Heading into the opening round of sub-state play the Sabetha girls knew it wasn’t going to be a typical first round matchup for a team that earned the 2-seed going up against Marysville who came in at the 7-seed.

Not only did the Lady Jays have a formidable first round opponent, but they also didn’t know what they would get out junior point guard Melinna Schumann who was playing her first game in several weeks after a wrist injury she suffered in club volleyball.

Consider both tests passed, as Schumann knocked down her opening shot of the game and the Lady Jays battled through adversity pulling away late to move on to the semifinals with a 55-42 win Tuesday night in Sabetha.

Right away Schumann showed her wrist is just fine hitting a 3-pointer to open the game before senior Maggi Hughes knocked down two more triples as the Lady Jays jumped out to a 15-11 lead after one.

Sabetha pushed that lead up to as many as nine and led 25-16 midway through the second, but Marysville went on a 12-2 run to end the half behind seven points from senior Sami Bartels and five more from junior Macy Roever to take a 28-27 lead into the half.

The Lady Jays bounced back quickly and took back control with a 13-3 third quarter and got a pair of big buckets from junior Leah Renyer along with free throws from Hughes in the fourth to extend their lead and pull away for the win.

Renyer was great all night as she scored 16 points to lead Sabetha (18-3) who knocked down seven 3-pointers in the game including three from Hughes and two each for Schumann and senior Kinley Schuette.

Marysville (8-13) was led by Roever who finished the night with 16 points while Bartels added 15 in her final game as a Lady Bulldog.

Next up for Sabetha is the Sub-State Semifinals in Hiawatha Friday night at 6 pm against Bishop Ward who snuck out a 49-45 victory over Hiawatha Tuesday night.

Sabetha: Leah Renyer – 16, Maggi Hughes – 12, Melinna Schumann – 10, Kinley Schuette – 6, Hannah Wertenberger – 5, Payton Michael – 3, Sofia Kuenzi – 2, Morgan Schuette – 1.

Marysville: Macy Roever – 16, Sami Bartels – 15, Eva Peschel – 6, McKenna Minneman – 2, Grace Lauer – 2, Maddison Ronnebaum – 1.