After winning a district championship five years ago, the Wheatland girls’ basketball program fell on hard times.
But those days are long gone.
From Polk County League cellar-dweller to district champion, Wheatland put a stamp on a remarkable turnaround season Friday night. With underclassmen Ashley Horton (19), Madi Sutt (17) and Gracie Fatino (11) all scoring in double figures, Wheatland defeated Highway 54 rival Hermitage 58-46 in the Class 1 District 6 finals at Macks Creek High School.
GAME PHOTOS: WHEATLAND VS. HERMITAGE
“We’ve come so far as a team,” said Sutt, a freshman who will finish with over 600 points this season. “Especially the last two seasons, we only won six games last year, then to have 22 wins this year is amazing.”
Wheatland’s last district title came in 2011. In the four seasons that followed, the Mules went a combined 14-79, including 6-17 last season.
Second-year Wheatland coach Jeremiah Bryan said it’s a very young group – Wheatland has two senior role players – that’s bought in and become committed.
"They all work together. And they listen," Bryan said. "Last year, they had a hard time listening to me. I'd discipline them and I'd get on to them. This season, they've done a great job (listening).”
The difference in the game came at the free throw line, through sheer volume.
The Mules attempted 32 free throws in the fourth quarter alone. Despite only making 15 of those attempts, Wheatland was able to hold off Hermitage’s comeback. Wheatland finished 24-for-43 at the free throw line overall, compared to Hermitage’s 2-for-7 mark.
Friday’s game marked the fourth meeting this season between the PCL schools separated by five miles. Hermitage won the first two meetings – including one by 30 in early December – but Wheatland posted a 55-51 road win last Friday in the regular season finale for both teams.
Hermitage coach Jeff Salmon said his team picked a bad night to have a poor shooting performance.
“(Wheatland) did a better job of guarding us tonight than they did in the other three games,” Salmon said. “And we just could not make shots. We have to score. Wheatland’s going to score points. They have too many good scorers and we just didn’t score enough tonight.”
Sheridan Corum’s basket brought Hermitage within 46-40 with five minutes to go, but the Hornets would not score again for nearly three minutes. Sophomore Sadi Hostettler led Hermitage with 22 points.
Wheatland hit six 3-pointers in the game, including three in the second quarter, something Salmon said Hermitage was able to take away in the first three meetings.
“Every time we made a run, it seemed like somebody on (Wheatland) made a 3-pointer or big shot,” Salmon said. “This was the most 3s they’ve hit on us all season. The other games we had against them, we played them pretty good on the 3-point line and took that away. Not tonight.”
With the win, Wheatland improved to 22-6 overall. According to Bryan, the best record in program history is 22-8, meaning this season’s Mules team now has the highest winning percentage ever at the school.
It’s also a group that’s continued to fight back. Before this week’s tournament, Wheatland’s last district win came in 2011 when it won a district title.
In Wednesday’s semifinal against host Macks Creek, the Mules fell behind 20-9 early before rallying to win 67-55.
"They're learning to overcome adversity, which is good," Bryan said. "For a young team, I couldn't ask for anything more from them."
Wheatland will face three-time defending state champion Walnut Grove (20-9 overall) at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 1 at SBU in Bolivar. Walnut Grove won the regular season meeting on Dec. 17, 74-47.
“We’re going to come out and play our hardest,” Sutt said. “We played them early in the season and they beat us by quite a bit, but we’re going to come out as pumped as we were tonight.”
Wheatland 58, Hermitage 46
Wheatland 11 16 14 17 — 58
Hermitage 12 10 12 12 — 46
Wheatland – Ashley Horton 19, Madi Sutt 17, Gracie Fatino 11, McKinsey Bryan 4, Katlin Pickens 4, August Shields 3
Hermitage – Sadi Hostettler 22, Sheridan Corum 8, Anna Ginnings 8, Alyssa Owens 4, Cheyanna Jennings 4
