Lady Warriors advance to D2-11 championship game

For the top-seeded Leyton Lady Warriors, it was mission accomplished in their first postseason game of 2015.

The Warriors (10-11) found little resistance in their 40-21 win over the No. 4 Banner County Wildcats (3-17) in the semifinals of the D2-11 subdistrict tournament at the Cabela's Athletic Facility in Sidney on Tuesday night.

Leyton moves on to the championship game on Thursday to face the South Platte Lady Knights at 6 p.m. The No. 3 Knights (3-14) eliminated No. 2 Garden County (3-14) 39-31 in the other semifinal.

"We've played them both and been able to beat them both this year," said Warriors' head coach Nick Newkirk before the second semifinal game. "But I expect it will be a challenge no matter which team we face. They'll have nothing to lose and will play us very hard."

Once the Warriors' Kaitlyn Berner dropped in a layup with 7:17 left in the opening quarter for a 2-0 lead, Leyton was ahead to stay. Berner was followed by baskets from Shaela Jenkins, Diedra Waite, and Dani McKay to establish a 9-0 lead before Paige Cross broke the ice for Banner County.

At the sound of the first horn, the Warriors had a 17-4 lead. MacKenna Dahlgrin gave the Wildcats one of their few highlights of the second period by completing a three-point play. But Leyton kept up the pressure with a 16-7 period and a 33-11 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

"We wanted to get some momentum going tonight for the next game," Diedra Waite said. "We came out very strong and I feel like we accomplished what we needed to. I think we're ready now for the finals."

The Warriors offensive production dipped considerably in the second half, but they kept up the defensive pressure in the early going. Leyton spent much of the first 20 minutes of the game applying a full-court press to the Wildcats. By the midway point of the third quarter, Newkirk called off the press, but still Banner County struggled to make much offensive headway.

"We had an opportunity to work on our press and it's working much better than it was earlier in the season," Berner said. "Now we just need to stay upbeat and take it game-by-game."

The quiet third quarter ended with Leyton adding three points to its lead as it outscored the Wildcats 5-2. Cross kept Banner County from being shutout in the frame by sinking a layup with 18 seconds left.

A turn-around jumper off the finger tips of Waite was the only field goal the Warriors managed in the final quarter, but by then the deal had already been sealed.

"One of the things we wanted to work on tonight was getting back on defense quicker," Dani McKay said. "We've been struggling with that this year and I think we improved with that tonight."

Tuesday Boxscore

Leyton 40, Banner Co. 21

Banner Co. 4 7 2 8 – 21

Leyton 17 16 5 2 – 40

BANNER COUNTY (21) – Paige Cross 10, MaKenna Dahlgrin 5, Ashlynne Hanan 4, Courtney Knisley 2.

LEYTON (40) – Diedra Waite 12, Kaitlyn Berner 10, Dani McKay 9, Shaela Jenkins 6, Abbe Draper 2, Jessica Houk 1.