Oakland-Craig Girls beat Wood River in Sub-State Final to advance to State

The Oakland-Craig Girls beat Wood River 55-39 in the C2-1 Sub-State Final from Columbus Friday night to advance to State for the 2nd straight year.

The Knights led 16-10 after one, and won the 2nd quarter 9-6 to take a 25-16 lead into the locker room.

Oakland-Craig outscored the Eagles 17-11 in the 3rd quarter to extend their lead to 42-27 at the end of three.

The Knights won the 4th quarter 13-12.

Kennedy Benne led all scorers with 27 points while Makenna Pearson added 7.

Head Coach Joe Anderson says his team's defense led to their offense. "We were able to create some turnovers with our defense, which led to some easy buckets and got us going offensively."

Anderson adds Benne played a great game. "Kennedy is an outstanding player. She is a senior and knew what was on the line. She brought a lot of energy to the court on both ends."

Oakland-Craig (25-1) takes on Clarkson/Leigh (20-5) in the first round of State on Thursday at Lincoln North Star in action that will be aired on 107.9 the Bull.

The Patriots upset GACC in the C2-4 Sub-State Final from Fremont High Friday night in action also aired on the Bull.

The Knights beat Clarkson/Leigh 55-31 in Clarkson on December 10th.

Anderson says State is a whole different ball game. "The last game happened so long ago. Clarkson-Leigh is a totally different team. IF you beat GACC, you are playing basketball at a pretty high level. To win any games at the state tournament, you are going to have to play some very good basketball, so for us to win on Thursday we are going to have to have 3 great days of preparation and play at a very high level."

I'm sure Oakland-Craig has their sights set on a State Championship and making it to State Championship Saturday.

I feel the Knights have a great chance to make the State Finals as well.

Anderson says the first order of business is to beat the Patriots. "Our girls just love to play basketball together. They have set some very high goals for this team, but they know they can't accomplish it unless they win on Thursday. So it is very important that we take one game at a time and see what happens."

I feel Oakland-Craig avoiding Crofton or Hastings St. Cecilia until the finals is big.

I think the Knights have a great shot to get to the Finals based on how good they are and who is on their side of the bracket.

GICC could be tough in the Semifinals if both them and Oakland-Craig win their first round games though, and Ponca would certainly be no pushover in the Semifinals either.

First things first though as Coach Anderson said, the Knights have to worry about and focus on beating Clarkson/Leigh.

The Patriots are a very good team, and Oakland-Craig is going to have their work cut out for them on Thursday.

I think the Knights having State experience will help them on Thursday though.

Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on the Bull.