It took a ranked Class 4A team, but Pratt handed the top-ranked St. John girls their first loss of the year in tournament championship at Pratt.
Ness City
The No. 8 (2A) Eagle boys lost their second game of the year, falling to No. 5 (3A) Hoisington 58-49 on Tuesday. Ness City (11-2) looked poised to take that game, leading 28-20 at the half, and taking a 46-38 lead into the fourth quarter. The proverbial wheel fell off in the final eight minutes as Hoisington outscored the Eagles 20-3 in the final period to escape with the win. Collin Foos paced the Eagles with 18 points, and Drew Clarke finished with 17 points.
“We played pretty good basketball for about three and a half quarters,” said Eagle coach Matt Overlease. “I think we got tired late in the game and quit doing the little things right that helped us build a 15 point lead. We did not defend well in the fourth quarter, and we did not do a good job running our offense late, and ultimately, didn't hit shots. Hoisington is a great team and did a good job taking it at us and making plays.”
The Lady Eagles fell to 5-8 with a 57-37 loss to the Cardinals. Hoisington led 21-8 at the half, and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Kenzie Stoecklein led Ness City with 11 points. Kylie Stoecklein chipped in with nine points.
St. John
The Lady Tigers have held the No. 1 spot in Class 1A, Division I for most of the season. The girls will likely fall from that spot, albeit not far, following a 40-29 to former coach Dean Rausch and No. 6 Pratt (4A) at the Pratt tournament on Sunday. The Tigers advanced to the title game with a 50-21 win over Medicine Lodge on Thursday, and a 52-39 over Class 6A’s Wichita North JV team on Friday. In that win against North, junior Morgan Osborne led the way with 14 points. Senior Teresa Wade was 6-of-8 from the free throw line to finish with 12 points. Junior Jamie Waters chipped in with nine points.
Kinsley
The Lady Coyotes took a 9-1 record into the Cunningham tournament. After handily beating Attica 50-20 in the opener on Tuesday, Kinsley stumbled to two straight losses, falling to Pratt Skyline 46-40 on Friday, and to Cunningham 40-37 in Saturday’s consolation match.
Attica never threatened on Tuesday as the Lady Coyotes led 8-3 after one quarter, and 18-7 at the half. Kinsley added its two best offensive quarters of the game to pull away in the second half. Senior Alisen Habiger is averaging a double-double a night and had a huge game against Attica with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and 18 rebounds. Brittany Gleason added 10 points, and Shaylee Meyers finished with eight points and five steals.
Victoria
The Lady Knights countered a three-game losing streak earlier this season with a current three-game winning streak. Two of those wins came last week as Victoria (10-4 overall, 4-1 CPL) beat Ellis 52-37 on Tuesday, and downed LaCrosse 53-41 on Friday.
Tuesday, the girls took down Ellis early on, leading 14-8 after one quarter and 26-17 at the half. Ashley Dome paced the Knights with 12 points, adding five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Kristen Huser and Kaley Goetz each added 11 points, with Huser adding five steals. Audra Nowak led the team with seven rebounds to go along with eight points.
The struggles continued for the Victoria boys, who dropped both games last week and have lost six of their last eight contests to drop to 7-7. Tuesday, the Knights fell to Ellis 43-40. LaCrosse eliminated the drama on Friday with a 67-41 win.
Victoria outscored Ellis 16-6 in the fourth quarter on Tuesday to get back into the game, but the Knights could not erase the deficit that started in the second quarter as Ellis held Victoria scoreless to take a 20-12 lead into the half. Corey Dinkel scored 11 points in that loss and added five rebounds. Sam Ottley finished with seven points and five boards.
Otis-Bison
The Lady Cougars improved to 7-8 with a 52-51 win over Dighton on Tuesday. The Hornets were in control of the game early, taking a 32-22 lead into the intermission. Otis-Bison bounced back to outscore Dighton 30-19 in the second half to steal the win. Hannah Bannister had a career-night to pace the Cougars with 28 points. Annie Kraisinger added 10 points, and Janel Tammen finished with nine points.
The Cougar boys improved to 10-4 with a 35-31 win over Dighton. Otis-Bison opened the game by taking a 17-7 lead. They would never every bit of that advantage as the Hornets outscored the Cougars 22-13 in the second and fourth quarters combined. Trevor Keller scored 14 points in the win, followed by 10 points from Dylan Wissman.
Central Plains
The Lady Oilers (8-4) doubled their loss total at the tough Southeast of Saline tournament last week. The team opened the tournament on Monday by throttling St. Xavier 69-11. The Lady Oilers then lost to Sterling 49-41, then to Southeast of Saline 57-34 in the consolation match. Jennifer Hitschmann scored 11 points in the loss on Friday, and Sydney Rugan added eight points. Thursday, Central Plains outscored Sterling 15-14 in the fourth quarter, but Sterling outscored the Oilers 25-16 in the first and third quarters combined. Rugan led the way with 14 points in the game. Hitschmann added 13 points, and Lindsey Woodmansee finished with nine points.
Macksville
The Mustang boys had lost to just one team in the last two seasons before last week’s St. John Tournament: Class 3A’s Hoisington. Now, No. 6 Macksville (Class 1A, Div. I) can add another school to that list: Class 4A’s Pratt. The No. 2 Greenbacks downed Macksville in the St. John semifinals and handed the Mustangs their third loss of the year Tuesday in a 64-39 contest.
Macksville (9-3) did not have to battle Pratt star Micah Swank in the first game due to foul trouble. The Emporia State-bound senior scored 26 in Tuesday’s win. The Greenbacks outscored the Mustangs in each quarter, leading 34-21 by halftime, and 50-30 after three quarters. Macksville shot just 26 percent from the floor. Seth Filbert led the way with 11 points. Tanner Tranbarger and Adolfo Ibarra each added seven points. Adam Oak grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with six points.
The Lady Mustangs dropped to 0-12 with three tournament losses last week. The girls fell to Norwich 52-33, to South Barber 60-25, and to 45-20 to Pretty Prairie.
LaCrosse
The Leopard boys improved to 7-7 on the year, 3-1 in the CPL, with two wins last week. Tuesday, LaCrosse handed Chase a 56-35 loss. Friday, the Leopards picked up a league win by defeating Victoria 67-41. Taylor Stull led at trio of double-figure scorers against Chase with 14 points. Kip Keeley added 12 points, and Tanner Yoke finished with 11 points to go along with his team-high seven rebounds. Friday, Victoria outscored LaCrosse 27-24 in the second half, but the Leopards still won big after outscoring the Knights 43-14 in the first half.
The Lady Leopards dropped both of their games last week to fall to 5-7 on the year. Chase beat LaCrosse 45-44, and Victoria downed the Leopards 53-41. Senior Haily Gilbert scored 18 points in the Victoria loss, while Adrian McCarroll and Tayci Helm each finished with eight points.
