By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

HUTCHINSON -- The student section for Garden Plain High School was having a lot of fun before Friday's semifinal game at the Class 3A State High School Basketball Championships.

A vocal crowd on the west end of the Sports Arena was counting loudly when the Thomas More Prep-Marian girls would miss a shot, and even when they wouldn't, during warmups.

TMP-Marian got the last laugh, though.

The Monarchs hit one more field goal, and a whole lot more free throws, than their opponent during the game when it counted to defeat Garden Plain 52-42.

TMP-Marian, which won a school-record 23rd straight game en route to raising its record to 24-1, was 18-of-26 from the line -- 13-of-20 in the fourth quarter -- in earning a trip to its first-ever state championship basketball game, against Marion on Saturday night.

"Oh, yeah, we could hear them," TMP-Marian senior Jessa Stramel said after the game. "We thought, 'Whatever.' "

TMP-Marian got just what it needed when it needed it, including a solid performance from Stramel, who was 4-of-6 from the field and hit both her free-throw attempts to finish with 10 points.

Senior point guard Sophia Schippers played a solid game, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Also in double figures for the Monarchs, and leading the team in scoring for the second straight day, was sophomore Rachel Jacobs.

Jacobs scored 18 points, including 10-of-12 free throws, despite sitting out more than normal because of foul trouble.

Jacobs, who picked up her third foul about midway through the second quarter, was in the game when she was most needed, though.

An 84 percent free-throw shooter for the season, Jacobs hit 9-of-10 from the line in the fourth period to help hold off a comeback by the Owls.

After building a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter, TMP-Marian found that margin trimmed to four, 44-40, with about two minutes left in the game when Garden Plain senior Ann Pauly sparked her team with two long 3-pointers.

But then Jacobs went to the line three consecutive times, hitting all but one of her six attempts, in helping hold the Owls at bay.

"You don't want to foul Rachel, if you're the other team," TMP-Marian coach Alan Billinger said.

"But," he said with a smile, "we were glad they did."

Pauly and classmate Camille Hubert kept the Owls in the game with their 3-point shooting, combining for five treys as each finished with 13 points.

A 3-pointer by Hubert and two traditional three-point plays early in the third quarter helped Garden Plain turn a six-point deficit into a one-point lead.

But after a 34-34 tie with less than a minute left, TMP-Marian senior Kaylee Hoffman drove the baseline for a basket, and Jacobs hit a free throw to close out the third period.

And Garden Plain (19-6) would get no closer than four points the rest of the way.

"We knew they had eight seniors, a lot of veterans on this team," Billinger said. "So I thought we did a pretty good job defensively on them."

The Monarchs also got some much-needed offensive output from their bench.

With TMP-Marian holding onto a one-point lead halfway through the second quarter, sophomore reserve Jenna Lang hit two straight baskets, including a 3-pointer, and finished with six points and six rebounds.

Hoffman added eight points, seven rebounds and seven assists off the bench.

Not your normal bench player, Hoffman didn't start for the second straight game only because she's nursing a knee injury that will require surgery at the end of the season.

Just like she did in TMP-Marian's first-round victory over Riley-Riley County, Hoffman provided a spark soon after entering the game.

With the clock running down and TMP-Marian looking for a last-second shot, a Garden Plain player knocked the ball into the backcourt.

Hoffman chased it down and all in one fluid motion, made a U-turn and made a softball throw toward the basket.

The ball hit the backboard just as the horn sounded and bounced through the basket.

That silenced the Garden Plain student section, which also was quiet by the end of the game.