BY BUDDY TABLER

Special to the Tribune

ST. JOHN — The Nickerson Panthers rode the hot shooting of Hunter Jones to a 53-47 upset of the cold-shooting Larned Indians in Thursday’s Midwinter Classic consolation game.

Jones opened the game with a long 3-pointer and never let up as he finished with a game-high 28 points. Jones hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter for a 16-11 lead. Spurred by an aggressive an effective trapping defense, Larned trailed 23-20 at halftime on 8 of 29 shots while Nickerson converted 8 of 18 shots and getting to the free throw line consistently.

Larned coach Jerrod Smith bemoaned the shooting woes. Nickerson converted 17 of 33 field goals and 15 of 22 free throws. Larned made 19 of 62 field goals and 4 of 7 free throws. Nickerson committed 27 turnovers, usually enough to ensure victory.

Larned was paced by Chance Sanger’s 19 points. Brayden Rupp and Mason Perez scored nine apiece. Larned (6-4) plays for seventh place at 3 p.m.Saturday.

“We really struggled with our shooting tonight," Smith said. " We wanted to speed the game up, which we did, but it also got us to taking shots way too soon, rushing our shots, and missing them.”

Nickerson outscored Larned 16-12 in the third stanza for a 39-32 lead after leading by as many as 11 points. Larned’s aggressive defense took its toll on Nickerson as the turnovers mounted. The Indians pulled within two points, but Larned struggled to convert shots.

“Our defense was very good tonight," Smith said. "We got what we wanted, but couldn’t buy a basket, especially going down the stretch. Give Nickerson credit. They shot it better than we did and that was the difference.”

Nickerson’s height advantage gave Larned trouble all evening. The Panthers blocked 11 shots and altered many others, contributing to the poor shooting performance .Nickerson's 6-9 Connor MacDonald contributed 15 points with eight blocked shots. The Panthers (6-6) play in the fifth-place game at 4:45 Saturday.

Nickerson 16 7 16 14 — 53

Larned 11 9 12 15 — 47

NICKERSON (6-6)—Jones 7 8-12 28, MacDonald 6 3-4 15, Nisly 2 0-0 4, Broomfield-Tate 1 2-2 4, Peterson 0 1-2 1, Crossman 0 1-2 1, Totals 16 15-22 53 

LARNED (6-4)—Sanger 8 1-2 19, Rupp 3 2-4 9, Perez 4 1-1 9, Thomas 4 0-0 8, Skelton 1 0-0 2, Totals 20 4-7 47 

WICHITA SUNRISE 75, MACKSVILLE 56 – Sunrise’s Brian Chuang scored 29 points in Thursday’s first round.

The Buffaloes (15-8) converted 15 3-point goals to outscore the Mustangs 45-6 from long range. Chuang converted nine 3-pointers.

Macksville (7-4) was sparked by Karson Waters with 22 points and Kaleb Lickiss added 17 points.

Macksville 14 8 8 26 – 56

Sunrise 18 14 23 20 – 75

MACKSVILLE (7-4)—Waters 7 8-11 22, Lickiss 7 2-2 17, Mead 4 0-0 8, Miller 1 2-2 4, Frink 2 0-0 5, Totals 21 12-15 56

SUNRISE (15-8)—Chuang 10 0-0 29, Otrieno 7 0-0 17, Edwards 2 0-0 5, Blake 1 0-0 3, Turner 1 0-0 2, Walker 3 1-2 7, Allen 4 0-0 9, Furguson 1 1-2 3, Totals 30 2-4 75

NESS CITY 77, KC CHRISTIAN 68 – John Pfannenstiel scored 25 points and Andres Rios added 21 points as the Eagles raced past KC Christian in Thursday’s first round. The Eagles outscored KC Christian 19-4 from the free throw line.

Brandon Engel led four players in double figures with 20 points.

KC Christian 20 11 15 22 – 68

Ness City 22 919 27 – 77

KC CHRISTIAN (4-4)—Engel 9 1-4 20, Tywater 6 3-4 16, Hubbel 6 0-0 13, Trujillo 6 0-0 13, Birnbaum 1 0-0 2, Spencer 2 0-0 4, Totals 30 4-9 68

NESS CITY (9-1)—Pfannenstiel 8 7-11 25, Rios 7 7-8 21, Reinardt 6 3-7 15, Seib 3 1-2 8, Angel Guzman 2 1-1 5, Buetler 1 0-0 3, E. Rodriguez 0 0-1 0, Totals 25 19-30 77