Southern Valley girls rally to make second state semifinal ever

Junior guard Adi Hunt scored 16 points to help lead Southern Valley past Elgin Public/Pope John, 50-39, for their first state basketball tournament win since 2001 Thursday night. The Eagles will play again at Lincoln's Devaney Sports Center Friday morning against Class D-1 No. 2 Guardian Angels Central Catholic (22-2). Opening tip is set for 10:45 a.m. GACC blasted Centura, 70-27, in another quarterfinal game on Thursday.

Steve Towery/McCook Gazette

LINCOLN, Neb. — A 20-0 run bridging halftime turned 19-12 into 32-19 and Southern Valley's girls never looked back during their 50-39 victory over Elgin Public/Pope John in Class D-1 state tournament play at Devaney Sports Center Thursday night.

The 27-1 Eagles have now won 23 straight since a December loss to Class C-1 Gothenburg. They'll aim for 24 along with a D-1 state finals spot against No. 2 Guardian Angels Central Catholic Friday morning at 10:45 a.m.

"That will be the interesting thing, how fast we can get to bed," coach Richard McDonald remarked on KRVN Radio moments after the comeback win. "Actually, that might be the best thing. We don't have to sit around all day Friday thinking about it. Just get up, play another basketball game."

A big Eagle fan contingent celebrated only their second state tournament win, first since 2001. S.V. prevailed despite senior top scorer Ann Bose's three first-half fouls as Hunt hit the go-ahead three to make it 22-19 entering halftime.

Backcourt mate Vanessa Aguayo also stepped to score twice during that opening period.

Junior Brynn Baily's offensive rebound and free throw ignited 10 more points starting the second half.

Now it was sophomore younger sister Tori Bose's turn again. She'd already hit one triple that made it 19-15 and started the 20 unanswered Eagle points.

Tori took aim again with another three-pointer for a 26-19 margin which matched 22-3 Pope John's biggest lead before intermission.

Aguayo soon matched Tori's second trifecta which suddenly forged a double-digit advantage of 29-19.

Remember, Aguayo became a mid-season starter due to junior returning starter Brecklyn Hammond's injury. Hammond played her own key role during Thursday's huge win, but it was a third Aguayo leap-frog beauty that made it 32-19.

Aguayo even beat time, drilling one more shot just before the third quarter experience for another 13-point edge of 39-26.

The Wolfpack — who stopped Maywood-Hayes Center's state quest last Friday — never drew closer than 11 points again. Aguayo and Hunt were simply too much trouble defensively for EPPJ to start its comeback.

"I thought a difference was our defensive pressure picked up after the first quarter," McDonald said as Pope John led 14-10 through those opening eight minutes. "Vanessa and Adi took care of the game upfront."

Hammond's driving basket off a backdoor play made it 43-30. The Eagles were on their way to a rematch with Guardian Angels who beat them 67-46 to start last year's D-1 state tourney.

Whoever wins on Friday will play for the D-1 state title Saturday at 9 a.m. in Lincoln's Pinnacle Bank Arena.

"Our thought was we need to get to Saturday and how do we do that? Win tonight," McDonald concluded.

Step one completed. Now March Madness really begins as the calendar flips to March 1 on Friday.