HOLCOMB BOYS 64, LARNED 36
HOLCOMB – Defending 4A state champion Holcomb overpowered Larned 64-36 in Saturday’s 4A Holcomb basketball substate championship.
Holcomb’s 6-foot-9 Kobe Dickson powered for 27 points, 18 by halftime. Devin Mader added 15 points. Holcomb (21-1) led 27-13 at halftime. The Longhorns made 23 of 44 field goals.
Larned (10-12) was led by Brock Skelton with 11 points. Mason Perez and Keelan Castro added seven points apiece. The Indians made 13 of 47 field goals.

The Longhorns earned their fourth state berth in five years. The defending state champions have captured two of the past three titles. The win sets up the state’s top team (21-1) to defend its title and potentially claim its third crown in four years.

Dickson had 17 of his 25 game-high points, along with six of his nine rebounds, in a first half that wasn’t what they had designed.“We had to come together at halftime as a team and get straight what we were doing,” Dickson said. “We were all trying to do our own thing in the first half, so we just played more as a team in the second half.”

LARNED (10-12)-- Sanger 2 0-0 5, Perez 3 0-0 7, Skelton 3 4-4 11, Castro 3 0-2 7, Schmidt 1 0-2 2, Fletcher 1 1-2 4. Totals 13-47 5-8 36.

HOLCOMB (21-1)--Tichenor 1 0-0 3, Crain 2 0-0 4, Mader 4 1-1 11, Gilbert 3 3-4 9, Blackburn 1 1-3 4, Cornelsen 1 1-2 3, Leyva 1 0-0 3, Kepley 1 0-0 2, Dickson 10 3-10 25. 24-47 11-19 64.

Larned 9 4 12 11 — 36

Holcomb 14 13 18 19 —64

4A STATE, EMPORIA WHITE AUDITORIUM

THURSDAY'S GAMES

3 p.m.--Andale (19-2) vs. Smoky Valley (14-7)

4:45 p.m.--Marysville (18-3) vs. Topeka Hayden (15-7)

6:30 p.m.--Holcomb (21-1) vs. Frontenac (11-11)

8:15 p.m.--Parsons (16-6) vs. Garnett Anderson Co. (15-7)