Wildcats win regional title behind Thompson, Steien
Blair-Taylor senior Leah Kidd fought through a crowd of defenders during a shot attempt in the second half of a regional semifinal win over Wonewoc-Center last Friday. (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)
When opposing coaches are planning to face the Blair-Taylor High School girls basketball team, they know they will have their hands full with junior Lindsay Steien, who is already the school’s all-time leading scorer.
But one of the reasons that coach Jesse Lien and the Wildcats have seen so much success this year (26-1 overall record) is because they don’t have to rely solely on Steien. That’s where junior Abby Thompson comes in, a strong-shooting guard who has also topped 1,000 career points herself.
Through three regional playoff games the combination of Steien and Thompson have proven to be too much for opposing teams to handle, as the Wildcats have been crowned regional champs.
The first playoff win for the Wildcats came in the form of a 73-31 win over Brookwood on Wednesday, followed by an 84-39 rout over Wonewoc-Center last Friday. The girls earned their second win–and the regional title– in as many days with a 72-38 win over Eleva-Strum on Saturday.
The Wildcats face off with top-seeded Bangor (25-2) in sectional playoff action this Thursday in Independence. The winner of that game will play the winner of the game between Belmont (22-4) and Highland (24-3) in Royal at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
B-T 73 Brookwood 31
Sixteenth-seeded Brookwood got a tough matchup in the opening round of the WIAA playoffs, and the Wildcats opened the tournament with a wide win last Wednesday.
Steien scored 34 points and snagged nine rebounds for Blair-Taylor, and Vanessa Anderson led the visitors with 14 points.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Thompson 4/10-0/2-4-1-14, S. Kidd 1/4-1/2-0-1-3, Steien 16/23-2/2-9-0-34, Waldera 3/3-0/0-2-1-6, Ca. Wagner 0/0-0/0-1-2-0, Kindschy 2/4-0/0-6-2-4, Fremstad 1/3-0/0-4-2-2, Ch. Wagner 4/9-0/0-9-2-8, Lofgren 1/3-0/0-6-1-2.
B-T 84 W-C 39
It didn’t take long for Thompson to crack the seal on what would turn out to be a season-high 24-point performance on Friday, scoring numerous times in the opening minutes to wade off a quick jump from the visitors.
Wonewoc-Center had the Wildcats within five points of a tie in the first six minutes on Friday before a flurry of points from Blair-Taylor, including numerous three-pointers from Thompson, added some cushion to the scoreboard.
Several plays were set off of picks and other swaps between Steien and Thompson, quickly leading to points for the host Wildcats. Thompson said it helps when numerous players are hitting shots as the team was Friday.
“We were just reading their defense pretty well, the whole team was, and we were just hitting shots,” she said.
Her coach agreed, saying overcoming a motivated push from Wonewoc-Center was a result of sticking to what the Wildcats do best, and that’s shoot the ball.
“We just wanted to keep doing what we do. Keep pressing ahead, putting pressure on and being aggressive. And we’ve always been a second half team where we push forward when everyone else is getting tired,” Lien said.
Thompson’s 24 points were highlighted by a three-pointer with about four minutes left in the first half that pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 15. It was a lead Blair-Taylor wouldn’t relinquish as they turned a big 22-point advantage at halftime into the win.
“She hit that open shot, and she isn’t afraid to hit somebody else when they’re open, and that makes her a special player. She had a heck of a game,” Lien said of Thompson.
Steien finished with 22 points.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Thompson 9/13-0/0-2-1-23, L. Kidd 2/5-1/3-1-0-7, S. Kidd 1/6-2/4-4-2-5, Frederixon 0/2-0/0-3-1-0, Steien 9/17-4/4-4-2-22, Waldera 0/3-2/4-2-2-7, Ca. Wagner 2/4-3/4-2-2-7, Kindschy 3/8-0/0-2-2-7, Fremstad 1/2-0/0-4-2-2, Ch. Wagner 4/5-0/0-4-4-9, Lofgren 0/4-0/0-1-1-0, Kohel 0/0-0/0-1-1-0.
B-T 72 Eleva-Strum 38
The home team kept its offensive success coming on Saturday at Blair-Taylor High School to win a regional final.
Blair-Taylor got a career best 21 points from Chloe Wagner, and Steien matched her with 21 of her own. Thompson was busy on Saturday, too, scoring 16 points to go with six assists and three steals.
Paige Hanner led Eleva-Strum with 17 points.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points)—Thompson 6/13-2/4-4-1-16, L. Kidd 0/0-0/0-1-0-0, S. Kidd 0/0-0/0-0-1-0, Frederixon 0/0-0/0-1-0-0, Steien 7/18-6/6-6-0-21, Waldera 0/1-0/0-2-1-0, Ca. Wagner 1/1-0/0-1-1-2, Kindschy 0/3-0/0-8-0-0, Fremstad 3/4-0/2-3-2-6, Ch. Wagner 9/16-3/6-7-0-21, Lofgren 3/4-0/0-2-2-6, Kohel 0/2-0/0-1-1-0.
