By KEVIN THOMPSON

Special to The Hays Daily News

LAKIN - It would be hard to argue a one-loss team being considered an underdog going up against an undefeated squad.

But that's sort of how the Thomas More Prep-Marian girls' basketball team had to feel Saturday going against 22-0 and top-ranked Kismet-Southwestern Heights in the Class 3A sub-state title game.

After all, the Mustangs were the defending state champions on a mission to repeat. And TMP was missing its 3-time all-state leader in senior Kaylee Hoffman. And they were playing younger and smaller than their counterparts.

But with the determination of an underdog, the Monarchs pulled off the mild upset 51-47.

And for the first time in five sub-state championship tries under his helm, coach Alan Billinger's girls will be playing at state.

One year later brought redemption.

"Everything is just the opposite of what it was last year. We were the team undefeated and Southwestern Heights had one loss. This year it was just reversed. This is two quality ball clubs that came to do business tonight," Billinger said.

The Monarchs played the same way they have all year -- shoot first and take names later. They put up 55 shots on the night (6-of-23 from beyond the arc) and hit 15. The Mustangs shot 17-of-41, but were only 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

And during one stretch in the third and fourth quarters, TMP held Heights without a basket for nearly seven minutes.

Another big difference was free throws. TMP was 13-of-16 while Heights was just 11-of-18, a sub-par night by Mustang standards.

A final difference was turnovers. Heights had 20 on the game, 12 in the pivotal second half, while TMP had only seven for the game.

For the second straight night, sophomore Rachel Jacobs took charge for the Monarchs. Saturday she had 18 points, following Friday's 24. More importantly, it was her free throws that stood out the most; she was 8-for-8 in the second half.

And though Heights keyed on Jacobs all night, the rest of the team stepped it up. At the same time, Billinger said, Jacobs still scored, played defense, and rebounded.

Heights got its biggest lead of the game just a minute into the second quarter, 16-11. Then Jacobs dropped two treys in less than a minute and gave the Monarchs their first lead at 17-16. Jenna Lang and Sophia Schippers both canned two more to end TMP's scoring for the half to go up by five.

Deni Jacobs' two baskets in the final minute brought the Mustangs to within 27-26 at halftime.

Going in with the lead, however slight, was crucial for the Monarchs, Billinger said. They didn't feel compelled to play catch-up and played with more confidence.

In the second half, Heights got its final lead of the game at 33-32 at the 4:41 mark. They scored only one free throw after that until Jacobs' layup at the 6:10 mark in the final period. By then Schippers had nailed two more 3s, and her team was up 42-36.

Up 49-43 with 1:54 left, Kathy Eakes hit a short jumper to close the gap to four. With :57 seconds to go, Lindsay Garinger missed two critical free throws. With 31 seconds left, she stole the ball and drove the length of the floor for a layup and TMP was only up 49-47.

Then Jacobs, with 18 seconds left, calmly hit two more free throws to seal the win, and the trip to state.

"When they got within two, I was really worried, especially when they put on the press. We just didn't do a very good job of getting the ball in right away. But those free throws that Rachel hit were really big for us," Billinger said.

Defensively, the Monarchs felt compelled to go to a zone. Heights had too much quickness and height, and Billinger felt shutting down the inside was the way to go.

"When we played defense, we were telling them to make sure they were moving quick, getting our hands up, and front people in the paint as much as we could so that they didn't get those easy shots," he said.

Shooting all around didn't hurt either.

"We want to be able to shoot. When we get the ball, the first thing we do is look to shoot, then dribble, then pass. The 3s we hit were key 3s, but the free throws at the end really nailed it down for us," Billinger said.

Now they're on to state.

"It feels great because we felt we should have been there last year. This gives us some confidence going to state. When you can beat a quality like Southwestern Heights gives us a lot of confidence and a good feeling," Billinger said.

Even though his team is young, he feels they have the heart as they enter the state tournament. Part of that is team play, and part of that is spiritual.

"We have a tough schedule. We played good ball all year long. I have to take my hat off to the girls who played tonight because we did it without Kaylee Hoffman. But she was there in spirit, and she was up and down cheering and coaching and leading the team from the bench. It was pretty emotional tonight," he said.