LARNED — Somehow, some way, the Larned Indians gutted out an exhausting 2-point win in overtime 61-59 over the Halstead Dragons.
Larned’s Isiah Perez drove down the lane and deftly passed to Trevor Meyer who hit a short base-line jumper for a 61-59 lead with eight seconds left. Halstead missed a 3-point shot at the final buzzer.
“I am so proud of these kids,” said Larned coach Don Zimmerman. “We had a short bench due to injury and illness. A few guys had to play a lot of minutes. These guys are great competitors. It was a gutty win on a night when we didn’t shoot the ball.”
Second-place Larned (11-4, 5-1 CKL) was led by Isiah Perez with 17 and Trevor Meyer contributed 15 and Evan Skelton 13. Pratt visiits Larned Tuesday.
Halstead held the lead until Larned’s Evan Skelton bounced in a 3-pointer for a 59-59 tie. Larned’s Trevor Meyer forced a Halstead turnover to give the Indians a shot at victory.
Regulation ended at 52-52.
It was a game of streaks and Halstead owned most of them, except for late in the fourth quarter when the Indians, spurred on by stellar defensive play, made their run that got the game tied at 52-52, necessitating some extra playing time for these two teams who gave it their all.
Larned was also having a miserable night at the free throw line and finished the game 8/16, missing numerous front ends of one and one situations.
Larned raced out to a 15-7 lead, spurred by a fast-breaking offense. Halstead outscored Larned 20-7 in the second quarter, leaving the Dragons with a 27-22 halftime lead. Halstead built a 48-39 third-quarter lead that they stretched to 11 points.
Larned rallied behind a frenetic, ballhawking defense that triggered the Indians’shooting touch.
Halstead (6-9, 3-3 CKL) was led by Tate Kaufman with 14 points and Trevor Thomas and Elijah McKee added nine apiece.

HALSTEAD GIRLS 43, LARNED 33
Larned struggled offensively as they were never able to put together double-digit scoring in any quarter. Halstead led 12-5 after one quarter and 23-12 at halftime.
Larned closed the gap to a five-point deficit at 1:35 of the third quarter, but Halstead built it back to a 10-point margin.
Halstead (5-10, 1-5 CKL) was led in scoring by Kayla Newman’s 11 points. Mackenzie Anderson added 10 points and Daphne Williams added eight.
Larned (3-12, 1-5 CKL) was led in scoring by Haley Skelton’s 12 points. Kelsey Parr chipped in eight and Ally Aldrich had 7 points and 10 rebounds. The Indians were 11 of 14 from the free throw line, but managed 22 points from the field. Pratt plays at Larned Tuesday.

BOYS
Halstead 7 20 21 4 7 — 59
Larned 15 7 17 13 9 — 61
Halstead—Kaufman 7 0-0 14; Thomas 2 4-5 9; McKee 4 0-1 9; Heimerman 2 4-4 9; Ratzlaff 3 0-0 8; Gerber 2 0-2 6; Kraus 2 0-1 4; 22 8-13 59.
Larned—Perez 8 0-0 17; Meyer 6 3-4 15; Skelton 4 3-4 13; Zimmerman 5 0-2 10; Galliart 1 2-6 4; Herter 1 0-0 2; Totals 24 8-16 61.

GIRLS
Halstead 12 11 7 13 — 43
Larned 5 7 10 11 — 33
Halstead—Newman 5 1-1 11; Anderson 4 2-6 10; Williams 3 0-0 8; Runnebaum 2 0-2 4; Matlack 1 2-2 5; Werner 1 3-6 5; Totals 16 8-17 43.
Larned—Skelton 4 3-3 12, Parr 1 5-6 8, Aldrich 2 2-2 7, Smith 1 0-1 3; Perez 0 2-2 2; Bright 0 1-2 1; Totals 8 13-16 33.