BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Central Plains Oiler Peyton Ryan was spectacular with 23 points, five rebounds and three steals. Ryan drilled a 35-footer among seven 3-pointers. Aiden Hekele made his first varsity 3-pointer, then made another. Joel Schreiber banked in a 2-pointer.
That's the good news.
The bad news was defending Division 2 state champion Hanover overwhelmed the Oilers 84-43 in Wednesday's 1A Division 2 state basketball opener at the Kirkman Center.
Hanover (15 of 43) and Central Plains (11 of 34) combined for what's believed to be a single game state record 77 3-pointers. Ryan converted 7 of 13-pointers. Hanover's Keagan Dimler converted 9 of 21 3-pointers, one off the state record (10) shared by Hillsboro's Craig Duerksen (1992) and Hutchinson Central Christian's Elias Butterfield (2017).
Hanover's Joshua Zarybnicky scored 24 points and Emmitt Jueneman scored 11 points, highlighted by a slam dunk. The Wildcats came after the Oilers in waves, sprinting to a 15-0 lead that became 23-7 after one quarter. The Wildcats scored 45 points on 3-pointers and 34 points on 2-pointers.
Ryan led the Oilers (4-19) to three consecutive postseason wins over Tescott, Wilson and Centre for a 1A substate championship. He continued his late-season surge with another solid offensive game.
"It was fun to play at state and enjoy that experience with my teammates," Ryan said. "I was making my 3s tonight and that makes it more fun. I like my teammates a lot. We had a tough year. But Hanover shoots it very well."
Oiler coach Bryce Steiner was proud his team continued to fight and keep their enthusiasm at a state level. The Oilers maintained their determination to play their best despite the impossible odds. It was the Oilers' fifth state trip as a consolidated school.
"It's been wild. Our guys enjoyed this state experience and played hard basketball for four quarters," said Steiner. "They played their hearts out. Up 30, down 30, these guys play the same way."
That being said, Steiner was impressed with the height, speed and athleticism of Hanover.
"Hanover was as good as advertised," he said. "They stepped up and did what they had to do. They shot more 3-pointers than normal. They made a bunch of them."
BUCKLIN 67, CALDWELL 45 — Bucklin's Scott Price scored 23 points and Jaron Lindsay (12) and Andrew Bowman (10) scored in double figures as the Red Aces trumped Caldwell 67-45.
Central Plains 7 11 11 14 — 34
Hanover 23 22 24 15 — 84
CENTRAL PLAINS (4-19)—Peyton Ryan 8-18 0-0 23, Hekele 2-9 2-4 8, Klima 1-4 0-0 2, Bunch 1-3 0-0 3, Stratmann 1-11 0-0 3, Schreiber 2-5 0-0 4, Freis 0-1 0-0 0, Frost 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 15-51 2-4 34.
HANOVER (22-1)—Dimler 9-21 0-0 27, Zarybnicky 10-14 1-1 24, Jueneman 5-11 1-2 11, Stallbaumer 1-5 2-2 4, Doebele 1-7 0-0 2, Meyer 0-1 0-0 0, Graff 3-4 0-1 6, Behrends 1-2 0-0 3, Brigham Bruna 1-3 0-0 3, Chase Bruna 1-5 1-2 4, Totals 32-73 5-8 84.
3-pointers—CP 11-34 (Ryan 7-13, Hekele 2-7, Bunch 1-3, Stratmann 1-10, Klima 0-1); H 15-43 (Dimler 9-21, Zarybnicky 3-3, Behrends 1-2, B. Bruna 1-2, C. Bruna 1-5, Meyer 0-1, Stallbaumer 0-2, Doebele 0-3, Jueneman 0-4). Rebounds—CP 25 (Ryan 5, Schreiber 5); H 53 (Stallbaumer 10). Assists—CP 12 (Stratmann 4); H 21 (Dimler 5). Steals—CP 5 (Ryan 3); H 13 (Jueneman 5).
Caldwell 12 11 13 9 — 45
Bucklin 14 16 19 18 — 67
CALDWELL (16-8)—Risley 9-16 -2 20, Smith 5-15 2-3 13, Thompson 1-9 2-2 5, Clark 1-6 1-2 3, Newell 1-4 0-0 2, Schmidt 1-3 0-0 2, Totals 18-53 7-9 45.
BUCKLIN (18-5)—Price 9-25 1-2 23, Lindsay 5-9 2-2 12, Andrew Bowman 4-10 2-3 10, Nathan Bowman 2-10 0-0 5, Stimpert 2-6 0-0 4, Stein 2-3 0-0 4, Cook 1-1 2-2 5, Kirk 1-3 1-2 4, Totals 26-67 8-11 67.
3-pointers—C 2-11 (Thompson 1-3, Smith 1-4, Clark 0-1, Risley 0-3), B 7-35 (Price 4-16, Cook 1-1, Kirk 1-3, N. Bowman 1-9, Lindsay 0-1, A. Bowman 0-3). Rebounds—C 34 (Smith 9), B 45 (A. Bowman 8). Assists—C 7 (Smith 3, Risley 3), B 19 (N. Bowman 5). Steals—C 12 (Risley 4), B 12 (Cook 4).
