Welcome to Day 3 of the 5A state tournament here at the Kansas Expocentre. The first round was tough on our local teams, as the girls and boys teams from both Aquinas and Lansing were  eliminated. That leaves the Bishop Miege boys and girls as the last hope to bring home a state title to the Kansas City Metro Area. I'll be posting short recaps of each team's semifinal game as the day goes on, so make sure you keep checking the blog for updates.

BISHOP MIEGE 64, ANDOVER CENTRAL 40

Why Miege won: Andover Central had to feel like it had a chance when Bishop Miege junior point guard Trevor Releford committed his second foul with 5:30 left in the first quarter and had to come out for most of the first half. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, the Stags proved they are far from a one-man team. Junior guard Rodney Givens scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half, and the Stags led 26-19 at halftime. Bishop Miege effectively crushed Andover Central’s championship dreams in the third quarter when a determined Releford scored the first seven points of the half and gave the Stags a double-digit lead they would not relinquish.

Player of the game: No shock here, but Releford was the best player on the court in the second half. He scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and had six rebounds and three assists. Special shout out to junior forward Justin McCay, who turned in another strong performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and senior center Hal Payne, who had seven points, six rebounds and seven blocked shots. Payne was such a force on defense, he reminded me of this guy.

Three quick thoughts:

1. Trevor Releford gets a lot of praise, and rightfully so, but the Stags proved how deep they are early in the game. Releford had to leave with the game after he picked up his second foul with 5:30 left in the first quarter. At the time, the score was 7-2. By the time Releford re-entered the game, with 5:25 left in the second quarter, Miege still led 22-14. That was something that was not lost on Stags coach Rick Zych.

“Our bench really won it for us,” Zych said. “James Payton, Martin Birch, Curtis Okafor, Andrew Glatt, those guys just came in and gave us a big lift.”

2. This probably isn't a shock to you if you're reading this blog, but junior guard Rodney Givens can score. After scoring a team-high 15 points in the Stags' first-round win over Hutchinson on Thursday, Givens had 10 points by halftime.  

3. It will be interesting to see how the Stags start off the championship game on Saturday. McCay and Releford are the only members of the Stags’ current roster to play in the third-place game last year. Will they have any jitters?

One person who probably will, but would never cop to it, is Zych. Since his last championship team in 2001, the Stags have finished in second or third-place more times than he can count.

However, Zych did admit that he was happy to avoid playing in the third-place game for third straight year.

“Those aren’t fun,” Zych said, laughing. “We’ve been in so many of those…you can call those the Miege Invitational.”

Honestly, why do they even play those games? The players don’t want to be there, the officials don’t want to be there, the media doesn’t want to be there, and the only fans that bother to show up are the parents – and even they don’t want to be there. So I say just get rid of them. Anybody with me?

BISHOP MIEGE GIRLS 49, BISHOP CARROLL 44

Why Miege won: The Stags did a terrific job holding the Eagles’ star players in check. Senior sharpshooter Abby Fawcett only scored 14 points, while Boise State-bound guard Julia Marshall only had 10 for Bishop Carroll, which only shot 32 percent from the field. The Stags’ defense helped them overcome a first half in which they only went 7-of-26 from the field.

You also can’t overlook the clutch free-throw shooting of junior guard Rosie Youngstrom and sophomore post Shandelyn Stewart, who combined to make nine-of-10 free throws during the Stags’ 10-2 run to end the game.

Player of the game: Youngstrom scored a game-high 18 points and proved herself to be a big-time player for the Stags. Stewart (nine points, six rebounds) played well in the second half, while junior post Adri Maurer (13 points, 11 rebounds) was terrific as well. Also, props to senior guard Ashley Thayer, who only scored three points but doled out six assists.

Three quick thoughts:

1. This was one of the best big games I’ve seen in a while. I’ve got some support for that assessment, too – but Bishop Miege coach Terry English agrees with me. I know, I know. In a coach’s mind, winning tends to make everything right with the world. But English would know what makes a good game – the man has won 15 state titles.

"I thought it was one of the best semifinals games I’ve been in a long time,” English said. "When we got ahead, they answered, and when they got ahead, we answered. It was good basketball."

2. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Bishop Miege is one of the most balanced girls basketball teams in Kansas City. How often do you see a team as good as Miege not have one player averaging over 10 points a game? The truth is, the Stags have several players who can score in bunches on a given night.

3. You know what’s truly scary about Bishop Miege? The Stags only have four seniors, and several key players (Youngstrom, Stewart, Maurer) will be back next season. Is there a chance Bishop Miege could be even better next year?