WOODLAND STUNS TOP-SEEDED KELLY WITH 60-58 VICTORY

BLOOMFIELD -- With a 13-point lead entering the fourth quarter in Thursday's Class 2A, District 2 semifinal, the fifth-seeded Woodland Cardinals virtually dared top-seed Kelly to catch them.

The state-ranked Hawks took the Cardinals up on their challenge, tying the score twice, but Woodland senior Brandon Stinnett preserved the upset with a driving basket with just four seconds left to give the Cardinals a shocking 60-58 victory.

Woodland (18-9) now advances to tonight's championship game against second-seed Scott City scheduled for 8 p.m. Kelly, ranked fourth in the 2A state poll, saw its dream season end with a 24-4 record.

"It's devastating," said Kelly coach Kent Mangels. "We've stepped up in big games all season, but we just didn't have enough to get by Woodland."

Following Stinnett's basket, Kelly quickly inbounded the ball and tried a long shot at the buzzer that missed. Woodland's players and cheerleaders rushed the floor in a mob that moved directly in front of the stage area of the gymnasium.

"This is a big win for our community," said Woodland coach Jennings Wilkinson. "We haven't been to the final in districts for a few years now. We beat a quality coach and a quality team and that's what I'm most proud of."

Two nights after shooting 61 percent in an 85-56 blasting of Notre Dame to open the tournament, Woodland was back at it again. The Cardinals made seven 3-pointers in the first half to build a 33-20 lead by halftime.

"They've gotten hot at just the right time," said Mangels. "They're playing very well. No matter what we did defensively they shot the ball well."

Said Wilkinson with a grin: "We've been hot for two or three nights now, but I don't know if we can keep it up."

Greg Lincoln made three of the Cardinals' 3-pointers in the first half and four of his teammates combined for the others. Woodland shot 7 of 12 from behind the arc in the first half, but missed all six of its attempts in the second half. Lincoln had a team-high 16 points.

Rather than hold the ball in the fourth quarter with its big lead, Woodland stayed aggressive in its offensive end. It almost backfired as the Cardinals committed seven turnovers and missed four 3-pointers over the final eight minutes.

Kelly tied the score 55-55 with 2:20 left on a steal by Denver Stuckey and layup by Jim Hulshof, who led the Hawks with 25 points. Woodland went back ahead by three, but Kelly senior Ben Klipfel drilled three straight free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt to tie the score at 58-58 with 28 seconds left.

With two of Woodland's top scoring threats fouled out of the game -- David Massa and Jason Bandermann -- the Cardinals held the ball out until Stinnett broke free for the winning shot.

Massa scored 12 points for Woodland. Stuckey netted 14 and Klipfel 11 for Kelly.