CENTRAL PLAINS GIRLS 58, MACKSVILLE 30 – All-stater Brynna Hammeke scored 23 points and Marilyn Soeken dominated inside for 20 points as Central Plains cruised past Macksville 58-30 in the 1A Little River basketball substate. The Oilers’ aggressive defense produced turnovers and kept Macksville’s offense off balance.
The No. 2 ranked Oilers (17-4) have won a state record 53 consecutive postseason games. The No. 2 ranked Oilers have captured eight consecutive state basketball titles under coach Pat Stiles.
Macksville (11-10) was led by Mayce Russell with 10 points.
Macksville 5 6 10 9 – 30
C. Plains 16 21 14 7 – 58
MACKSVILLE (11-10)—Russell 4 1-3 10, Ortiz 1 3-8 5, Palser 1 2-2 4, Sanders 1 1-2 3, Laney Butler 1 0-3 2, Maria Garcia 1 0-0 2, Joselin Garcia 1 0-1 2, Adams 1 0-0 2, Totals 11 7-19 30
FAIRFIELD (17-4)—Hammeke 9 2-2 23, Soeken 6 7-9 20, Ogle 1 0-0 2, Kempke 1 0-1 2, Metro 1 0-0 3, Donecker 1 3-6 5, Foulger 1 0-0 3, Totals 20 12-18 58
3-pointers—M 1 (Russell 1), CP 6 (Hammeke 3, Soeken 1, Metro 1, Foulger 1)
ST. JOHN GIRLS 58, FAIRFIELD 43 – The St. John Tigers have waited a year to get another shot to upset No. 1 ranked Little River. The Tigers (14-7) rolled past Langdon-Fairfield 58-43 Thursday to earn a rematch with Little River after losing 40-39 in last year’s 1A substate championship. Little River’s Eliana Eck scored 16 points.
Sparkplug Heidi Fisher scored 23 points and Lydia Reed added 13 points as the Tigers dominated the inside game. The Tigers’ pressure defense converted several Falcon turnovers into transition scores.
The Tigers and Falcons each converted five 3-pointers. Fairfield (15-6) was paced by Erin Schwertfeger and Yesenia Espinosa with 10 points.
St. John 16 16 13 13 – 58
Fairfield 8 12 10 13 – 43
ST. JOHN (14-7)—Heidi Fisher 8-16 3-8 23, Reed 4-11 5-7 13, Meyer 4-9 0-0 9, Bonner 3-5 2-2 8, Portillo 1-4 1-3 3, Averi Fisher 1-2 0-0 2, Gracia 0-1 0-0 0, Rickenbach 0-0 0-2 0, Totals 21-47 11-21 58
FAIRFIELD (15-6)—Schwertfeger 4-7 1-2 10, Espinosa 3-9 2-2 10, Marissa Pugh 2-7 2-4 7, Smyth 1-6 4-5 6, Combs 3-8 0-3 6, Martinez 1-1 0-0 3, Mikalya Pugh 0-5 1-2 1, Bangston 0-0 0-1 0, Totals 14-43 10-20 43
3-pointers—SJ 5-15 (H. Fisher 4-7, Meyer 1-4, Bonner 0-1, Portillo 0-3); F 5 (Espinosa 2, Schwertfeger 1, Martinez 1, Marissa Pugh 1)
1A DIV. 1 LITTLE RIVER GIRLS—St. John 58, Fairfield 43; Pretty Prairie 73, Pratt Skyline 35; Central Plains 58, Macksville 3-2—Little River 19-1 vs. St. John 14-7, 7:30; Pretty Prairie 19-2 vs. Central Plains 17-4, 6
CENTRAL PLAINS 64, PRETTY PRAIRIE 57 – The Central Plains trio of Peyton Ryan (22), Daniels (13) and Evan Stratmann (12) scored in double figures as the Oilers held off Pretty Prairie 64-57 in the Little River 1A basketball substate. The Oilers (9-12) play Macksville (18-2) March 3.
The Oilers converted 21 of 29 free throws. Pretty Prairie’s Blake Stucky scored 18 points and the Bulldogs made eight 3-pointers.
Pretty Prairie 12 6 19 20 – 57
Central Plains 14 13 15 22 – 64
PRETTY PRAIRIE (8-13)—Stucky 5 4-4 18, Steadman 6 1-2 13, Bowers 4 0-0 11, Rogers 2 2-2 6, White 1 2-2 5, Stauffer 0 0-2 0, McGinnis 0 1-2 1, Colton 1 1-1 3, Totals 19 11-16 57
CENTRAL PLAINS (9-12)—Peyton Ryan 6 8-14 22, Daniels 5 3-3 13, Stratmann 3 3-4 12, Hekele 4 2-2 10, Klima 1 3-4 5, Hurley 0 2-2 2, Totals 19 21-29 64
3-pointers—PP 8 (Stucky 4, Bowers 3, White 1); CP 5 (Stratmann 3, Klima 2)
LITTLE RIVER 57, ST. JOHN 21 – Little River’s Braxton Lafferty (18) and Logan Renken (15) scored in double figures as the Redskins converted eight 3-pointers for a 47-21 substate victory over St. John. The Redskins (16-5) play Skyline (14-7) March 3.
St. John (4-17) was paced by Quade Smith with 11 points and a pair of 3-pointers.
