The Fairfield and Norwich girls are a combined 15-0 on the year, but the bigger numbers in week five came from the Burrton and Fairfield boys match-up on Friday.
Norwich
The Lady Eagles dropped a spot in the Class 1A, Div. II polls to No. 7 despite a remaining perfect on the year. Last Friday, the girls downed South Central 48-35 to improve to 7-0 on the year. Norwich did struggle a little against the 3-4 Timberwolves, leading 20-18 at the break and 35-26 after three quarters. Kenzie Klaver led all scorers with 18 points, throwing in seven rebounds and four assists. Hayley Rust added nine points, and Bailey Poe and Haley Poljansek each grabbed nine rebounds to go along with eight and six points, respectively. Poe also had seven assists in the win.
The Eagle boys failed to find a second win of the season, falling to 1-6 with a 51-38 loss. The Eagles played even with South Central in the second half, but not before trailing 14-5 after one quarter and 29-16 at the half. Jacob Norris and Tristian Wallace each scored 10 points, and Jackson Coleman finished with eight points.
Fairfield
The Lady Falcons jumped into the Class 1A, Div. I rankings in week five. They will likely stay there or move up after improving to 8-0 on Friday with a 59-35 win against Burrton. Fairfield looked to have the game in hand early, leading 31-13 at the half. The Chargers battled back for a 37-30 score with a quarter to play. Fairfield had the answer with 22 more points to pull back away. Senior Brittany Carter scored 15 points and cleaned up the glass with 17 rebounds, 12 of which came on the offensive end. Brandy Burns finished with nine points, Anna Schwertfeger eight points, and senior Kristen Roberts grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with seven points.
The Falcon boys (5-3) barely improved to 5-3 with a 56-55 win. Fairfield again held a halftime lead at 29-22.
The seven-point gap remained for another frame before Burrton put a scare in the Falcons in the final quarter with 22 points. Junior John Dealy had one of the best performances of the year with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting and 25 rebounds. He also had five blocked shots in the win. Ryan Ewy added 10 points and Brennyn Pankratz grabbed 11 boards to go along with eight points.
South Barber
The No. 8 Chieftain boys started the 2013 portion of the schedule the right way with a 67-61 win at Pretty Prairie on Friday. Freshman Bryce Roberts had another big game to lead South Barber with 21 points. Dylan Allison added 18 points, and Taylor Donaldson also hit double-figures with 10 points.
The Lady Chieftains had an even tougher battle in a 41-39 win against the Bulldogs. South Barber built an early 13-9 lead, then trailed 17-15 at the half. The Chieftains pulled back ahead in the third quarter, then put up 14 fourth quarter points to stave off Pretty Prairie. Junior Shania Farney paced the squad with 10 points. Jessica Daughhetee added nine points, and Riley Denton scored eight points. Morgan Koblitz hit two threes for all of her six points.
Pretty Prairie
Both Bulldog basketball teams came up just short in their first games of the new year Friday against South Barber. The Lady Bulldogs led South Barber 17-15 at the half, eventually falling to 5-3 with a 41-39 loss to the Chieftains. The Bulldog boys were also close in a 67-61 loss.
Senior Tiffani Hines went off for 25 points in the loss, adding seven rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Shanay Wewe led the Lady Bulldogs with nine rebounds to go along with two points. Stetson Broce led the boys (3-4) with 17 points, followed by 15 points from Jacob Welker, and 10 points from Nick Lampe.
Burrton
The Chargers may have lost, but Trae Lane had one of his best games Friday night against Fairfield. Lane’s 30 points were not enough to propel Burrton past the Falcons in a 56-55 loss. The Chargers fell behind 29-22 by halftime, and still trailed 40-33 after three quarters. The comeback bid came up just short in the final frame. Chris Lane also had a nice game with 13 points.
The Charger girls also tried a comeback. Trailing 31-13 after two quarters, the girls outscored unbeaten Fairfield 17-6 in the third quarter to get back in the game. The Falcons took over from there to earn a 59-35 win. Abbie Winter and Alissa Satterfield each scored 10 points in the loss.
Cunningham
The Wildcat basketball teams each pulled out wins Friday against Kinsley. The Lady Wildcats improved to 4-4 with a 49-40 win. Cunningham led 24-16 at the break, then needed a 19-12 fourth quarter to secure the win. The Wildcat boys moved to 3-5 with a similar 48-40 win. This time, Cunningham trailed 13-8 after one quarter before outscoring the Coyotes 25-12 over the next two quarters.
Kelsey Ricke swished six three-points to pace the Lady Cats with 22 points, followed by 14 points from Heather Kerschen, and eight points from Kortney Ricke. Early led the way with 17 points. Nick Huhman added 11 points and Zach Chambers eight points.
