LARNED — The Larned boys forced 25 Kinsley turnovers to spark a 68-33 spanking of Kinsley for seventh-place in the Gene Keady Basketball Classic Saturday.
A fullcourt pressure defense caused 16 turnovers in the first half as Larned raced to a 39-22 lead.
The Indians’ Jonathan Herter scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first half as Larned left no doubt that they were going to win their first game of the season.
Larned coach Jerrod Smith was pleased with the win but stated, “I wasn’t happy with our handling of the ball and the lack of direction in operating our offense. It became a game of racehorse basketball and we didn’t execute our offense very efficiently.”
Kinsley settled down in the second half and limited their turnovers to nine.
“Give Kinsley credit,” Smith said. “They are very young and inexperienced, but their enthusiasm was great. They are going to get better.”
Kellen Herrmann led Kinsley with 17 points and he was supported by Bryce Sexton’s five and Alex Villa’s four.
Larned’s Mason Schartz added 16 points, Thomas Harmon 10 and Kody Meade 10. The Indians made 10 of 13 free throws.
Larned will travel to Lyons Tuesday for a Central Kansas League game.
LARNED 68, KINSLEY 33
7TH PLACE
KHS 11 11 8 3 – 33
LHS 20 19 21 8 – 68
KHS—Kellen Herrmann 7 1-2 17; Bryce Herrmann 0 2-2 2; Alex Villa 3 1-2 4; Tyler Gerhardt 1 0-0 2; Chandler Hirsh 1 1-4 3; Bryce Sexton 2 0-0 5; Totals 12 5-10 33
LHS—Jon Herter 8 4-4 21; Mason Schartz 5 4-4 16; Thomas Harmon 5 0-0 10; Colton Massey 1 0-0 3; Alex Barger 3 0-0 6; Kody Mead 4 2-4 10; Nicholas Orth 0 0-1 0; London Whittington 1 0-0 2; Totals 27 1-13 68.
ST. JOHN GIRLS 47, LARNED 43
LARNED — The St. John Tigers used key free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter to win third place over Larned in the Keady Basketball Classic Saturday 47-43.
Larned finished fourth in the Keady Classic and St.John took home the third-place trophy.
A cold-shooting Larned team stayed close with sticky defense that caused problems for the Tigers. St. John had 16 first-half turnovers as the two teams fought to a 19-19 tie.
St. John was able to carve out a 32-29 lead after three quarters and made it stand up with timely free throw shooting.
St. John made converted 16 of 32 free throws. Larned was only 10 of 22 and that was the difference in the ball game.
Larned coach Ashley Crosby was disappointed with the loss but encouraged with the enthusiasm of her ball club.
“We’re 2-2 and had our chances to be 3-1 but I am pleased with the intensity, the enthusiasm that we played with,” she said. “We got in trouble with fouls in the second half, but I was pleased with the effort by the girls that came in.”
Tara Nelson and Bailey Burns led the Tigers with 14 points apiece. Kerisa Brown had a solid defensive game and chipped in 13 points.
Larned struggled with their shooting from the field and the free throw line.
The Indians were led in scoring by Kelsey Parr with 12. Haley Skelton added nine while Bailey Ritchie had seven and Ivory Muldrow six.
Larned will travel to Lyons Tuesday for a key Central Kansas League matchup.
ST. JOHN 47, LARNED 43
3RD PLACE
SJ 7 12 13 15 – 47
LHS 11 8 10 14 – 43
SJ—Brown 4 3-6 13; Nelson 4 4-9 13; Burns 4 6-11 14; Meyer 1 0-0 2; Rodarmel 1 0-0 2; Rios 1 3-4 3; Doran 0 0-2 0; Totals 14 16-32 47.
LHS—Parr 5 0-1 12; Edgin 1 1-2 3; Skelton 2 4-4 9; Muldrow 1 4-8 6; Smithj 1 0-0 2; Butler 0 0-1 0; Perez 1 0-2 2; Clark 1 0-2 2; Ritchie 3 1-1 7; Totals 15 11-21 43.
