BY CHARLES CHANEY
EMPORIA, Kan. — Kapaun Mt. Carmel showed why they’re the defending champions on Friday night.
Kapaun went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter and never looked back on their way to a 55-43 win over Andover in a rematch of the 2023 state title game.
Andover falls to 20-4 on the season and will play KC Piper in the third place game.
“They’re more physical than us,” Andover head coach Martin Shetlar said. “We just didn’t execute our game plan the way we wanted tonight.”
Andover struggled all game with the length and size of Kapaun (21-3). The Crusaders made it a point to get into the paint and they did it often, piling up point after point, especially in the first half. They had 20 in the first half in paint scoring alone. Kapaun, a team known for shooting 3s and being big on the fast break were able to pound it in the paint all night.
“One of our game plans was to try to keep them out of the out of the paint,” Shetlar said. “We knew once they got in the paint, we’d be in trouble.”
They finished with 36 of their 55 points from the paint.
Senior Joshua Kim was most of the scoring in the first half, piling up 12 of the 18 first half points. He was able to maneuver to the rim or get off a contested 3-point shot. While Kapun was able to sag off, their size allowed them to easily close out and contest shooters when they try and get up an open look. Kapaun has five players who play starter minutes that are 6-4 or higher. Andover had one.
“They’re tall and they’re lengthy and they’re quick,” Shetlar said. “We couldn’t get open to get our shots off and they got the lane all whenever they wanted. They made it tough.”
Kapaun had a 31-18 lead at the break.
“We kind of had that deer in the headlight look at the beginning,” Shetlar said. We got down and then just that fight uphill to get back and just get there.”
While other Andover players found their shots in the second half, it was negated by a slew of Crusaders who would answer back immediately. Despite Andover scoring six points in the first three minutes of the second half, the lead hadn’t decreased. They didn’t get back-to-back buckets until midway through the third quarter. They were able to cut it to seven on a 3-pointer from Walker McClellan with 3:16 remaining. It forced a KMC timeout with 3:10 to go in the third.
Then Kapaun went on a run.
Jude Porter and Corbin Johnson took turns combining on an 8-0 run. The run continued and was topped off by an and-one from Porter, putting Kapaun ahead 48-32 with 7:07 to go in the game.
Andover would get within nine but there wasn’t enough time finish the come back.
The Trojans were led by Kim, who finished with 17 points. McClellan finished with nine points. Owen Allman had three points but five rebounds to lead Andover.
Kapaun had three players in double figures, with Porter leading the way with 13 on 5 of 8 shooting.
The Trojans season isn’t over. They have a solid task against KC Piper on Saturday afternoon. It’s hard to believe they started the season 0-2.
“All in all, it’s been a good season for us,” Shetlar said. “To say we would be one of the top four teams within the year after we started 0-2. We’ve worked hard and we’ve gotten better all the way through the season.
“It’s been a pretty amazing season.”
CLASS 5A GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT
WL WHITE AUDITORIUM — EMPORIA, Kansas
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 55, Andover 43
Andover 9 9 12 13—43
Kapaun 17 14 12 12—55
Andover (20-4) 43: Kim 6-13 1-6 4-5 – 17; Allman 1-5 1-4 0-0 – 3; Baker 2-2 0-0 0-0 – 4; Hand 2-5 1-2 0-0 – 5; McClellan 3-11 1-2 2-2 – 9; evans 1-3 1-3 0-0 – 3; McCaskill 1-5 0-2 0-0 – 2. TOTALS: 16-44 5-19 6-7 – 43.
Kapaun (21-3) 55: Keller 5-7 1-1 0-0 – 11; Daniels 1-4 1-2 0-0 – 3; Herlocker 3-5 0-0 0-0 – 6; Dalian 4-7 0-2 0-0 – 8; Johnson 6-12 0-3 0-0 – 12; Maingu 1-1 0-0 0-0 – 2; Porter 5-8 1-1 2-2 – 13. TOTALS; 25-44 3-9 2-2 – 55.
