HOISINGTON — Cody Stetler, a 6-foot-8 center for Hoisington High School’s boys’ basketball team, was dominant under the basket against Victoria on Friday night.
Stetler, who was playing in his second game since returning from a foot injury, pumped in a game-high 22 points to lead Hoisington over Victoria 65-51 in a semifinal game of the Hoisington Winter Jam.
“I thought we played as a team a lot better than we played Tuesday night,” Stetler said. “We came together and played four quarters really hard. Our bench really stepped it up when they came in and played. You really couldn’t tell our starters from our bench players, and that’s what coach wanted.”
Hoisington, which is ranked No. 7 in Class 3A in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll, didn’t make a 3-pointer in the game but made up for it with a number of shots in the paint, something Cards head coach Kyle Haxton said he talked to his team about before the game.
“Our focus was execution and getting back to the basics and playing team basketball,” Haxton said. “Not that we were being overly selfish before, but it’s getting high-percentage shots. Our percentages have been low. We’ve talked about why they were low. We were taking some similar shots, but a lot more contested than they were at the beginning of the year.
“When we execute, it is a lot more fun to coach and a lot more fun for the team as well.”
Hoisington started a 12-2 run to make it 14-4 with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter, a lead Victoria recovered from.
Anthony Broeder got the Cardinals started with a layup. Stetler followed with a power move under the basket for two points. Stetler then picked up his second foul at the 6:19 mark in the first quarter and came out of the game.
Sam Ottley then scored two points for Victoria.
Broeder, who finished with game with 13 points, scored a basket, and Ryan Becker, Trent Schremmer and Derrick Kaiser each scored buckets to close the run.
Kaiser finished with 10 points.
Stetler scored six points in the second quarter and 10 in the third to lead Hoisington to a 50-29 lead after 24 minutes.
“I have no idea what his stats were, but he was solid,” Haxton said of Stetler. “He kept the ball high for the most part when he got the ball inside. We were looking to get it to him the other night, but out passes were difficult passes to handle. We had turnovers instead.
“Tonight, we were making that extra pass to make it an easier post entry, and we did a better job handling ball pressure, too. That resulted in him getting better looks.”
The Cardinals made 7 of 7 free throws in the fourth quarter to maintain their lead.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
 
At Hoisington
 
BOYS
 
Friday
 
Hoisington 65, Victoria 51
VICTORIA (6-5)
     Corey Dinkel 4 3-6 13, Conner Gagnon 2 0-0 4, Sam Ottley 2 0-0 4, Bryan Dome 0 2-2 2, Clayton Roth 1 2-4 4, Dalton Dreiling 1 2-2 5, Lane Braun 2 2-2 8, Tanner Hobbs 1 4-4 7, Phillip Nowak 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 15-20 51.
HOISINGTON (8-2)
     Trent Schremmer 1 0-2 2, Cody Stetler 9 4-5 22, Ryan Becker 1 2-2 4, Brooks Linsner 2 1-1 5, Jeffrey Kaiser 0 2-2 2, Anthony Broeder 4 5-6 13, Taylor Crawford 2 1-2 5, Derrick Kaiser 3 4-4 10, Zach Gaddis 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 19-24 65.
Victoria            8  11  10  22  —  51 
Hoisington     16  17  17  15  —  65 
     Three-point goals — Victoria 6 (Dinkel 2, Braun 2, Hobbs, Dreiling); Hoisington (none).