Heart of America Catch-All: Winter finale

The season is over for all but three HOA basketball teams. Moundridge will be one of just four schools in Class 2A with two teams still active heading into state.

Moundridge

Four Class 2A teams are sending two teams to the state basketball tournament. Moundridge is one of them. The Wildcat boys, as a No. 2 seed in their own sub-state, cruised through the bracket. Friday’s 44-30 semifinal win against Berean Academy was the closest of the three games. No. 5 seed Peabody-Burns provided the semifinal upset against No. 1 Burden-Central. Moundridge took advantage, pounding Peabody 57-33 in the championship game. The Wildcats outscored Peabody 36-17 in the second half on Saturday. Daniel Ratzlaff led the team with 18 points, Ryan Lorimor added 12 points, and Tyler Kaufman and Colton Frazer each scored nine points. Moundridge (18-5) will play No. 4 seed Inman (18-5) in the first round of state on Wednesday. The winner will likely see top-seed Meade on Friday.

The Lady Cats had a little more drama on their road to state. After wins of 72-16 and 49-16, the girls ran into HOA-foe Berean Academy in Saturday’s championship game. Moundridge moves on with a close 24-22 grinder. Brooke Holloway and Ashley Holler each scored seven points in the win. The Lady Cats (20-3) enter state as the No. 4 seed against Northern Heights (19-3) on Thursday. The winner will likely see top-seeded Jefferson County North on Friday.

 Inman

The hot-streak continues. The Teutons climbed to No. 6 in the final Class 2A rankings. As the No. 2 seed at the Sterling sub-state, the boys knocked off top-seed Little River 42-39 to advance to the state tournament in Manhattan. The Teutons have won 15-straight games.

“We’ve talked about it all year long,” said Inman Coach Brett Froese after Saturday’s win. “These kids really get along well with each other. It’s not just how cohesive they are as a unit. You win three and lose five then come back. They just always stuck together. Once they started rolling, it was going to take something big for them to get beat.”

Justin Friesen scored 18 points, including four threes, in the Little River win. Alex Ropp added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Inman (18-5) opens state against HOA-foe Moundridge on Wednesday. The winner will likely see top-seed and unbeaten Meade (22-0) on Friday.

The Lady Teutons avoided having to face a No. 1 seed. Kind of. No. 2 Sterling sat ranked in the second spot in Class 2A for most of the season but still entered its own sub-state as the No. 2 seed. Thursday, Sterling showed why by handing Inman a 67-15 loss. The Lady Teutons fell behind 31-2 after one quarter and 53-7 by halftime. Inman ends its year at 6-15.

 Bennington

A great season came to an end Saturday night. After winning 20 games, including a 68-44 contest against Washington County in the Republic County sub-state semifinals, the Bulldogs lost a 60-58 heartbreaker to No. 2 seed Republic County in Saturday’s championship game. The teams were neck-and-neck all night with the teams knotted at 28 at the half and Republic County leading 44-42 after three quarters. Senior Derek Stanley went out strong, flirting with a triple-double with 19 points, eight assists, and five rebounds. B.J. Glanton added 14 points, and senior Zach Fief scored 10 points in his final game. Bennington finishes the year at 20-2.  

With just five wins heading into a tough sub-state, the Lady Bulldogs had their work cut out for them. They nearly pulled off an early upset against No. 3 seed Ell-Saline, holding the recently-ranked Cardinals in check in a 44-39 contest. Bennington trailed by just one at the half and was still in the game at 29-26 with eight minutes to play. Jenna Gantenbein led the team with 13 points. The Lady Bulldogs close the 2012-13 campaign at 5-16.

 Canton-Galva

With just one win entering Wednesday’s sub-state game against top-seed Burden Central, the Eagles barely stood a chance on paper. Canton-Galva put some fear into Central, leading 14-8 after the first quarter. Central battled back for a 25-19 halftime lead, but the Eagles hung tough for a 34-33 game with a quarter to play. Ultimately, the upset-bid came up short in a 45-36 loss. Canton-Galva ends the year at 1-20. Cody Savage scored 11 points in the loss and A.J. Medley added eight points.

The Lady Eagles were not so fortunate, falling behind top-seed Moundridge 18-1 after one quarter and 38-5 by halftime of a 72-16 loss. Erika Smith led the team with four points and four players scored three points each. The Lady Eagles close the season at 2-19.

 Berean Academy

The Lady Warriors came up just two points shy of a trip to Manhattan on Saturday. No. 2 seed Berean cruised to the Moundridge sub-state championship match against the host and top-seeded Lady Wildcats where they fell 24-22. Only three Lady Warriors scored in the loss, led by Xannie Quiring’s 14 points. Abbi Landis added six points and Wynette Sommerfield the other two points. Berean finishes the year at 17-5.

The Warrior boys will not be heading back to Manhattan. Berean opened the Moundridge sub-state with a 49-26 win against No. 6 seed Herington, but fell to No. 2 seed Moundridge 44-30 in Friday’s semifinal. The boys end the year at 13-8. Wednesday, the Warriors were locked in a 19-15 first half battle. A 21-5 third quarter lifted the Warriors to an easy win. Loren Pearce led all scorers with 21 points. Kameron Wiebe added nine points and Dallas Wiebe scored eight points.

 Sedgwick

The Cardinal boys earned a No. 3 seed at the Conway Springs Class 3A sub-state. Usually, that means a home game. Weather pushed the game to Wednesday at Conway Springs, and No. 6 Garden Plain was ready for the upset. The Owls downed the Cardinals 58-50, giving Sedgwick a losing 10-11 record for the 2012-13 campaign. The Owls did their damage early, doubling-up the Cards 16-8 in the first quarter. The teams played even from there. Logan Thompson scored 24 points in the loss and Chris Agee’s 11 points were second most in the game.