BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
LARNED 58, ST. JOHN 45 – With three players scoring in double figures, the Larned Indians cruised past St. John 58-45 in the St. John Mid-Winter Classic.
Larned (4-7) was led by the ball-hawking and scoring of guard Brady Hope with 19 points. Easton Fitzpatrick scored 12 and Cade Colglazier 11. Ty Smith came off the bench to provide the Indians with a strong rebounding and defense. The Indians made 23 of 40 field goals for 57%.
“Our defense was as good as we’ve played," said Larned coach Luke Steinlage. "We had a few lapses, but I liked our effort. Our defense got some turnovers and that resulted in some easy baskets."
Scrappy St. John made 15 of 35 field goal attempts for 42%. The Tigers were led in scoring by Quade Smith with 14. Marco Ibarra scored 11 while Alan Valenzuela added six points.
Larned jumped out to a 16-9 first quarter lead and managed a 7 to 14 point lead for most of the game. A strong rebounding effort by Larned produced a number of easy baskets for the Indians.
Behind Brady Hope’s 10 first-half points, the Indians grabbed a 29-20 halftime advantage that they extended to 43-32 entering the fourth quarter. St. John hit two consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 7 but the Indians recovered and pulled away over the final minutes.
Fourth-seeded Larned will meet top-seeded Macksville in a semifinal game on Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm.
Larned 16 13 14 15 – 58
St. John 9 11 12 13 – 45
LARNED (4-7)—Hope 9 0-2 19, Fitzpatrick 5 2-3 12, Colglazier 5 3-4 13, Reynolds 4 0-0 9, Ty Smith 0 4-6 4, Lemuz 0 1-2 1, Totals 23-40 10-17 58
ST. JOHN (3-8)—Smith 5 4-5 14, Marco Ibarra 4 0-0 11, Valenzuela 1 3-4 6, Alpers 2 0-0 5, Reyes 2 0-0 5, Portillo 1 0-2 2, Adame 0 1-2 1, Angel Ibarra 0 1-3 1, Totals 15-35 9-16 45
3-pointers—L 2 (Hope 1, Reynolds 1); SJ 6 (M. Ibarra 3, Alpers 1, Reyes 1, Valenzuela 1)
WICHITA INDEPENDENT 67, NICKERSON 52 – Alex King scored 16 points to lead the Nickerson Panthers in scoring for the third consecutive game at the St. John Mid-Winter Basketball Classic. King converted five field goals and five free throws. The Panthers (1-10) play Central Plains Thursday at 7:30 and play Saturday in the final round.
Christian Dean led Wichita Independent with 19 points.
Nickerson 6 16 13 17 – 52
Independent 22 14 12 19 – 67
NICKERSON (1-10)—King 5 5-6 16, Taylor Engelland 3 2-4 8, Brawner 2 2-2 7, Wakefield 3 0-0 6, Ortiz 2 1-2 5, Morrell 2 1-3 5, Starnes 2 1-2 5, Totals 19 12-19 52
INDEPENDENT (10-1)—Dean 9 1-6 19, Casanova 4 0-2 9, Beadles 4 0-0 11, Jensen 1 0-0 2, Dennis 1 1-1 3, Harris 6 0-1 12, Combs 2 2-2 7, Philips 1 0-0 2, Merrill 1 0-0 2, Totals 29 3-12 67
3-pointers—N 2 (King 1, Brawner 1); I 5 (Beadles 3, Casanova 1, Combs 1)
MACKSVILLE 55, MINNEAPOLIS 47 – Macksville’s Rogelio Ibarra scored 19 points and Ryan Kuckelman added 13 points. Lance Lickiss chipped in eight points, 11 rebunds and four assists at the St. John Tournament.
Macksville 12 13 22 8 – 55
Minneapolis 10 12 12 13 – 47
MINNEAPOLIS (0-11)—Scott 7 2-2 18, Rice 2 0-0 4, Nelson 1 0-0 2, Just 4 0-0 10, Parks 1 0-0 2, Smith 2 1-2 5, Krueger 2 2-2 6, Totals 19 5-6 47
MACKSVILLE (10-1)—Rogelio Ibarra 6-18 3-6 19, Kuckelman 6-10 1-4 13, Barron 3-9 2-2 8, Guevara 0-1 0-1 0, Lickiss 4-9 0-1 8, Esparza 1-12 1-2 4, Gomez 1-3 1-2 3, Portillo 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 21-63 8-18 55
3-pointers—Minn. 4 (Scott 2, Just 2); M 5-22 (R. Ibarra 4-12, Esparza 1-6, Gomez 0-1, Barron 0-3). Rebounds—M 40 (Lickiss 11). Assists—M 16 (Lickiss 4). Steals—M 9 (R. Ibarra 3)
WICHITA SUNRISE 44, CENTRAL PLAINS 30 – Central Plains Oiler Peyton Ryan scored 17 points in a hustling effort at the St. John Tournament.
Central Plains 3 10 9 8 – 30
Sunrise 14 5 11 14 – 44
CENTRAL PLAINS (3-7)—Peyton Ryan 2 13-16 17, Stratmann 2 0-0 4, Hekele 2 1-2 5, Klima 0 0-2 0, Daniels 2 0-3 4, Totals 8 14-23 30
SUNRISE (8-3)— Huntunoglu 4 0-0 11, Yuan 2 2-2 6, Thompson 3 0-0 6, Wade Keller 0 0-3 0, Schmidt 1 0-0 2, Jonah Keller 1 0-0 2, Roberts 1 0-0 2, Ebarts 1 0-0 3, Silva 4 2-5 11, Gu 0 1-2 1, Totals 17 5-9 44
3-pointers—WS 5 (Huntunoglu 3, Ebarts 1, Silva 1)
ST. JOHN BOYS TOURNAMENT
MONDAY—Macksville 54, Minneapolis 47, Wichita Sunrise 44, Central Plains 30
TUESDAY—Wichita Independent 67, Nickerson 52; Larned 58, St. John 45
THURSDAY—Minneapolis vs. St. John, 4:30; Central Plains vs Nickerson, 7:30
FRIDAY—Macksville vs. Larned, 4:30; Wichita Sunrise vs. Wichita Independent, 7:30
SATURDAY—1ST—7 p.m.; 3RD—4 p.m.; 5TH—1 p.m.; 7TH—10 a.m.
