The reigning state champion Macksville boys dropped out of the polls last week, but they still posted two wins and claimed a CPL championship.
LaCrosse
The Leopard boys downed Stockton 71-36 on Tuesday night, improving to 10-9 with the non-CPL win. Lacrosse dominated both ends of the floor to lead 32-11 by halftime. The Leopards continued to play strong on the offensive end, outscoring the Tigers 39-25 in the second half for the runaway win. Eleven LaCrosse players scored in the game, led by Marshall Jay’s 15 points. Kip Keeley added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Taylor Stull had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Clayton Basgall scored nine points in the win.
The Lady Leopards also downed Stockton, winning their game 50-31. The Tigers led 8-7 after one quarter, but LaCrosse won the final three quarters, taking a 35-22 lead into the fourth quarter. Adrian McCarroll paced the team with 19 points. Rachel Weigel added nine points, and Ashley Depperschmidt finished with eight points.
St. John
The No. 1 Lady Tigers lost to non-KSHSAA Word of Life 49-47 on Tuesday, but the team remains unbeaten in CPL play with a 47-26 win against Kinsley on Monday, and a 59-26 win against Macksville on Friday. If St. John was worried about a slow start against the Lady Coyotes on Monday, that fear disappeared after a 20-3 lead in the first eight minutes. The Tigers went on to lead 23-10 at the half before pulling away with a 36-14 after three quarters. Teresa Wade was again a force inside with 21 points. Jamie Waters hit two threes to add 10 points.
The Tiger boys had a tougher week. They downed Kinsley 53-35 on Monday, then fell to a tall Word of Life team 52-45, and reigning Class 1A champs Macksville 66-65 on Friday. Monday, the Tigers held Kinsley to just seven first half points on the way to a 33-7 lead. Dean Wade scored 15 points in the win. Spencer Nusser added 12 points, and Zuriel Reyes finished with eight points.
Kinsley
The Coyote boys had a tough week, dropping all three of their games to fall to 8-10 on the season. The squad fell to Central Plains 60-46, to Victoria 62-48, and started the week with a 53-35 makeup loss to St. John. Kinsley hung around with Victoria in the first half Tuesday, trailing 33-26 at the break. The Knights slowly pulled away to the 14-point win in the second half. Junior Nathan Frame scored a season-high 28 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. He also led the team with eight rebounds. Angel Gardea added seven points, and Taylor Abel scored six points.
The Lady Coyotes also dropped all three of their games, losing to No. 1 St. John 47-26 on Monday, then losing two games by a combined two points with a 38-37 loss at Victoria, and a 55-54 loss to Central Plains. Kinsley managed just three points in the first quarter Monday, falling behind 20-3. After cutting into the gap for a 23-10 halftime deficit, the offense again faltered in the third quarter with just four points. Brittany Gleason hit two threes and led the Coyotes with eight points.
Macksville
The Mustangs fell out of the rankings for the first time all year last week, but they moved to 8-1 and won another CPL title with a win on Friday. They fell to Otis-Bison 58-56 on Tuesday, then won the CPL with a 66-65 win against St. John on Friday. Macksville (14-5) needed all four quarters to win Friday. Trailing 54-44 after three quarters, the Mustangs doubled-up St. John in the final eight minutes to steal the win. Tanner Tranbarger hit two threes and paced the Mustangs with 20 points. Taylor Tranbarger also knocked down a pair of three, finishing with 14 points. Adam Oak added 11 points, and Seth Filbert nine points in the win.
The Lady Mustangs dropped to 1-18 with a 58-23 loss to Otis-Bison, and a 59-26 loss to No. 1 St. John on Friday. The girls trailed 36-13 at the half on Friday. Melissa Espino scored seven points in the loss, and Mindy Wood added six points.
Central Plains
The Lady Oilers have won four-straight following two wins last week. Tuesday, the girls knocked down Ness City 66-29. Friday, they improved to 13-5 with a 55-54 win against Kinsley. The Oilers led 17-8 after one quarter before Kinsley battled back to take and trailed 34-33 after three quarters. The Coyotes forced overtime where Jennifer Hitschmann hit the only Lady Oiler three-pointer of the night with 1.2 seconds left to lift her team to the win. Hitschmann led all scorers with 18 points. Sydney Rugan scored all of her 11 points in the final 12 minutes. Kaite Hipp also finished with 11 points.
The Central Plains boys went 1-1 to move to 8-11 on the year. They fell to Ness City 49-41 on Friday, but beat Kinsley 60-46 on Friday. The Oilers overcame a 19-14 first quarter deficit to lead at the half and hang on for the win. Benn Kirmer scored a game-high 21 points.
Otis-Bison
The Lady Cougars have a three-game win streak after downing Macksville 58-23 on Tuesday, and handling Western Plains 45-10 on Friday. The girls moved to 9-9 overall with the Friday win. Western Plains never scored more than five points in a quarter, and the Cougars led 31-7 at the half before outscoring the Bobcats 10-0 in the third quarter. Kim Pechanec and Hannah Bannister each tallied 12 points. Janel Tammen finished with seven points.
The No. 9 Cougar boys rebounded from a Ness City loss to hand Macksville its first CPL loss 58-56 on Tuesday. The boys went on to dominate Western Plains 66-29 on Friday to improve to 12-6 on the year. Friday’s game was over by halftime as Otis-Bison outscored the Cougars 39-15 in the first two quarters. Brandon Pechanec led the way with 17 points. Dylan Wissman added 12 points, and Trevor Keller finished with 10 points.
Victoria
The Lady Knights picked up two more wins, moving to 13-6 on the year with a 38-37 win Tuesday against Kinsley, and another close 42-40 win against Ness City on Friday. Ness City outscored the Knights in each of the first three quarters, taking a 32-25 lead into the final eight minutes of play. Victoria answered there, outscoring the Eagles 17-8 to take the win. Audra Nowak finished with 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Knights. Kristin Huser added eight points, and Ashley Dome was 2-of-3 from the outside to finish with six points.
The Knight boys ended a five-game skid Tuesday with a 62-48 win against Kinsley. Ness City spoiled the fun on Friday, handing Victoria a 59-46 loss and dropping the Knights to 8-10 on the year. Victoria won all four quarters Tuesday, leading 15-9 after one quarter, and taking a 33-26 lead into the half. Corey Dinkel led the Knights with 15 points. Sam Ottley just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Bryan Dome finished with eight points, and Lane Braun added seven points.
Ness City
The Eagle boys dropped out of the Class 2A rankings last week but picked up two more wins. They handed Central Plains a 49-41 loss on Tuesday, then beat Victoria 59-46 on Friday. The teams played close for the duration on Tuesday. Ness City pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Oilers 11-5 to push the gap to eight points. Drew Clarke had another big game with 28 points. Dalton Gantz added 10 points.
The Lady Eagles dropped both of their games, falling to Central Plains 66-29, and giving up three quarters of solid play to fall to Victoria 42-40. Ness City took a 32-25 lead into the fourth quarter Friday before being outscored 17-8 for the loss. Ashley Seib paced the Eagles with 10 points. Erin Flax added nine points.
