WORTHINGTON -- Veteran leadership and poise are the two main hallmarks for a team to advance in the early rounds of any postseason tournament.
The Fulda girls basketball team validated that point Saturday in the Section 3A South quarterfinal against Hills-Beaver Creek, outscoring the Patriots 16-7 in the game's final five minutes to pull away with a 66-57 victory.
The second-seeded Raiders (20-4) advanced to the 3A South semifinal round Tuesday where they will take on Southwest Christian.
Fulda was able to stay in control of its nerves in the final minutes, not allowing the No. 10-seed Patriots to pull off its second upset in three days.
"When you're the higher seed and the (No.) 10 seed's knocking on the door, there's a possibility to freak out," Fulda head coach Gregg Slaathaug said. "I don't think any of our girls freaked out."
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Helping keep the team composed most in the contest was the offensive execution of Sarah Raddle. A spark coming off the bench Saturday, Raddle netted 20 of her game-high 28 points in the second half, including four of her six 3-pointers on the night.
"They put so much focus on Kaitlyn and Laura that someone had to be open," Slaathaug said. "We did a good job of passing the ball and getting the ball to our girls who can shoot."
Sam Raddle, who added 12 points, helped an offense which was held to 39 percent shooting in the game, and overcome 17 turnovers.
H-BC (6-20) biggest weapon for most of the season has been the 3-point shot, and it proved to be just that against the Raiders. The Patriots were not shy on their long-range attempts, hitting 10-of-21 attempts.
Karri Fransman led the assault from downtown, hitting on six 3-pointers, finishing the game with 20 points.
Fransman, though, was slowed down the stretch when Fulda made a defensive shift, putting the taller Kaitlyn Kramer on the sharpshooting Patriot.
Her inability to hit in the final minutes forced was the beginning of the end for the worn-down Patriots.
"When you get tired legs at the end, and they played defensively real well ... it made it tough for us," H-BC head coach Jason Blosmo said.
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Chelsi Fink had a rough game Saturday, even though she finished with 18 points. Fink had a tougher time of it than she did against Ellsworth as the Fulda defense strived to limit her production.
As for the game -- minus Raddle's big night -- Blosmo was happy with how things went.
"Our girls played hard," he said. "We had a few mental mistakes and allowed Sarah Raddle too many open looks, (but) our post defense was superb."
H-BC 25 32 -- 57
Fulda 28 38 -- 66
H-BC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Bush 0-2-1-5, Roozenboom 0-1-2-4, Fransman 6-1-0-20, Fink 2-5-2-18, Hoyme 0-1-0-2, Tilstra 0-1-0-2, Helgeson 2-0-0-6. Totals: 10-11-5-57.
Fulda (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Sam Raddle 2-3-0-12, M.Gunderman 0-1-0-2, K.Kramer 0-3-2-8, N.Gunderman 0-3-0-6, Sarah Raddle 6-4-2-28, Speckmeier 0-1-1-3, Goedtke 0-1-0-2, L.Kramer 0-2-1-5. Totals: 8-18-6-66.
No. 3 SWC 63,
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No. 6 Edgerton 53
Edgerton's Amy Kallemeyn did all she could to help her team advance. It just proved to not be enough.
Kallemeyn scored 32 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, but the duo of Jenna Snyder and Kelsey Van Dyke combined for 40 points (25 and 15, respectively) as Southwest Christian pulled away in the final minutes.
"I knew I couldn't relax," SWC head coach Cal Hoekstra said.
Hoekstra couldn't relax because Kallemeyn was on fire in the second half. Hitting almost every shot she put up midway through the half, Kallemeyn scored 20 points in the final period to pull Edgerton within three, 51-48, late in the second.
From there, SWC outscored the Flying Dutchmen, 12-6, to take the victory.
SWC (17-6) nearly blew the game open in the first half, though, opening the game on a 16-5 run over the first 6 minutes, 17 seconds.
Snyder led the way in the first half for the Eagles, scoring 18 points, while SWC did a solid job on the boards, continually getting second-shot opportunities.
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"I thought early on we did a pretty decent job of boarding," Hoekstra said. "I thought we did a decent job of pushing the ball like I wanted, setting up situations where we could score."
SWC was also able to get Kallemeyn in foul trouble in the first half, drawing three fouls on the center. When she went to the bench, the offense mostly went with her, as other players were struggling to find their shot.
One player who was able to find her stroke was Kelly Vanderstoep, who was the only other player for Edgerton (11-13) to hit double figures. She finished with 10 points.
"She really played well," Edgerton head coach Andrew Fleischman said. "When Amy went out with foul trouble, she hit a couple big shots when we needed them."
Edgerton 22 31 -- 53
SWC 32 31 -- 63
Edgerton (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): A.Vanden Bosch 0-1-0-2, Vanderstoep 1-3-1-10, Hadler 0-0-1-1, Van Kley 0-3-2-8, Kallemeyn 0-12-8-32. Totals: 1-19-12-53.
SWC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Snyder 2-5-9-25, Vander Woude 0-3-0-6, Vis 1-1-0-5, Van Dyke 0-7-1-15, Van't Hof 0-2-2-6, Schelhaas 0-3-0-6. Totals: 3-21-12-63.
