ST. JOHN BOYS MIDWINTER CLASSIC
MONDAY—St. John 60, Reno County 29; Larned 69, Central Plains 31
TUESDAY—Wichita Sunrise 54, Reno County 16; Macksville (6-4) vs. Nickerson (0-9)
THURSDAY—Wichita Sunrise (9-2) vs. St. John (4-7), 4; Nickerson (1-9) vs. Larned, 8
FRIDAY—Macksville (6-5) vs. Central Plains, 8
SATURDAY—5th—Reno County vs. G7 winner—noon; 3rd—4; 1st—8
NICKERSON 60, MACKSVILLE 54
ST. JOHN — Macksville's Ryan Kuckelman converted a free throw for overtime, but previously winless Nickerson earned a 60-54 victory in Tuesday's Midwinter Basketball Classic.
Nickerson's Phillipe Manga scored 28 points and converted a slam dunk and 3-point play for a 53-52 lead. Kuckelman sank a free throw for overtime. Raef Tatro hit a 3-pointer and Brayden Miller converted a rebound basket for a 57-53 lead.
Kuckelman led Macksville with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Cleven Huggins scored 14 points. Alexix Barron grabbed 10 rebounds.
Macksville 8 10 14 18 2 — 54
Nickerson 12 4 13 23 8 — 60
MACKSVILLE (6-5)—Kuckelman 8-18 6-10 22, Huggins 4-14 6-10 14, Rogelio Ibarra 3-6 3-5 11, Alexis Barron 2-11 0-1 6, Alvaro Ibarra 0-1 1-2 1, Lickiss 0-1 0-0 0, Seward 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 17-47 16-28 54
NICKERSON (1-9)—Manga 7 9-10 28, Tatro 4 1-2 13, Miller 3 1-6 8, Garcia 0 1-2 1, Fast 1 2-2 4, Bell 2 0-0 4, Broomfield-Tate 1 0-0 2, Totals 19 14-22 60
3-pointers—M 4-10 (R. Ibarra 2-2, Barron 2-7, A. Ibarra 0-1), N 8 (Tatro 4, Manga 3, Miller 1). Rebounds—M 41 (Kuckelman 13). Assists—M 15 (Lickiss4, Barron 4).
WICHITA SUNRISE 54, RENO COUNTY 16
ST. JOHN — Marco Moreau scored 17 points as Wichita Sunrise sped past Reno County Home School in Tuesday's Midwinter Basketball Classic.
Reno County 0 6 5 5 — 16
Sunrise 16 19 15 4 — 54
RENO COUNTY (2-12)—Miller 2 4-6 8, Wilson 1 0-2 3, Henderson 1 0-0 3, Spexarth 1 0-0 2, Totals 5 4-8 16
SUNRISE (9-2)—Moreau 7 1-1 17, Mikhailou 4 1-2 9, Lopera 3 0-0 6, Williams 3 0-1 6, Edward 2 1-2 5, Beougher 2 0-0 4, Jackson 2 0-0 4, Hart 1 1-2 3, Totals 24 4-8 54
3-pointers—RC 2 (Henderson 1, Wilson 1), S 2 (Moreau 2)
ST. JOHN GIRLS MIDWINTER CLASSIC
MONDAY—Central Plains 57, Reno County Home School 40
TUESDAY—St. John 49, Larned 20
THURSDAY—Central Plains (8-2) vs. Larned (2-8)
FRIDAY—St. John (6-5) vs. Reno County Home School (3-8), 6
SATURDAY—Larned vs. Reno County Home School, 2; Central Plains vs. St. John, 6
BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
ST. JOHN — St. John's girls opened the game with a lot of full-court defensive pressure and rode it to an 11-3 first-quarter edge as they defeated Larned 49-20 in Tuesday’s Midwinter Classic.
St. John made 17 of 40 field goals for 42% and converted 7 of 12 free throws. Payton Meyer scored 11. Kaylynn Claussen Bailee Hudson each scored nine points and eight points from Zayreli Reyes and Darby Smith.
St. John (6-5) plays Reno County Friday.
Larned’s Akielah Collins scored six points and Cadee Upson added four. Larned (2-8) play No. 1 1A Central Plains Thursday.
Larned made one first-quarter shot as St. John was building their lead. Turnovers by Larned and excellent rebounding by St. John spurred the Lady Tigers to a 27-9 halftime lead as St.John got off 25 field goal attempts to Larned's 10.
At halftime Larned made three field goals as they trailed by 18.
"We were stagnant on offense and sometimes the shots were there but we didn't take them,” said Larned coach Ashley Crosby. Their aggressive defense sped us up and we forced things too much."
St. John made six three-point shots in the second half as they found the range from outside.
"In the second half we got the shots we wanted but they just wouldn't go in,” Crosby said.
Larned made 7 of 30 shots for the game for 23%.
Larned 3 6 2 9 – 20
St. John 11 16 11 11 – 49
LARNED (2-8)—Collins 2 2-2 6, Tapia 1 0-0 2, Pinkston 1 1-2 3, Herrera 1 0-2 2, Meyer 1 0-0 3, Upson 2 0-0 4, Totals 8 3-6 20
ST. JOHN (6-5)—Meyer 4 1-2 11, Smith 2 3-4 8, Fisher 2 2-2 7, Claussen 4 1-2 9, Hudson 2 0-2 6, Reyes 3 0-0 8, Totals 17 7-12 49
3-pointers—L 1 (Meyer 1), SJ 8 (Hudson 2, Meyer 2, Reyes 2, Smith 1, Fisher 1)
