LARNED—In a fast and well-played game Friday the No. 2 3A Halstead boys did what good teams do – make a fourth-quarter comeback to win a basketball game.
The Dragons, who trailed by 10 points in the third quarter, used clutch shooting and Larned turnovers to rally past the Indians 61-49 for a Central Kansas League victory.
Larned was paced by Keelan Castro with a strong inside game and 17 points. The three-point shooting of Chance Sanger added 11 points. The shooting proficiency of Larned fell off in the second half. Larned made 17 of 40 shots and 6 of 9 from the charity stripe. Larned (6-9, 2-4 CKL) travels to Hoisington Tuesday for a key CKL game.
“Hey, I was really pleased with our effort,” said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. “Halstead is a very good team and we took them to the wire. If we play with that effort and defensive intensity, we can play with anybody.”
Halstead (13-2, 5-0 CKL) plays at Kingman on Tuesday. The Dragons were led by Braden Gerber’s strong 26 points. Kason O’Neal added 14 points. The Dragons were a solid 15 of 26 shooting and 18 of 23 free throws.
Larned, behind a strong man-to-man defensive effort jumped out to a 14-8 first-quarter lead that was still at 27-25 at halftime. Halstead battled 11 first-half turnovers.
In the third quarter Larned surged to a ten-point lead but the Dragons quickly erased that and by the end of the third quarter had knotted the game at 42.
The decisive fourth quarter was about Larned turnovers and clutch shooting by Halstead as they made 9 of 13 second-half shots. A close game was broken open with 2:09 left in the game when Halstead’s Kason O’Neal broke loose for a basket and converted a 3-point play at the charity stripe for a seven-point lead.
The Dragons converted 18 of 23 free throw attempts and the lead ballooned to the final margin of 61-49.
HALSTEAD 61, LARNED 49
Halstead 8 17 17 19 – 61
Larned 14 13 15 7 – 49
HALSTEAD (13-2)—Gerber 9 6-8 26, O’Neal 5 4-6 14, Dalton Kraus 2 2-2 7, O’Brien 2 3-4 7, Kaden Kraus 0 3-4 3, Bohling 1 0-0 2, Siebel 1 0-0 2, Totals 20 18-24 61.
LARNED (6-9)—Castro 6 5-7 17, Sanger 4 0-1 11, Barger 2 2-2 7, Skelton 2 2-4 7, Perez 1 2-2 4, Phillips 1 0-0 2, Harmon 0 1-2 1, Totals 16 12-18 49.
CKL BOYS
Halstead. 5-0 13-2
Hesston. 5-1 12-3
Hillsboro. 4-1 12-3
Kingman. 4-2 8-7
SValley... 3-3 9-7
Haven..... 2-3 8-7
Hoisington... 2-3 6-9
Pratt....... 2-3 6-9
Larned.... 2-4 6-9
Lyons..... 1-4 2-13
Nickerson.... 0-6 3-11
FRIDAY
Kingman 49, Lyons 42
Haven 65, Ellinwood 27
Hoisington 58, Nickerson 52
Hesston 72, Smoky Valley 70
Halstead 61, Larned 49
Pratt 61, Hillsboro 55 (OT)
