By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

WaKEENEY -- Hill City junior guard Lexi Hardiek has hit 122 3-pointers this season, scored in double figures in every contest and averages 21 points a game. She has attempted 269 3-pointers, many from angles and places that most players wouldn't shoot from.

"Every time you shoot, you have to think that it's going in and most of the time, I don't know even know where I am at on the court and if I am open, I just shoot it," Hardiek said.

"I guess sometimes it is pretty far back," she added with a smile.

On Saturday, Hardiek hit several guarded 3-pointers and multiple shots well beyond the arc. She rarely missed, finishing with a season-best 33 points, one off her career-high, leading Hill City to a 63-48 victory over Ellis in the Class 2A sub-state championship game at Trego Community High School. The Ringnecks, enjoying their best season in more than three decades, improved to 21-2 and erased a loss to Ellis in the sub-state championship game last season.

Hardiek, a returning first team all-area selection and a Class 2A second team pick, finished 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-12 from the 3-point line. She broke the game open late in the third quarter. With Hill City leading 40-35, Hardiek hit a long trey from well beyond the 3-point line and then nailed another guarded 3 just before the third quarter buzzer. Ninety seconds into the fourth quarter, she made a third closely defended 3 from long range that put the Ringnecks ahead 51-41. Tenth-year Ellis head coach Perry Mick called Hardiek the best shooter and the fastest release he has ever coached against.

"Our idea tonight was to guard her and you have to and she responded to that really, really well," Mick said. "There is not much else you can do. Those shots are 25-26 feet deep with a girl guarding her. She is an exceptional player. I guess I would be upset if we lost her, if she was standing out there by herself, but she was guarded and she made shots. I don't think that it is anything that the girls who were guarding her did wrong."

Last year, Ellis held Hardiek scoreless in the sub-state title game as the Railroaders clinched their second straight state berth and eventually finished as Class 2A runner-up.

"She hardly played because she got in foul trouble," Hill City head coach Linda Nighswonger said. "I think that has kind of been eaten on her all year long. She was bound and determined that wasn't going to happen again."

A season later, Ellis produced a 13-10 season after losing Whitney Taylor and Haley Wolf, now playing for Fort Hays State University. The Railers, led by senior forward Bethany Polifka (team-high 20 points), retooled with three new starters. Ellis has reached the sub-state finals in four straight years, a school record. Mick told his team that prior to 2007, "probably" just three Ellis girls' basketball teams in Railer history reached a sub-state championship game.

"Overall, I don't know if anybody would have expected this Ellis team to be in the finals of sub-state, the finals of the MCL tournament," Mick said. "I am really proud of how they did. I thought we responded really well to the players that we graduated and what we returned."

Hill City's offense, especially from the outside, proved too strong for Ellis. The Ringnecks, who shoot 38 percent from 3-point range as a team, went 11-of-28 (39 percent) from beyond the arc Saturday. Sophomore point Kelsey Keith was 2-of-6 from 3-point range for 12 points, all in the first half, while junior Sheranda Brown sunk two more.

"We will take as many 3s as we can," Nighswonger said.

Hill City led 16-10 after the first quarter and 30-24 at halftime behind 12 points apiece from Hardiek and Keith. Keith, who collects 10 points and a team-best 2.2 steals, also scored several fast break layups off steals.

"I try to watch their eyes and see and anticipate where they are going to pass and just try to go for the steal," Keith said.

In the third quarter, though, Hardiek had nine points, including three free throws that helped Hill City regain the lead at 33-32. Then, her three 3s in a three minute stretch helped the Ringnecks enjoy a double figure lead nearly all fourth quarter. Hardiek had her fourth game with at least 30 points this winter.

"She shoots from out there all the time in practice and she has pretty good range," Nighswonger said.

After the win, the Ringnecks gathered at midcourt for a celebration and unfurled a banner -- made by the Hill City fans -- that said, "Warm up the bus, We're headed to Manhattan."

"It's crazy," Hardiek said. "We came at the first day of practice, that's what we wanted to do and to finally be here (going to state), it's just phenomenal. It went by so fast. All day today, we kept on saying that we couldn't believe it was here. We are not ready for it to end next week, let alone this week, so we really wanted to win."