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Hoisington senior Cody Stetler defends a shot from Ellinwood's Tanner Swank on Tuesday. (Mike Courson / December 23, 2012) |
The Ellinwood girls and Hoisington boys take a combined nine-game win streak into the break. The rest of the league is up for grabs.
Ellinwood
The Lady Eagles improved to 5-2 on Tuesday with a 50-40 road win at Hoisington. Ellinwood closes out the 2012 portion of the schedule with a five-game win streak. It took the Eagles some time as they led 15-12 after one quarter, but trailed 22-19 in the second quarter. The teams battled back-and-forth early in the third quarter before Ellinwood opened things up with an 18-3 run that eventually put the score at 59-36. Kelsea Ward led the Eagles with 12 points and nine rebounds. Sophie Hayes added 12 points, and Rachel Doll finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
The Eagle boys were not so lucky. Having been the one team to beat Hoisington in league play – ever – the Cardinals left no doubt who would win on Tuesday, leading 23-11 after one quarter and 39-17 by halftime. Ellinwood (3-4) eventually trailed by as many as 50 points at 79-29. Tanner Swank scored 10 points in the loss. Freshman Kaleb Schartz added all five of his points in the third quarter.
Hoisington
After a 1-2 start, the Cardinal boys have gathered some momentum to close out the year. Tuesday, the boys dominated Ellinwood in a 79-34 win. Friday night, the Cards avenged a game one loss to Central Plains with a 38-32 win. Whereas Hoisington built a 23-11 first quarter lead on Tuesday, Friday was a different type of game as the Oilers led 8-6 after one quarter.
“That packed-in 2-3 zone where they have five guys in the paint – your offense completely changes,” Hoisington Coach Kyle Haxton said. “They weren’t doing anything in the full-court. They were sprinting back to guard five guys in the paint. That means someone has to step up and knock down shots, penetrate the zone, or get ball movement to shift the zone. We did a lot of different things to find a way to score. The pace of the game was much different because of that.”
The Cardinals eventually figured it out, taking a 22-18 lead by halftime, and extending the gap to 10 points at one point in the third quarter. After holding the ball for three minutes to start the fourth quarter, six-foot-nine Cody Stetler attacked the rim twice for a 37-25 lead. Hoisington was able to hold off an Oiler comeback bid for the win. Stetler finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Anthony Broeder added eight points.
The Lady Cardinals (2-5) dropped both of their contests before the break, falling to Ellinwood 50-40, and losing to Central Plains 61-45. Junior guard Jordin Greer was a bright spot in both games, scoring 20 of the 40 points on Tuesday, and 28 of 45 points on Friday. Freshman Rylie Koester also hit double-figures in both games with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
TMP
The early struggles of the Monarch basketball teams continued on Tuesday as Victoria played the role of Grinch with a sweep. The Lady Monarchs outscored Victoria 15-7 in the fourth quarter to force overtime before falling 44-41. The TMP boys were lost a less dramatic 53-38 contest. Thursday, the girls won their first game with a 53-23 win against Larned. The boys also downed the Indians 61-48.
Victoria outscored the TMP girls (1-6) 22-13 in the middle quarters to lead 30-22 heading into the final quarter. Senior Heather Ruder knocked down 4-of-10 three-point tries to finish with 14 points. Senior Jenna Schuckman also finished with 14 points. Kaylor Gottschalk and Allison Pfeifer led the team with seven rebounds apiece. Ruder nearly pulled off a triple-double on Thursday with 16 points, 11 steals, and eight assists. Tuesday, the TMP boys (2-5) were doomed by a streak of nearly 15 minutes without a field goal. They also committed 20 turnovers in that time and managed just five points from free throws. Shane Zimmerman led the Monarchs with nine points on 8-of-9 shooting from the free throw line.
Larned
The Indian basketball teams will have something to think about over the winter break following a combined 0-4 week four of the year. Tuesday, the girls fell to Central Plains 70-32. Thursday, Larned gave TMP its first win in a 53-23 route. Central Plains dominated Larned (2-5)on Tuesday. Already leading 38-20 at the half, the Oilers won the third quarter 26-5 to complete the route. Nine Lady Indians scored in the loss, led by sophomore Shay Shepherd’s seven points. Senior Reagan Quick added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Lady Indians finished 0-for-10 from behind the arc in the loss.
The Larned boys also dropped to 2-5 with a 60-46 loss to Central Plains, and a 61-48 loss to TMP. The Indians led Central Plains 11-8 after one quarter, but were doubled-up 32-16 over the next two quarters. Easton Palmer hit three three-pointers in the loss to pace Larned with 13 points. Brayden Smith scored all of his nine points from outside the arc.
