Hoisington boys advance in 2OT to meet No. 3 Ellinwood

HOISINGTON, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - After a series of routs to open the Winter Jam Tournament in Hoisington, Friday’s semifinal games got a lot more interesting. The host Cardinals needed double overtime to advance past Ellsworth 47-39. No. 3 Ellinwood (2A) held Pratt to just 15 points in the second half to advance to Saturday’s championship game with a 49-38 win.

Hoisington boys 47, Ellsworth 39

Hoisington trailed 19-14 at the half but led 31-26 by the end of the third quarter. The teams combined for just 13 points in the final eight minutes. But an exciting final frame it was. Cardinal senior Leyton Haxton hit a turnound jumper with 1:08 to play in regulation to give the Cards a 35-33 edge. Ellsworth junior Will Cravens answered with a game-tying jumper 12 seconds later.

Hoisington controlled its own fate after calling a timeout with 13 seconds to play. Coach Kyle Haxton Drew up the right play, leaving Jason Robinson underneath the basket with a good look. Bearcat freshman Cooper McGowan was big late, including a game-saving block on Robinson’s shot to force overtime.

Both teams led in the first overtime, but it was Haxton’s tip-in off an inbounds play with 23 seconds left that forced double overtime. There, the Cards got a quick baseline jumper from junior Tony Moore and never looked back. Haxton was hot behind the arc early with a pair of treys in the first 90 seconds, but his effort at the line late in the game iced the win and gave him 17 points on the night. Moore added 14 points and nine rebounds, and senior Chase Steinert finished with 10 points and five boards.

Cravens finished with 17 points to lead Ellsworth, and also grabbed five rebounds. Junior Layton Leiker added nine points, and McGowan grabbed nine rebounds, including many late, to go with his five points.

Ellinwood 49, Pratt 38

A rematch of last year’s Winter Jam championship in which Pratt won, the Greenbacks were on point to hand Ellinwood its first loss of the season with a 23-16 advantage at the half. The Eagles threw on a zone defense and got 25 points from senior Britton Dutton to avenge last year’s loss.

“We went to a 2-3 zone three times in the second half out of timeouts: to start the half, the third during a timeout, just because (Pratt coach Chris Battin) does a good job running sets out of timeout,” said Ellinwood coach Derek Joiner. “We just saw how much trouble that gave them, and we got ahead by 10 with four or five minutes to go, so we knew it would just take them longer to score against the 2-3, so we just stuck with the 2-3 the last four or five minutes.”

Coming out of the half, Dutton scored a pair of quick baskets, then picked up assists to Parker Scheck and Koy Behnke. Drew Heinz added a trey in the mix as part of a 20-4 Eagle run that extended into the fourth quarter.

Dutton scored the first seven Ellinwood points, then went 11-of-12 from the stripe in the final frame for his 25 points. Behnke and Heinz each added eight points, and Behnke also grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Carson Hoeme paced Pratt with 13 points. Tayt Myers scored nine points, and Max Younie and Noah Riley each scored six points.

Copyright 2023 Catch it Kansas. All rights reserved.