BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
ST. JOHN — Jaidyn Pinkston led 11 Larned Indians in the scoring column with 10 points as the Indians roared past Chase 73-13 in Thursday's St. John Midwinter Basketball Classic. Jadyn Crosby added nine points and Brooke Simmons, Kaylee Hagerman and Kenzie Reinert each scored eight points.
Larned made 31 of 72 shots for 43% and converted 8 of 17 free throws.
Employing a full-court pressure defense, the Lady Indians forced 21 first-quarter turnovers for a 23-0 first-quarter lead. The Indians converted those turnovers into easy baskets. Larned took off the press, but dominated 49-5 at halftime.
Chase suited five players for the game due to injury and illness among their 8-player roster. Coach Mike Marzolf has few options and had to use timeouts for rest periods. The Lady Kats never backed down though the score continued to mount and they had to play the last two minutes of the game with just four players on the floor due to an injury to Maudie Bowen.
"That was a tough game for Chase, only having five players," said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. "We wanted to make sure we played with good effort and didn’t get sloppy. We did that. Everyone played and all but one scored.”
The Lady Kats made 5 of 16 field goal attempts (32% )and were 1 of 5 from the free throw line. Chase's Riley Bowen scored five points.
Chase 0 5 6 2 — 13
Larned 23 26 16 8 — 73
CHASE (0-10)—Riley Bowen 2 0-0 5, Meyeres 1 0-0 3, Aurelia Bowen 1 0-0 2, Spangler 1 0-0 2, Maudie Bowen 0 1-5 1, Totals 5-16 1-5 13.
LARNED (4-6)—Pinkston 5 0-0 10, Crosby 4 1-2 9, Reinert 4 0-2 8, Simmons 3 1-2 8, Wachs 2 3-6 7, Wilson 3 0-0 7, Hagerman 4 0-0 8, Collins 1 3-4 5, Hemken 2 0-0 4, Holt 2 0-0 4, Reynolds 1 0-0 3, Upson 0 0-2 0, Totals 31-72 8-17 73.
3-pointers—C 2 (R. Bowen 1, Meyeres 1); L 3 (Simmons 1, Wilson 1, Reynolds 1).
NICKERSON 58, CIMARRON 52 — Nickerson's Kalyse Abernathy scored 11 fourth-quarter points to spark the Panthers past Cimarron 58-52 in the St. John Midwinter Basketball Classic. The Panthers converted seven 3-pointers to outscore Cimarron 21-15 on 3-pointers.
Abernathy (19), Adaylee Morrell (15) and Destiny Ponds (12) scored in double figures. Cimarron's Janae Fugitt scored 17 points.
Cimarron 4 17 18 13 — 52
Nickerson 13 13 15 17 — 58
CIMARRON (1-9)—Fugitt 6 2-5 17, Wilson 5 1-2 11, Taeje Eskam 3 3-4 10, Brodie Burkhart 2 0-0 5, Madilyn Burkhart 2 1-1 5, Morgan Eskam 2 0-0 4, Totals 20 7-12 52.
NICKERSON (2-7)—Abernathy 5 6-7 19, Morrell 5 3-7 15, Ponds 5 2-6 12, Ontjes 2 0-0 6, Groth 1 1-2 3, Hambrick 1 1-2 3, Totals 19 13-24 58.
3-pointers—C 5 (Fugitt 3, T. Eskam 1, B. Burkhart 1); N 7 (Abernathy 3, Morrell 2, Ontjes 2).
ST. JOHN MIDWINTER GIRLS
FINALS—1ST—St. John 63, Wichita Sunrise 59; 3RD—Central Plains 41, Macksville 30; 5TH—Larned 52, Nickerson 27; 7TH—Cimarron 77, Chase 9
SECOND ROUND—St. John 43, Central Plains 25; Wichita Sunrise 56, Macksville 41; Larned 73, Chase 13, Nickerson 58, Cimarron 52
FIRST ROUND—St. John 79, Chase 6; Central Plains 31, Larned 29; Wichita Sunrise 71, Cimarron 35; Macksville 52, Nickerson 20
