Fleming girls hoops continues to trend upwards

Thus far throughout the season, Fleming girls basketball has proven itself to be one of the elite teams in Class 1A, as evidenced by its No. 5 ranking in this week’s Coaches and Media Poll. The Wildcats have even reinforced their stock in defeat.

Last week, the Wildcats faced two incredibly tough opponents, splitting their success right down the middle. No. 2 Stratton got the better of them on Friday night in a 54-39 setback but they turned right around to defeat No. 10 Prairie in a 37-35 nailbiter.

In that first contest against the Eagles, the Wildcats saw senior Madi Serrato, sophomore Brooke Schaefer and sophomore Ciana Lousberg rise to the occasion. Serrato led the scoring drive with 12 points, followed by another 11 from Schaefer and nine more from Lousberg. Serrato further rounded out her game with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The next day, Prairie’s defense successfully contained Fleming’s offense, but just barely fell short of a top-10 upset in the final seconds. This time around, Lousberg took control of the offense with 13 points, and was the only Wildcat to surpass double-digits. Six ladies in all contributed to the final score, and Schaefer put on her best impression of a thief as she added eight steals in a game that saw Fleming earn 20 takeaways in all.

Fleming improved to 6-2 on the season, with its only other loss coming at the hands of Caliche, which earned some votes in this week’s Coaches and Media Poll for 2A. The Wildcats’ road forward won’t get much easier, as their next competition will take place at 2A’s ninth-ranked Akron on Thursday afternoon.

Tip-off for that game against the 5-4 Rams is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Rams will be coming off of a big win at Wray after previously suffering two straight losses to 2A No. 2 Sedgwick County and 1A No. 3 Briggsdale.