GENE KEADY CLASSIC
BOYS
Spearville 67, Hoisington 45
State-ranked Spearville set up an early-season showdown with defending state champion St. John with a dominating 67-45 victory over Hoisington at the Gene Keady Classic.
Nathan Stein (15), Kaden Stein (12) and Like Heskamp (11) all scored in double figures for the Royal Lancers.
Spearville led 19-3 in the first quarter and outscored the Cardinals 38-25 in the second half.
Seth Owen led the Cardinals with nine points and Tyler Specht added eight points. Hoisington (0-2) plays Kiowa County at 4 p.m. Thursday.
“Spearville is a talented team that is well coached and deserving of their ranking,” said Hoisington coach Kyle Haxton. “We did not do anything to help our own cause tonight. I was disappointed we did not improve our weakest areas, which were turnovers and knocking down open shots. We shot a poor percentage and our shot selection was a big part of that.”
During stretches, the Cardinals played some quality minutes. After trailing 19-3, the Cardinals rallied with a 15-3 stretch in the second quarter.
“I was pleased with that stretch,” Haxton said. “We took care of the ball and got good shots within the offense.”

SPEARVILLE 67, HOISINGTON 45
Spearville                            19 10 23 15 – 67
Hoisington                           5  15 10 15 – 45
Spearville—N. Stein 15, Kaden Stein 12, Heskamp 11, Ratzlaff 7, Kyler Stein 4, Kliessen 7, Kistler 8, Knight 3.
Hoisington—Seth Owen 9, Tyler Specht 8, Grant Dolechek 5, Brad Reif 5, Corbin Crawford 5, Brenner Donovan 5, Steffan Dolechek 4, Christopher Wright 4.

St. John 74, Kiowa County 30
Defending Gene Keady Classic champion St. John roared past Kiowa County 74-30. All-stater Dean Wade scored 21 points and Cole Kinnamon scored 17 points with a pair of 3-pointers.
The Tigers led 27-7 after one period and 45-14 at halftime.
The top-ranked Tigers will play Spearville at 4 p.m. Friday in a matchup of state-ranked Class 2A state powers.

ST. JOHN 74, KIOWA CO. 30
Kiowa County                      7   7   12 4 — 30
St. John                              27 18  22 7 — 74
Kiowa County—Davis 11, F. Cuevas 7, Odle 5, Sears 4, McVey 2, H. Cuevas 1.
St. John—Dean Wade 21, Cole Kinnamon 17, Jacob Milton 10, Gerardo Calleros 4, Quincy Smith 5, Ryan Woodward 2, Alexis Valenzuela 1, Triston Long 4, Sammy Ramirez 2, Mario Ibarra 2, Chase Fisher 3, Jeremy Crockett 3.

GIRLS
St. John 45, Kiowa County 21
Tara Christie scored 18 points and Bailey Burns chipped in 14 points to spark St. John’s girls past Kiowa County 45-21 in the Gene Keady Classic.
St. John plays Hoisington in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinals.

ST. JOHN 45, KIOWA CO. 21
Kiowa County                        4   6  2  9 – 21
St. John                                10 16 12 7 – 45
Kiowa County—Heft 8, Powell 4, Zenger 4, West 2, Ballard 2, Lingafelter 1.
St. John—Tara Christie 18, Bailey Burns 14, Brandt Hansen 5, Ashlyn Fisher 3, Tara Nelson 3, Teresa Christie 2.

Hoisington 38, Spearville 34
Hoisington outscored Spearville 13-9 in the final period for a 38-34 hard-fought victory over the Royal Lancers Thursday. The game was tied 25-25 after three periods. The Cardinals play St. John in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinals.  
Sophomore Emma Harmon drilled four 3-pointers and scored 16 points to pace the Cardinals (1-1). Harmon scored 13 second-half points. Rylie Koester added 10 points. The Cardinals scored 24 points in the second half.


HOISINGTON 38, SPEARVILLE 34
Hoisington                             9 2 11 13 — 38
Spearville                               2 8 15  9 — 34
Hoisington—Emma Harmon 16, Rylie Koester 10, Karisa Schremmer 5, Jocelynn Pedigo 3, Marisa Jonas 4.
Spearville—B. Offerle 10, Ratzlaff 7, C. Offerle 6, Hornung-Hecke 4, Kistler 3, Slattery 4.

AMOS-MORRIS GEORGE STEPHENS CLASSIC
Central Plains girls 67, Ellsworth 23 — The defending state champion Central Plains girls rolled past Ellsworth 67-23 to reach Friday’s semifinals matchup against Ell-Saline at the Russell Amos Morris George Stephens Classic.
The Lady Oilers’ Taylor Rolfs led all scorers with 23 points.

Central Plains boys 63, Ellsworth 33 — The Central Plains Oilers roared past Ellsworth 63-33 to qualify for Friday’s 5:30 p.m. semifinals against Phillipsburg.
Michael Ryan scored a game-high 33 points for the Oilers.