BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
LARNED -- The Larned boys shocked Southeast of Saline with 24 first quarter points on their way to a 70-45 thrashing that advanced the Indians to semifinal action on Thursday at the 3A Halstead substate.
Larned’s Dillan Smith poured in 9 first quarter points and Chance Sanger 16 first half points as the quick Indians swarmed all over the Trojans defensively, sprinting to a 24-14 first quarter lead and a 40-21 halftime margin. The hot shooting Indians made 55% of their first half shots, including four three-pointers. Larned forced 9 first half turnovers as the up-tempo pace seemed to bother the Trojans.
Larned’s hot shooting was 27 of 49 for 56%. Sanger scored 18 points while Andreus Tucker added 13 and Brock Skelton 11.
“We got off to a good start. We shot the ball well but, more importantly, we defended extremely well," said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. "We got them frustrated as they could not run their offense and get the shots they wanted. We had some guys who were a little under the weather but they played through it.”
The third quarter was the only period in which the Trojans seemed comfortable in the game as they outscored Larned 14-9 but still trailed 49-35. At one point Southeast of Saline cut the deficit to 10.
The slumbering Larned offense and outscored the Trojans 21-10 in the final period.
“Yeah, that was my fault," Smith said. "I told the guys at halftime to maybe walk the ball down the floor some but it didn’t work. These guys need to run!”
Southeast of Saline (14-7) made 18 of 46 shots for 39%. Camden Spano-Lund scored 17 points and 6-4 freshman Eli Sawyers added 12 and Eli Harris 6.
Larned advances to a Thursday 6 p.m. rematch with Hesston at Halstead. The Indians lost a one-point nailbiter to the Swathers in February.
SE Saline 14 7 14 10 — 45
Larned 24 16 9 21 — 70
SE SALINE—Spano-Lund 6 0-0 17, Sawyers 5 2-3 12, Harris 3 0-0 6, Gerhardt 2 1-2 5, Eklund 1 0-0 3, Banks 1 0-0 2, Totals 18 3-5 45.
LARNED (15-6)—Sanger 7 0-1 18, Tucker 6 1-2 13, Skelton 5 0-0 11, Smith 4 1-1 9, Perez 3 0-2 7, Crosby 2 1-1 5, Orth 1 0-0 3, McNett 1 0-0 2, Stelter 0 2-2 2, Totals 29 5-11 70.
3-pointers—SE 6 (Spano-Lund 5, Eklund 1); L 7 (Sanger 4, Orth 1, Perez 1, Skelton 1).
