BY CHARLES CHANEY
Paige Corter scored 16 of her 25 points in the second half as Flinthills swept their way through the Fairfield Classic to bring home the tournament championship on Friday evening in Langdon, Kansas.
It’s the second straight Fairfield Classic title for the Lady Mustangs as they swept through last year’s bracket as well, beating the same Pretty Prairie squad in the finals. After finishing fifth two years ago, they haven’t lost since.
Paige Corter and Tagen Carney were selected as all-tournament players.
The tournament started out the right way for Flinthills, beating up on Cunningham, 46-39, in the opening round. They led by double digits over the Wildcats in the second half, cruising to the victory. On night 2, they beat up on Stafford, winning 58-31, and setting up their shot with Cunningham in the championship game.
That’s where Flinthills would control their own destiny.
Corter scored all seven points in the first quarter against Pretty Prairie in the championship game as it was tied 7-all through the first quarter. However, Pretty Prairie would go on a 7-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with 7:41 remaining in the first half, putting up a big fight against the defending champs.
Flinthills would respond with a jumper from Emily Scribner and a break away bucket from Charlie Bohnen to make it 13-9 Flinthills with a quick run of their own with 6:21 remaining in the half.
Pretty Prairie would get the last laugh as they’d go on a 6-0 run to end the first half. They would hold Flinthills without a bucket for the final 2:38 of the half and lead, 21-20, at the break.
The Lady Mustangs would go on a 10-2 run through most of the third quarter, playing good defense, contesting shots to make it a tough quarter for Pretty Prairie. A skip court pass would lead to an open 3 with a minute to go in the third, cutting the Flinthills lead to 30-26.
Pretty Prairie would close to within 32-30 right into the fourth but Flinthills quickly put some room between the two schools when Corter caught the defense sleeping on the weakside pass from Alex Scribner to put them up 34-30.
Every response Pretty Prairie threw at Flinthills they had an answer for it. Another drive and kick to Corter from Alex Scribner helped push the Flinthills lead out to 40-33 with just over five remaining in the title game.
The dagger was finally put into the coffin when two defenders rushed Carney atop the key but she remained calm, finding a wide open Corter underneath the basket. The bucket put the Lady Mustangs ahead, 43-32 with 3:38 remaining.
Corter led all with 25 points and was selected on the all-tournament team. Carney had two but had a bunch of assists as she was also named to the all-tournament team.
The Lady Mustangs will be back on the hardwood on in January as they host Wichita Classical.
FLINTHILLS 49, PRETTY PRAIRIE 37
Pretty Prairie 7; 14; 7; 9 – 37
Flinthills 7; 13; 12; 17 – 49
Pretty Prairie: White 4, Goering 13 , Robinson 4, Vogl 4, Nolan 6, Schrag 2, Yoder 4
Flinthills: Bohnen 3, E. Scribner 4, A. Scribner 13, Carney 2, Heimgartner 2, Corter 25
