Heart of America Catch-All: Winter Week 7

The HOA squads had a nice showing in mid-season tournament week with three tournament titles. No. 3 Bennington can take a breather with a perfect 13-0 record.

Bennington

The Bulldogs were tested at the Canton-Galva tournament last week but ultimately escaped with a perfect 13-0 record still intact. Bennington blasted Canton-Galva 62-30 on Monday, then outscored Southeast of Saline 33-16 in the middle quarters of a 61-44 semifinal win. Friday, the No. 3 Broncos (2A) barely got by Class 4A’s Rock Creek 58-54 for the title.

The Bulldogs again had success in the middle quarters. Trailing the Mustangs 19-18 in the first quarter on Friday, Bennington won the middle quarters 26-18 to build a big enough lead to ride to the finish. Senior Derek Stanley hit a pair of threes to finish with 13 points. Senior Zach Fief added 13 points, and junior BJ Glanton went 5-of-7 from the floor to also finish with 13 points. Stanley added six assists and six rebounds, and Glanton grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

 Marion

The Warrior teams were in competition at the Centre Tournament last week. The boys claimed the title with a 42-33 win against White City on Saturday. The Warriors went relatively untested to improve to 11-1. Tuesday, they defeated Elyria Christian 75-28. In Friday’s semifinal, the Warriors beat Solomon 75-65. The Warriors led 9-0 before White City got on the board Saturday. Marion went on to lead 20-14 at the half and 30-23 after three quarters. Jacob Harper scored 10 of the final 12 Warrior points as No. 10 Marion held on for the win.

The Lady Warriors (3-9) struggled to two losses in the Cougar Classic before downing Wakefield 60-43 to salvage seventh place. Prior to that, the girls fell to White City 43-33, and lost to Solomon 42-39. Saturday, the Lady Warriors led 23-14 by halftime, then pushed the gap to 28-21 over the next eight minutes. Kelli Hess led Marion with 15 points. Corey Shields added 11 points and Katey Ehrlich 10 points.

 Sedgwick

The Cardinal boys picked up just one win in the Canton-Galva Invitational last week. Monday, Southeast of Salina handled Sedgwick (6-5) 49-28. Thursday, Sedgwick downed the host Eagles 49-28. In Friday’s finale, the Cardinals fell to the other Cardinals in the league in a 41-27 loss to Ell-Saline.

In the Ell-Saline loss, Sedgwick struggled to score in the first half to trail 25-13 at the half. The Cardinals answered with 12 points in the third quarter to cut a point from the lead, but the Ell-Saline defense held Sedgwick to just two fourth quarter points. Logan Thompson led the Cardinals with eight points. Drake Standefer hit two threes for his six points.

 Canton-Galva

It took a few games but the Eagles were able to double their win total on Friday with a 53-43 win against St. John’s. Canton-Galva entered its own tournament with just one win on the year and now sits at 2-11 following a 62-30 loss to Bennington on Monday, and a 49-28 loss to Sedgwick on Friday.

Friday’s win was never a given. The Eagles trailed 8-7 after one quarter and 20-13 at the half. Then they turned on the offense, taking a 31-29 lead in the third quarter, and adding 22 more points in the fourth quarter to complete the double-digit win. Cody Savage hit three three-pointers to pace the Eagles with 18 points. Austin Bullinger added 12 points, including two triples, and Connor Farnham finished with nine points.

 Inman

The Teutons took a two-game win-streak into the Burrton tournament last week and more than doubled it. Inman opened the tournament on Tuesday with a 60-48 win against Central Christian. In the semifinals, the Teutons (8-5) handled Pretty Prairie 45-31. In Saturday’s title game, Inman knocked off Berean Academy for the second time in eight days with a 44-43 score.

Senior Josh Miller was named the tournament’s most valuable player, likely because of his effort in Saturday’s win where three steals led to seven points that all but sealed the win for Inman. The Teutons opened the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run to build a 42-31 lead. Berean did storm back, getting within one and missing a three-point try that would have won it at the buzzer. Miller and Justin Friesen each scored 10 points in the win. Tyler Cottam added nine points.

 Remington

The Broncos dropped to 6-6 with a 1-2 showing at the Sterling Invitational last week. All three games were decided by three points or less, starting with a 65-62 loss to Maize South on Tuesday in which Remington was outscored 25-18 in the final quarter. Thursday, the Broncos were beat at the buzzer in a 48-46 loss to host Sterling. In that one, Sterling’s Tanner Stallings made his first field goal of the season for the win. Finally, Remington topped HOA-foe Trinity 50-48 in Friday’s seventh-place game.

In Tuesday’s first-round game, Maize South took an 18-13 lead after one quarter, but the Broncs battled back with a 12-4 third quarter to take a 44-40 lead. That advantage evaporated in the final eight minutes. Senior Caleb Tanner led the team with 26 points and five steals. Senior Kyle Regier added 16 points and four assists, and seniors Grant Claassen and Paul Janzen each contributed eight points.

 Ell-Saline