For the first time since 1997, the BHS girls basketball team made it to the 4A Div. II state finals. With a 19-3 record going into state, Baldwin girls were ranked #2. The team first played Girard. After defeating them the team went on to defeat Concordia to make the finals.

The number one ranked team Hugoton was the team to beat and that is who the Bulldogs faced in the final. With a tough game, the Bulldogs fell to Hugoton finishing second at the 4A Div. II state.

BHS had a total of five seniors this year with four that have played since their freshmen year and one who started this year.

Being her first year playing since junior high, senior Jordan Hoffman was very proud to be a part of the team’s success this season.

“It was an honor to be able to play with such a great group of girls my first year of basketball,” Hoffman said. “We put in a lot of hard work to make it to state. I expect great things from the girls basketball team in the future. ”

With the team’s other four seniors playing together since freshman year, making it to state senior year was like a dream come true to them.

Senior Maddie Ogle having the most points of the season with 335 points and making her personal best this season with 22 points in her last game of the year, Ogle was proud of the team pushing to make it so far.

“Making it to state was always our goal for the whole season. Once we beat Bishop Ward it all became surreal,“ Ogle said. “We had finally broken the streak, The arena was scary at first but I will never forget playing in that atmosphere. We had so many people come to watch us. Although we came up short, it was one of the best weekends of my life. I got to play the game I love against the best competitors in the State.”

Senior Emma Stewart was the team’s shortest senior this year being 5’5”, but was also one of Baldwin’s most aggressive players.” “In any game you watch you almost always saw Stewart on the ground hustling after every ball she could get to, ” sophomore Taylor Cawley said.

“This season was very surreal for me because it would be my last organized high school sport, ” Stewart said. “Our entire team strived to do as well as we could, we were like a family. However, the ending is not what we wanted but it was a bittersweet experience because we put everything we had out there, it was a good feeling knowing that. ”

Being one of the Bulldog’s best rebounders with 156 rebounds and 110 of those being defensive, Senior Post Corey Valentine also could not be prouder of the team’s success.

“It’s pretty incredible just to go to state in general, but to do it for the first time since 1997 is amazing,” Valentine said. “I’m so glad that we were able to make it, not only for ourselves, but for our coaches who have put so much time into this program, and also for our community for their huge amount of support towards our team, we truly could not have done it without them. Though I wish we could have finished with a state.”

The team’s tallest senior, Alexia Stein, had her best game of her season in the championship final against Hugoton. Making her personal best this season with 14 points in the final game.

“It was an amazing experience and even though we got second and felt awful afterwards we worked so hard all season and it payed off for us in the long run and my teammates are the best I could ask for,” Stein said.