Brush girls hoops earns 15 seed at regionals

Brush basketball is not yet finished for both the boys and the girls teams. There’s more work to be done for the Beetdiggers.

Last week, both squads did just enough to earn their spots in their respective regional/state tournaments, with the ladies taking the No. 15 seed and the boys taking No. 18.

The girls earned the No. 2 seed in their Class 3A Patriot League district tournament and started it off with a bang, knocking out No. 7 Estes Park with a 55-46 final. Strasburg — the tournament’s No. 3 seed — proved much more difficult to overcome. Strasburg defeated them 43-35, sending them to the third-place game.

In that matchup, against No. 4 Highland, the Diggers suffered another defeat by a 42-30 final. Despite the rough end to their district tournament, the ladies did just enough during the regular season to secure their bid for regionals. Typically, the winners of each district tourney move on automatically, while the remaining bracket spots are filled based on CHSAA’s RPI rankings.

The Beetdigger ladies put together a strong enough record — 13-9 — and a good enough resume through play in the Patriot League, perhaps the toughest in all of 3A, to earn their keep. They’ll begin regional play against No. 18 Olathe on Friday night.

The boys, on the other hand, took a similar route through their district tourney but ended it on a higher note.

The Beetdigger boys earned the No. 3 seed to their tournament, pairing off with No. 6 Liberty Common during the first round. They took care of the Eagles rather easily, putting them away with a 66-49 final. That win gave way to a secondround matchup against No. 2 Platte Valley, which went all the way down to the wire. The Broncos snubbed the Diggers’ run to the title game with a 50-48 score, sending them to the third-place game instead.

The boys managed to pull off victory in that final contest against No. 4 Strasburg, taking care of it with a 49-39 decision. They, too, earned their spot at the next level of the postseason through regular season grit.

Now, the boys will begin their regionals bid at No. 15 Bishop Machebeuf on Friday at 7:30 p.m.