St. John 3 6 3 9 – 21
Little River 13 13 9 22 – 57
ST. JOHN (4-17)—Smith 4 1-2 11, Adame 2 0-1 5, Marco Ibarra 1 0-0 3, Portillo 1 0-0 2, Totals 8 1-3 21
LITTLE RIVER (16-5)—Lafferty 7 2-4 18, Renken 6 0-0 15, Cox 3 0-0 8, Olander 3 1-1 7, Robinson 1 0-0 3, Mantz 1 0-0 2, Rylin Konen 2 0-0 4, Totals 23 3-5 57
3-pointers—SJ 4 (Smith 2, M. Ibarra 1, Adame 1); PP 8 (Renken 3, Lafferty 2, Cox 2, Robinson 1)
1A DIV. 1 LITTLE RIVER BOYS—Central Plains 64, Pretty Prairie 57; Little River 57, St. John 21; Pratt Skyline 53, Fairfield 38, Fairfield; 3-3—Macksville 18-2 vs. Central Plains 9-12, 6 p.m.; Little River 16-5 vs. Skyline 14-7, 7:30
CHASE GIRLS 39, OTIS-BISON 38 – They’ll be talking about the 3-pointer that Chase senior Alexis Donovan converted for years. Donovan drilled a 3-pointer for a thrilling 39-38 1A Ransom regional victory over Otis-Bison. Otis-Bison nearly rallied from a 36-30 deficit when Lela Kenyon converted back-to-back baskets after Zoey Schwindt hit a rebound basket for a 36-36 tie.
But Donovan hit the game-winner for a 39-36 lead. Kenyon hit a 2-pointer just a shade inside the 3-point line for a 39-38 final. Chase’s Haylee Miller scored 20 points.
Otis-Bison’s Destiny Mitchell scored 12 points and Abigail Rodriguez hit 10 points and two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
It marked the second postseason basketball victory for legendary Chase basketball coach Mike Marzolf.
Otis-Bison 4 6 8 20 – 38
Chase 12 7 10 10 – 39
OTIS-BISON (2-19)—Lumpkins 1 0-0 3, Schwindt 1 4-8 6, Mitchell 5 1-4 12, Kenyon 3 0-0 6, Rodriguez 4 0-2 10, Marissa Reeves 0 1-4 1, Totals 14 6-18 38
CHASE (3-18)—Donovan 1 1-2 4, Meyeres 3 1-3 7, Miller 9 0-7 20, Antuna 1 0-0 2, Herrera 3 0-2 6, Totals 17 2-14 39
3-pointers—OB 4 (Rodriguez 2, Lumpkins 1, Mitchell 1) C 3 (Miller 2, Donovan 1)
WESTERN PLAINS GIRLS 35, STAFFORD 21 – The Ransom-Western Plains girls outlasted Stafford 35-21 in a 1A Div. 2 Ransom basketball substate.
Kalihan Flax scored 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers and Madelyn Kraus added eight points. Stafford's Taylor Denio scored 11 points and Lucy Miralles added 10 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
Stafford 3 5 4 9 – 21
Western Plains 7 9 12 7 – 35
STAFFORD (0-21)–Denio 5-18 1-2 11, Miralles 3-16 4-6 10, Hearn 0-2 0-0 0, Reed 0-2 0-0 0, Green 0-2 0-0 0, Schrag 0-4 0-0 0, Totals 8-44 5-8 21
WESTERN PLAINS (5-15)–Flax 6 0-0 14, Kraus 4 0-0 8, Kisslinger 2 3-6 7, Payne 1 1-2 3, Strickler 1 0-0 3, Totals 14 4-8 35
3-pointers–S 0-13 (Miralles 0-1, Hearn 0-2, Denio 0-10); WP 3 (Flax 2, Strickler 1). Rebounds–S 34 (Miralles 15); WP 21 (Cuesta 8). Assists–S 5 (Miralles 3). Steals–S 3 (Reed 1, Miralles 1, Schrag); WP 8 (Kraus 5)
1A DIV. 2 RANSOM GIRLS—Chase 39, Otis-Bison 38; Western Plains-Healy 35, Stafford 21; 3-2—Wilson 14-6 vs. Chase 3-18, 6 p.m.; Pawnee Heights 7-13 vs. Western Plains-Healy 5-15, 7:30
OTIS-BISON 42, WESTERN PLAINS 35 – Otis-Bison’s Hayden Morrison (13) and Kelson Juno (12) scored in double figures as the Cougars delivered a postseason surprise for the second consecutive year under coach Curtis Little. Lander Blackburn added eight points. The Cougars (2-19) play Pawnee Heights (14-6) March 3 at Ransom.
Nick Roemer scored 17 points and David Perez added 14 points, but the Bobcats made 1 of 11 free throws.
Otis-Bison 9 13 9 11 – 42
W. Plains 11 8 6 10 – 35
OTIS-BISON (2-19)—Kelson Juno 6 0-0 12, Morrison 5 1-1 13, Blackburn 3 2-3 8, Maier 1 1-2 3, Eston Junto 1 1-2 4, Riley Polly 1 0-0 2, Totals 17 5-8 42
WESTERN PLAINS (7-14)—Roemer 8 1-8 17, Perez 7 -1 14, Burrell 1 0-0 2, Gonzalez 1 0-2 2, Totals 17 1-11 35
3-pointers—OB 3 (Morrison 2, E. Juno 1)
1A DIV. 2 RANSOM BOYS—Wilson, Chase; Otis-Bison 42, Western Plains-Healy 35; 3-4—Stafford 15-5 vs. Wilson 8-13, 6 p.m.; Pawnee Heights 14-6 vs. Otis-Bison 2-19, 7:30
