KANSAS CITY — Maryville’s girls played smart basketball on Saturday, but Skyline displayed too much Wisdom.

Senior guard Maci Wisdom scored 28 points, including six straight free throws in the second overtime period, as defending state champion Skyline escaped with a 56-54 double-overtime victory against the Spoofhounds in the Class 3 quarterfinals at Staley High School.

The victory gives Skyline (26-4) another in a long run of final four appearances and keeps alive the Tigers’ hopes for a sixth state championship.

Maryville was gunning for its first final four appearance since 1981, which was its only one in school history.

Skyline coach Kevin Cheek knew this one wasn’t going to be easy.

“We watched them on tape, and judging by their conference and the schools they play in the conference, we knew we were going to have our hands full,” Cheek said. “We’re not real big. But they’re long, and they have the right kids doing the right things.

“Our kids kind of know when I’m uptight about one, and they knew I was uptight about this one.”

Wisdom hit 11-of-12 free throws overall and had one first-half 3-pointer for the Tigers despite Maryville’s best defensive efforts.

“We had a couple of girls trying to keep her in check, and I thought they did a great job of just wearing her down and making everything tough for her,” Maryville coach Grant Heggeman said. “I thought the defensive effort on our part was just tremendous.”

Added Cheek, “Maci can do a lot of things. She’s going to make a great college player. For us, she’s a difference-maker. When she has big games, we play well.”

Maryville (20-8) countered with Meridee Scott, who finished with 15 points — 10 of them after intermission. The junior forward hit eight straight free throws in the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime with her final pair of that period as the Spoofhounds erased a four-point, third-quarter deficit.

“Meridee’s our clutch player,” Heggeman said. “She can hit the big shot, and she’s one of our best free-throw shooters.”

Heggeman went to the basket considerably more in the second half, drawing fouls and giving her team numerous chances.

“We had to get back into the game and score somehow,” the junior forward said. “Whatever you can do.”

The Spoofhounds also got 12 points from senior post Megan Walker, while Skyline post Emily Reyes managed 11 points for the Tigers.

Skyline used backcourt pressure to force Maryville into a number of first-half turnovers. That translated into four seven-point leads before the break.

But Maryville began to settle down, tying the game at 22 at halftime and then taking a 25-24 advantage with 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter on Walker’s three-point play. That started a stretch that saw eight lead changes and five ties.

“I don’t think Maryville lost this ball game; they just ran out of time,” said Cheek, admitting his players had worn down by the game’s end.

Even with the loss, playing the defending state champion to a two-point, double-overtime game was redemption for the Spoofhounds, who finished in the middle of the pack in Midland Empire Conference this season.

“We had some ups and downs this year, and we had to kind of fight through that,” Heggeman said. “We had to decide how hard we wanted to play at times. But we really turned it on at the end of the year, and I thought we were peaking at the right time.”

Scott, her eyes red from the disappointment, eventually was able to put the loss in perspective.

“It’s going to be hard to get over, but I don’t think we ever expected to get this far at the beginning of the season,” she said. “We’ll be really excited to play next year and get this far again.”