PRATT—The Larned Lady Indians are winners of the Pratt Tournament of Champions for the third, and final time, as they edged by the Ulysses Tigers here Saturday afternoon 41-36. Larned had previously won the tournament in 1995 and 1996, and now in 2017. It is the final time this tournament will be played, at least for the near future, as play will not resume in 2018.
The Indians looked like they were going to run the Tigers out of town as they raced to a 16-4 first quarter lead. They went on a 10-0 run to close out the quarter, keyed by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by senior Kelsey Parr. However, the Indian offense would stall in the second and third quarters as they would net only 6 points in each quarter as Ulysses edged closer and closer, spurred by the inside play of 6-2 sophomore Riley Oglevie. Larned would hold a slim 22-19 lead at halftime.
The two teams struggled to score in the third quarter and Larned ended the third stanza with an even slimmer lead, 28-26. Ulysses would go on to tie the game several times in the fourth quarter but the Indians, behind a stingy defense and some timely free throw shooting opened a lead that would vary from 3 to 6 points in the fourth quarter.
Larned’s Kelsey Parr hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to help hold off the surging Tigers, as Larned would score 13 fourth quarter points to net the championship trophy. The two teams were nearly even in turnovers and free throws. Larned made 10 of 16 free throws and Ulysses 10 of 15.
Larned coach Ashley Crosby stated, “I am so happy for the girls. They kind of lost their poise a little there in the second and third quarters but when it mattered, they had the will and determination to win it. This is a big win for us and something that I think will spur us on into the rest of this season.”
The 6-2 Oglevie led Ulysses with 10 points and 8 rebounds while the Tigers’ leading scorer, Gina Ballesteros, was held to 9 points as the Tigers season record fell to 8-6.
Larned improved to 7-6 on the season and was led by senior Kelsey Parr with 14 points as she hit 3 three-pointers. Haley Skelton chipped in with 8 points. Larned will travel to Nickerson on Tuesday for a Central Kansas League game.
Ulysses 4 15 7 10 — 36
Larned 16 6 6 13 — 41
ULYSSES—Ballesteros 3 1-2 8; Castilleja 2 2-4 6; Oglevie 5 0-1 10; Raines 0 2-2 2; Edwards 2 2-2 2; Ysac 1 0-0 3; Gomez 1 3-4 5; Totals 12 10-15 36.
LARNED—Parr 3 5-6 14; Skelton 4 0-1 8; Muldrow 2 1-3 5; Smith 1 2-2 4; Fischer 1 0-0 2; Clark 1 0-0 2; Perez 0 0-1 0; Butler 2 0-0 4; Totals 14 10-15 41.
