NICKERSON 58, ST. JOHN 46
ST. JOHN – St. John basketball coach Clint Kinnamon was sidelined with illness and so was All-Central Prairie League center Tanner Halling. Underdog Nickerson took advantage by placing four players in double figures to roar past the Tigers 58-46 in Friday's Mid-Winter semifinals. Nickerson outscored the Tigers 38-25 after halftime.
Nickerson (5-6) placed Cristian Peterson (16), Connor MacDonald (12), Logan Broomfield-Tate (11) and Carson Linn (11) in double figures. The Panthers converted a season high nine 3-pointers to outscore the Tigers 27-9 from long range. The Panthers play Larned in Saturday's championship game.
St. John (8-3) was led by Marshall Woolf with 13 points and Eli Delp added 12 points.
Nickerson 7 13 19 19 – 58
St. John 9 12 14 11 – 46
NICKERSON (5-6) — Peterson 6 1-2 16, MacDonald 5 2-3 12, Broomfield-Tate 5 0-3 11, Linn 3 2-2 11, Tatro 2 0-0 6, Crossman 0 2-2 2, Totals 21 7-12 58.
ST. JOHN (8-3) — Marshall Woolf 6 0-0 13, Delp 5 2-3 12, Fisher 2 4-6 10, Ortiz 3 0-1 6, Calleros 1 0-0 2, Toby Woolf 1 1-2 3, Totals 18 7-12 46.
3-pointers—N 9 (Linn 3, Peterson 3, Tatro 2, Broomfield-Tate 1); SJ 3 (Fisher 2, M. Woolf 1).
LARNED 75, NESS CITY 42 – Red-hot Layton Crosby scored a career high 27 points and Chance Sanger stayed smoking with 20 points and four 3-pointers.
Larned came out scoring 26 first quarter points in a 75-42 semifinal win. Larned’s full-court pressure was in high gear as the Eagles committed 16 first-half turnovers to trail 43-16 at the break.
"We really needed to get off to a quick start and we did that," said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. “Our defense was terrific tonight and, boy, Layton Crosby had a big night.”
Time-after-time, following great passes, the Indians scored easy baskets inside as they shot 53%. The Indians featured nine players scoring.
The Eagles made 15 of 35 field goal attempts and 7 of 11 free throws. Taylor Cable scored 22 points and Matt Delaney added six.
Brock Skelton and Mason Perez added 9 apiece. Larned made 33 of 62 field goal attempts.
Ness City 15 1 17 9 – 42
Larned 26 17 16 16 – 75
NESS CITY (8-4) —Cable 10 2-2 22, Delaney 2 2-2 6, Guzman 1 2-5 5, Bruntz 1 1-2 4, Jackson Seib 1 0-0 3, Stoecklein 1 0-0 2, Totals 16-35 7-11 42.
LARNED (9-2) — Crosby 12 2-3 27, Sanger 7 2-2 20, Skelton 4 0-0 9, Perez 4 1-1 9, Smith 1 0-0 2, Tucker 1 0-2 2, Upson 1 0-0 2, Tucker 1 0-2 2, Haas 1 0-0 2, Labouchardier 1 0-0 2, Totals 32-62 5-8 75.
3-pointers—NC 3 (Guzman 1, J. Seib 1, Bruntz 1), Larned 6 (Sanger 4, Skelton 1, Crosby 1).
CENTRAL PLAINS 48, KC CHRISTIAN 18 – Oiler Lawson Oeser scored a career high 21 points and drilled a trio of 3-pointers to spark Central Plains past KC Christia 48-18 in Friday's consolation game. The Oilers play Macksville in Saturday's fifth-place game.
Central Plains 6 23 12 7 — 48
KC Christian 5 2 7 4 — 18
CENTRAL PLAINS—Oeser 9 0-0 21, Bieberle 4 0-0 9, Hurley 2 0-0 5, Holmes 2 0-1 4, Kitchen 0 3-7 3, Laymon 1 0-0 2, Lamatsch 1 0-2 2, Heredia 1 0-0 2, Totals 20 3-10 48.
KC CHRISTIAN—White 3 0-0 6, Pivovar 1 0-0 3, Brannon 1 0-0 3, Allen 1 0-0 2, Price 1 0-0 2, Knernschield 1 0-0 2, Totals 8 0-0 18.
3-pointers—CP 5 (Oeser 3, Bieberle 1, Hurley 1), KC 2 (Brannon 1, Pivovar 1).
ST. JOHN MIDWINTER CLASSIC
SATURDAY—1st—Larned 64, Nickerson 50; 3rd—St. John 52, Ness City 29; 5th—Central Plais 49, Macksville 36
FRIDAY—Central Plains 48, KC Christian 18; Nickerson 58, St. John 46; Larned 75, Ness City 42
THURSDAY—St. John 50, Macksville 36; Larned 40, Central Plains 31; Ness City 58, KC Christian 44
TUESDAY—Nickerson 42, Macksville 33
