Emporia — The basketball gods had to be smiling when they concocted this week's girls Class 6A state tournament.
How else could you explain Free State High coach Craig Hershiser taking the Firebirds to state for the first time only to be paired with his former squad, Overland Park Aquinas?
"Well, life's full of irony," Hershiser said with a laugh.
"There's no question about that. It's certainly a unique situation. I guess I've been coaching long enough in enough different situations to not be surprised by anything."
The No. 7-seeded Firebirds (16-6) and No. 2 Saints (21-1) will clash in a state quarterfinal game tonight. Tipoff is 6:30 p.m. at Emporia's White Auditorium. A live radio broadcast will be available on KLWN 1320.
While both Hershiser who spent six years with the Saints before coming to Free State and his former assistant, Aquinas coach Rick Hetzel, have been to state before, neither has quite been in this position.
Although Hershiser has directed the Saints to state, this marks the Firebirds' first trip.
Aquinas, on the other hand, is no stranger to the postseason, falling to Topeka West, 56-50, in last year's Class 5A championship. But this will be the Saints' first appearance in the 6A tournament after making the move from 5A.
"It's a little different because it's 6A this year and it's been 5A in the past," said Hetzel, whose squad has won nine straight games. "This is our first time to go for 6A, but the state tournament is always exciting."
The Saints certainly have been exciting, pummeling opponents in the postseason so far. Using its aggressive full-court pressure and half-court man-to-man defense, Aquinas steamrolled Lawrence High (69-28) before stomping Olathe South (73-38).
"That's what it's always been like with my teams. I like defense a lot," Hetzel said. "The kids worked real hard. If you had asked me before sub-state about beating Olathe South like that, I'd have told you, 'No way.' Defense definitely played a part of that."
The Firebirds also have been on fire, winning eight of their past 10 games with both losses being by two points.
"We feel like we are playing pretty well," Hershiser said. "We know what we are and we know how we need to play and I think the kids have a lot of faith in that. That's contributed a lot to our success right now."
FSHS senior guard/forward Katie Rhodes, who joins senior Kristin Bock and Lauren Wilkinson as having played for the Firebirds as freshmen during their 0-21 inaugural campaign, leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.4 points per game. Senior center Joyia Chadwick is second at 10.2 ppg.
"Katie Rhodes, she's an awfully good player," Hetzel said. "I know Craig's style, what he likes to do. They have that 6-1 kid inside (Chadwick). She's a good player. I know a little bit about them and know some things about them. We watched them play a couple times."
Hershiser also knows a thing or two about Aquinas, as well.
"We know that they are a very good basketball team, of course. That's been well established," Hershiser said. "They're pretty deep. They've got quite a bit of ability at several positions. Their go-to player is a sophomore, Lauren Wenski, who's a very, very complete offensive player. But she by no means is the only thing going for them. They've got kids who can score at every position."
Wenski, who was an all-metro selection as a freshman, leads the Saints at a rate of 18.1 ppg. This year's fabulous freshman, center Carolyn McCullough, is second on the team in scoring at 15.5 ppg.
"She can score inside, but she can also come out to the three-point line and score from there as well," Hershiser said of the 6-1 center. "Most of our defensive attention has to be focused on those two. But a big key for us is how we defend their point guard. I feel like if they have a hard time getting their offense initiated, that will make it better for us."
Aquinas point guard Melissa Watkins, who was first-team all-league last year, is the lone senior in the starting lineup.
The winner of tonight's game will take on the survivor of No. 3 Derby and No. 6 Topeka Washburn Rural in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
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