ST. JOHN – Javon Reed made the game-winning free throw with three seconds left to lift Wichita West past Larned 64-63 in the St. John Mid-Winter Classic.
West’s Caleb Moore scored 32 points, including a trio of 3-pointers in the fourth period. West (1-9) outscored Larned 21-8 from the free throw line.
Larned’s Ty O’Neill drilled a game-tying 3-pointer for a 63-63 tie to rally the Indians from a seven-point deficit. Trevor Meyer paced Larned with 16 points and Tyler Stelter added 15 points.
Larned coach Don Zimmerman said the Indians’ lack of defense cost them.
“You’ve got to stay in front of them and you have to take charges when they take the ball to the basket rather than block shots,” Zimmerman said. “We got outrebounded; but we made progress in the second half.”
Larned (7-4) plays Nickerson at 4:45 p.m. Friday. A victory would push the Indians into the fifth place game against Macksville Saturday.
WICHITA WEST 64, LARNED 63
St. John Tournament
Wichita West 10 20 16 18 — 64
Larned 10 12 19 22 — 63
Wichita West — Moore 9-15 8-9 32; Reed 0-3 1-2 1, Terrell Rodriguez 4-12 5-6 15, Saunders 3-7 4-6 11, Johnson 1-5 0-0 2; Horton 0-0 3-4 3; Carpenter 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 17-44 21-27 64.
Larned — Delgado 3-3 0-0 6; O’Neill 3-4 0-0 8; Stelter 5-10 3-6 15; Galliart 3-6 2-3 8; Meyer 7-10 2-4 16; Perez 2-5 0-0 4; Skelton; 2-4 1-2 6; Zimmerman 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 25-44 8-15 63 .
Wichita West stuns Larned, 64-63
Larned plays Nickerson Friday