BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
ST. JOHN — Behind excellent guard play by Larned’s guards, Mason Schartz and Dalton Bright, the Indians jumped on Wichita West early and often, racing to a 17-7 first quarter lead which led to a Larned victory, 67-52 for seventh place in the St. John Mid-Winter Classic.
The Indians were in attack mode against the man-to-man defense of the Pioneers, frequently cutting to the basket for easy layups as they extended their margin to 36-23 at halftime. Finally Wichita West shifted to a 2-3 zone in an attempt to slow down the Indians but not much worked for the Pioneers on this night that they committed 19 turnovers.
“I was really pleased with our guards tonight,” said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. “I have encouraged them to be more offensive minded and, tonight, they were. That’s big for us. When they score, we’re a lot better basketball team.
The Pioneers, from the Wichita City League, found the going tough against the smaller city teams in the St. John Mid-Winter Classic as they dropped all three of their games. With the victory, Larned garnered seventh place in the tournament.
Wichita West was led in scoring by Alante French with 15 points. Corey Anderson-Haynes added 14 and Robert Barnes 7 and 7 rebounds. The Pioneers committed 19 turnovers with several of those converted into easy baskets by Larned.
Larned improved to 3-10 on the season with the victory. They were led in scoring by the guards, Dalton Bright with 17 and Mason Schartz with 15. Jonathan Herter added 10 and 6 rebounds. The Indians were 14 of 23 from the charity stripe and held their turnovers to 14 for the game.
LARNED 67, WEST 52
West 7 16 10 19 – 52
Larned 15 21 14 17 – 67
WEST—Anderson-Haynes 4-15 4-4 14; French 5-9 4-6 15; McGehee 1-3 0-2 2; Mboob 1-3 1-2 3; McPherson 1-6 2-2 5; Brazil 0-2 1-2 1; Barnes 3-8 1-1 7; Gascon 1-4 0-0 2; Jones 1-6 0-2 3; Porter 0-1 0-0 0; Watson 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 17-58 13-21 52.
LARNED—Bright 5-9 6-6 17; Schartz 5-11 2-2 13; Perez 2-4 0-0 4; Herter 4-4 2-4 10; Sanger 4-10 0-2 10; Harmon 1-4 0-4 2; Barger 2-3 0-0 4; Massey 1-2 2-2 5; Mead 0-1 2-4 2; Orth 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 24-53 14-23 67.
ALL TOURNAMENT
Most Valuable Player—Cole Kinnamon, St. John; Chandler Stiawalt, Ness City; Devin Brown, Ness City’ Samson Kohman, Pratt; Jacob Rein, Macksville
MID-WINTER CLASSIC
1st—Ness City 59, St. John 56
3rd—Pratt 52, Central Plains 45
5th—Macksville 69, Nickerson 60
7th—Larned 67, Wichita West 52
FRIDAY
St. John 51, Pratt 34
Ness City 52, Central Plains 46
Nickerson 61, Larned 59
THURSDAY
Central Plains 60, Nickerson 37
Ness City 64, Larned 46
Macksville 79, Wichita West 56
TUESDAY
St. John 57, Wichita West 20
Pratt 50, Macksville 40
