 0-0 – 4; Emma Bourm 3 (1) 1-2 – 10; Wignall 1 (3) 2-2 – 13.
