The Lady Indians were the only tournament-bound team in week eight, but Hoisington fit three more games into its schedule in another busy week of action.
Hoisington
The Cardinal basketball squads had another busy week after hosting a tournament in week seven. The boys (11-3) won their first two games of the week, beating Smith Center 61-42 on Tuesday, then downing TMP 73-60 on Thursday. Saturday, the Cards fell to No. 10 Hesston (4A) 64-54. In Monday’s win, Hoisington led 19-13 after one quarter, and held the Redmen to just five second-quarter points to lead 33-18 by halftime. Senior Anthony Broeder led the team with 19 points, also grabbing seven rebounds. Cody Stetler added 13 points and eight rebounds and Ryan Becker hit double-figures with 11 points. Stetler scored a career-high 30 points in the TMP win on Thursday.
The Lady Cardinals (6-8) had to face two ranked teams, falling to No. 3 Smith Center (2A) 63-35, and to No. 4 Hesston (4A) 50-26. Sandwiched in there was a first 50-46 league win against TMP. Things looked dire for the Lady Cards early in that win as they trailed 21-8 after one quarter. They battled back, cutting the gap to 23-17 by halftime, then using 22 points to take a 39-35 lead after three quarters. Jordin Greer hit three of her four three-point tries for 21 points. Rylie Koester added 13 points, and Abi Rziha finished with eight points.
TMP
The Monarch basketball teams jumped back into league play with a rare Thursday game against Hoisington. The TMP boys outscored a hot Hoisington team 40-34 in the second half but could not erase a 39-20 halftime deficit in a 73-60 loss. They fall to 4-9 on the year. The Lady Monarchs drop to 2-11 with a 50-46 loss to the Cardinals. TMP led that contest 21-8 after one quarter before being outscored 31-14 over the next two quarters.
Sophomore Kameron Schmidt hit two three and scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter. Shane Zimmerman also reached double-figures with 13 points. Heather Ruder once again paced the Lady Monarchs, going 3-of-5 from the outside to finish with 16 points.
Larned
The Lady Indians traveled to Pratt last week to compete in the Tournament of Champions. In round one, the girls lost to the eventual third-place host Greenbacks in an 80-15 loss. The girls rebounded to beat Medicine Lodge 58-49 on Friday, then fell to Wichita North 40-32 on Saturday. The Lady Indians (3-11) fell behind 8-6 after one quarter on Saturday, and trailed 20-14 by the half. They never could make up the six-point deficit. Junior Tiara Diaz scored six of her team-high eight points in the final eight minutes. Junior Jessi Johnson scored four of her eight points in the final frame.
The Indian boys fell to 2-12 with a 52-30 loss at Great Bend on Tuesday. Larned struggled to score early on, trailing 14-3 by the end of one quarter. The Indians went just 4-of-20 from the field in the first half to fall behind 22-12. Great Bend took over from there, eventually building a 48-20 lead. Brayden Smith and Easton Palmer each scored six points for Larned.
Ellinwood
The Eagles played an unfamiliar foe in Wichita’s Northfield Liberal Arts on Monday. Both squads pounded the non-KSHSAA private school. The Lady Eagles improved to 9-4 with an 81-29 win. The Eagle boys are 5-8 after a 62-47 win.
Sophie Hayes poured in 29 points in the girls’ win – a season-high total for the team. Hayes scored 26 points in a win at the Cardinal Jam the week before. Kelsea Ward finished with 18 points, Rachel Doll and Amanda Tucker each finished with 12 points, and Blake Wilt added 10 points. The boys led 12-4 after one quarter and 26-16 by halftime. Kyle Blakeslee went off for 22 points, completing the double-double with 12 rebounds. Derek Ward finished with eight points and Tanner Swank seven points. Patrick Ringering filled the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals.
