photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

The Eudora girls basketball team poses with its substate plaque after defeating Ottawa on Friday, March 6, 2026, at Eudora High School in Eudora.

Eudora’s girls basketball team overcame a slow start Friday night to overpower Ottawa, 45-28, in a Class 4A substate final at Eudora High and advance to the state playoffs for the second consecutive season.

“Being able to get back (to the state tournament) again this year is really good,” said Eudora head coach Brandon Parker, who has led the Cardinals to the state tournament three times in the last six seasons (2022, 2025 and 2026). “We have kids on this team who were with us last year, but we’ve also got some where this is their first year. We only have one senior on this team and we’ve played a tough schedule that’s put us through the ringer. It’s fun to have a reward like this for the past four months of hard work they’ve put in.”

Eudora will play again Tuesday, but the Cardinals’ opponent, the time and location of the game are dependent on other substate final results, so KSHSAA may not announce the pairings and locations until Saturday or Sunday.

Ottawa (17-8) – which had lost to Eudora twice previously this season – jumped out to a 12-5 lead after one quarter, but Eudora (21-3) ratcheted up its defense and held the Cyclones to just 16 points over the final three quarters to take control and eventually pull away for the win.

“The first quarter wasn’t our best, but we got back on track,” said Eudora sophomore Avah Dye, who led the Cardinals with 14 points on the night, 10 of which came in the second half. “We picked things up at both ends and got going like we’re used to doing.”

Eudora outscored Ottawa 17-3 in the second quarter to take a 22-15 lead into halftime. At halftime, freshman Payton Lewis paced the Cardinals with eight points – all in the second quarter – and Brynn Deterding added seven to help fuel Eudora’s offense.

“(Going back to the State Tournament) means everything,” said Deterding, a junior who played on last year’s state tournament team as well. “Our team chemistry is really great. We all get along so well and play hard for each other.”

Ottawa got to within five points — at 24-19 after a basket by Dylan Nichols with 7:11 to go in the third quarter – but the Cardinals responded with a 13-0 run to stretch their lead to 37-19 late in the period to remove any doubt as to the outcome.

Eudora cruised in the fourth quarter, eventually leading by as many as 21 points at 42-21 after a layup by Deterding with 2:36 to go before clearing its bench in the final moments of the game.

“The biggest difference (after the first quarter) was that our adrenaline level went down,” said Parker. “We let our emotions get to us early, but we weathered the storm, got settled into what we do well and things went from there.”

Along with Dye’s 14, Deterding had 12 and Lewis pitched in eight for Eudora in the win. Leah Askins-Dieterich led Ottawa with 17, but she got just nine points over the final three periods after scoring eight in the first quarter for the Cyclones.