Toyed with on Thursday, Tonganoxie could be a lot tougher today.
Hutchinson, one of the top-ranked basketball teams in Class 6A, crushed the Class 4A Chieftains, 74-32, in the first round of the Free State Winter Classic on Thursday night.
"Six-A is just a whole different league from 4A," Tonganoxie coach Leslie Foster said, "but I think we'll be a better team for this."
Tongie will meet another 6A school, host Free State, in a consolation game at 7 tonight, and the Firebirds could be smarting from Thursday's 38-35 loss to Olathe North.
"We played Free State two years ago in the DeSoto tournament," Foster said, "and they didn't beat us by that much. I think we match up size-wise with them somewhat."
Tongie (3-8) did not match up with Hutchinson size-wise or any other-wise. Foster had no answer for Christian Bond, the Salt Hawks' 6-foot-4 junior center who scored 18 points and grabbed six boards despite playing only a little more than a half.
"She's a nice player, but our tallest player is 5-8 and there's not much we can do," Foster said.
In fact, after just three minutes, Tongie's 5-8 Aimee Eisman had picked up her third foul and had to spend the remainder of the first half on the bench.
With Eisman out, the Salt Hawks scooted to a 27-2 lead after one quarter and a 50-9 bulge at halftime. Tongie was guilty of 20 first-half turnovers, most of them caused by Hutch's defense.
"Our defense came out and dictated the game early," Hutch coach Tom Clark said. "And we attacked the basket really well on offense."
Plus it helps to have a 6-4 center.
"It doesn't hurt," Clark said with a smile. "Especially one who can do things. She really dominated in the post."
Hutch (9-1) will meet Olathe North in a semifinal at 5:30 p.m. today
"We'll have to work tomorrow," Clark said about the Olathe clash. "We'll have to work."
Thursday's tte--tte with Tongie was little more than a workout. Clark rested his starters throughout most of the second half and the Salt Hawks outscored Tongie by only a point (24-23) in the last 16 minutes.
"I think we had some jitters," Foster said about her team, "but I think we showed in the second half we could play basketball."
Tongie shot 28.2 percent (11 of 39) overall and finished with 27 turnovers. Hutch made 34 of 60 shots (56.7 percent) and had 15 turnovers.
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