Girls' basketball: Kadets get bloodied but remain in fight

Air Academy’s offense was about as pretty as Brittany Aschom’s bloody nose, but the Kadets still battled their way to a 47-35 win over Ralston Valley on Saturday in the second round of the Class 5A state tournament.

Coming off a first-round bye, the third-seeded Kadets looked rusty early in front of their home crowd. Only junior forward Leigh Hamilton appeared exempt from the cold start as she dropped in eight first-half points.

“They had a playoff game under their belts already and came into our place as the lower seed,” coach Ivan Chambers said of the No. 6 seed. “They had nothing to lose, and we looked a little tight at times. There’s no doubt we’re going to have to do a better job hitting our shots in the next round.”

The Mustangs (14-10) pulled to within 25-23 with just less than 3 minutes to play in the third quarter. Air Academy had made only one field goal in the quarter but reeled off eight consecutive points to grab its biggest advantage to that point. Hamilton, who finished with a team-high 13 points, knocked down two free throws to start the run. Sophomores Kate Louthan, Kauna Kama and Erin Todd also scored during the spurt.

“The third quarter got us some breathing room, but we just couldn’t get over the hump tonight,” Chambers said. “The game wasn’t really a blowout, but it wasn’t really close either.”

Sophomore Miranda Beal connected on two 3-pointers in the final quarter to eliminate any possibility of a comeback. Todd joined Hamilton in double figures with 10 points, while Beal finished with nine.

Aschom didn’t score but took one for the team while battling for a loose ball early in the fourth. She was caught on the nose with an errant elbow and immediately doubled over with blood pouring to the floor. She left the court for a few minutes but returned later.

Air Academy will hit the road Wednesday for a round of 16 game at No. 2 Regis.