Ottawa High’s girls basketball team hopes to save the celebration for this weekend in Salina.

The Cyclones were somewhat subdued after advancing to state with a 54-43 victory over Iola in the sub-state championship on Saturday.

“After we won Saturday, there wasn’t pure jubilation like last year when we beat (defending state champion) Burlington (to advance to state),” second-year OHS coach Cliff McCullough said. “I asked them what was wrong and they said, ‘We’re not done yet.'”

The Cyclones, 22-1 and the No. 1 seed at 4A state, will open with No. 8 Holton (8-15) at 3 p.m. today at the Bicentennial Center. Holton was 1-10 at one time.

Spring Hill, also 22-1, is the No. 2 seed after losing a coin flip to OHS for the top seed. The Broncos will open with perennial 4A power Topeka Hayden (18-5) at 6:30 tonight.

Ottawa’s trip to state last year was short. The Cyclones lost, 54-49, to Goodland in the first round after squandering a 15-point lead with 91*2 minutes left.

Several Cyclones returned from that team and a return trip to Salina seemed probable.

“The expectations were there at least by the team, by us and the community,” said McCullough, 42-5 in two years at OHS. “Last year was nice and helped us tremendously by taking the pressure off.”

Senior Lindsey Dieterich, a 5-foot-9 guard, averages 19 points and six rebounds a game to lead Ottawa.

“She’s led more by example than anything else,” McCullough said of Dieterich, a two-time Journal-World all-area pick. “When we’re not scoring and the offensive output hasn’t been what it’s supposed to be, she’s taken the load on her shoulders. When we need points, she steps in and does it.”

Junior Liz Burks (12 ppg, 7 assists per game and 4 steals per game) and senior Katie Sheffield (10 ppg, 5 apg) also average in double figures.

Ottawa opened the season with 11 consecutive victories before falling to Anderson County, 66-64, in the semifinals of the Wellsville tournament. The Cyclones enter state with another 11-game winning streak.

The Ottawa-Holton winner will play the Colby-Andale winner at 3 p.m. Friday. Both Colby and Andale are 21-2.

The top five seeds at 4A are a combined 86-8

Ottawa, which averages 66.3 points a game and surrenders 43.3 points a game, had a couple of close calls in the past month. The Cyclones outlasted Kansas City Sumner, 81-76, in three overtimes and won, 48-46, over Kansas City Ward in the regular-season finale.

“It gives us confidence that we’re never out of the game,” McCullough said of the close calls. “Once we get the lead, we’ve been able to hold on to it.”