Top seed upset in girls RPAC Tournament

One top seed has fallen in the Republican Plains Activities Conference basketball tournament.

Hitchcock County's girls beat Paxton, 52-47, in RPAC tourney action at Hayes Center Monday, Jan. 21. Paxton was the top seed in the girls West Division.

Hitchcock County, seeded fourth in the girls West Division, advances to the semifinals.

Dundy County-Stratton, the second seed, survived a tough battle with Wauneta-Palisade Monday in the other West Division girls quarterfinal contest at Hayes Center. DCS nipped the Broncos, 49-48.

Dundy County-Stratton will face Hitchcock County at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, at Wallace in the West Division semifinal. The winner advances to the RPAC Championship finals Saturday, Jan. 26 at Cambridge. The loser will play for third place Saturday afternoon in Cambridge.

DCS and Hitchcock County met Jan. 8 in Trenton, with DCS beating the host Falcons, 59-40.

In the girls East Division, two top teams are headed for a rematch.

Top seed Arapahoe defeated Bertrand, 58-41, in quarterfinal action Monday night at Southwest High School in Bartley. Third seed Southern Valley topped No. 2 Alma, 51-39, in Monday's other quarterfinal contest at Bartley.

Arapahoe and Southern Valley square off Thursday, Jan. 24, at 7:45 p.m. in Alma in the East Division semifinal. The winner advances to Saturday's RPAC girls championship final at Cambridge, with the loser playing for third place Saturday afternoon in Cambridge.

The two teams met in an RPAC warm-up Thursday, Jan. 17, in Arapahoe. Southern Valley nipped the host Warriors, 70-67 in overtime.

TWO CONSOLATION bracket games were also played Monday in the girls division.

Host Hayes Center beat Maywood, 61-47, in the West Division as Colby Cox scored 24 points and Sarah Cox added 23 for the Cardinals. Colby Cox also recorded 8 steals.

Maywood was led by Abby Werkmeister with 15 points and Justine Stone with 11. Werkmeister also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Hayes Center built a 24-15 lead after one quarter, but Maywood battled back and held the Cards scoreless in the second period to take a 26-24 halftime edge. Hayes Center came back with 24 points in the third period to lead 48-36.

Hayes Center head coach Matt Cox said his team shot well in spurts Monday, and he was pleased with his team's effort.

"Maywood was much bigger than us and I thought we did a good job handling their size," Cox said. "It was nice to get a win in conference, and we are happy to get one more game in this week."

Hayes Center will face host Wallace Thursday at 4:15 p.m. in a consolation bracket contest. Paxton and Wauneta-Palisade, losers in Monday's West Division quarterfinals, will also play in a consolation bracket game Thursday at 6 p.m. in Wallace.

In the East Division, Cambridge beat Medicine Valley, 30-15. Cambridge will face Southwest Thursday at 4:15 p.m. in Alma in a consolation bracket contest. Quarterfinal losers Bertrand and Alma will also play Thursday at 6 p.m. at Alma.

RPAC TOURNAMENT boys second-round games were scheduled Tuesday, Jan. 22 at Bartley and Hayes Center.