LARNED — The Macksville Mustangs used a one-two scoring punch to dethrone five-time Gene Keady champion St. John 51-38 Saturday.
Most Valuable Player Jacob Rein scored 22 points and All-Tournament Karson Waters scored a game-high 24 points to spark the Mustangs. Waters stunned the Tigers with 20 first-half points en route to a 31-14 halftime lead. The Mustangs made the extra pass and found Rein and Waters as the open shooter.
Rein took charge with 13 second-half points. He supplied the final two big shots, a score over Tiger Tanner Halling and a 3-pointer for a 47-35 lead.
“It’s a great feeling when you have two guys scoring,” Rein said. “That takes a lot of pressure off everyone.”
Macksville (3-1) beat the Tigers for the first time since Kansas State’s Dean Wade was a ninth-grader at St. John.
“It was one of our goals to beat St. John. They are our county-rivals, and it’s a good feeling to beat St. John,” Rein said. “We came out from the start and played great basketball. The start of the game was the key.”
Macksville started on fire, roaring to a 17-4 lead. The Tigers were scoreless for eight possessions until Eddy Calleros scored. The Mustangs led 31-14 at halftime behind 14 of 28 shooting with one turnover. Waters knocked down 9 of 11 field goals for 20 points. The Mustangs converted four 3-pointers.
“When those two guys are playing well, we play well,” said Macksville coach Jeff Kuckelman, who has guided the Mustangs to a pair of state basketball titles. “They are a big key for us.”
The Mustangs outhustled and outworked the Tigers the first half. The Mustangs dominated the boards 35-22, a rare sight for St. John coach Clint Kinnamon, who had won the past five Gene Keady titles.
“Give a lot of credit to Macksville. They beat us to every loose ball and rebound that first half,” Kinnamon said. “We played soft that first half.”
The Tigers’ refocused behind 6-7 Tanner Halling, who worked for 17 points and several second-chance points against hard-working Kaleb Lickiss. Eddy Calleros scored 10 points. But the Tigers made 3 of 19 3-pointers from the perimeter. Halling and Quincy Smith earned All-Tournament honors.
Kinnamon saw a promising second half without leading scorer Chase Fisher, who was sidelined with a leg injury. Kinnamon hopes he’s back for Tuesday’s showdown against Central Prairie League rival Central Plains High School. The Tigers forced 11 second-half turnovers against Macksville.
“Tanner Halling is improving. He’s coming along. We competed much better the second half,” Kinnamon said. “Credit to Macksville. They shot the ball really well. That was a team that hadn’t shot the ball well from the perimeter.”
CHAMPIONSHIP
St. John 4 10 12 10 — 38
Macksville 13 18 7 13 — 51
ST. JOHN—Witt 0-3 0-2 0, Calleros 4-15 0-2 10, Smith 2-12 3-6 5, McVey 0-1 0-1 0, Osborne 1-7 1-2 4, Tanner Halling 7-9 3-3 17, Totals 14-47 7-15 38.
MACKSVILLE—Waters 11-14 0-2 24, Rein 9-16 2-2 22, Parr 0-5 0-0 0, Mead 1-1 2-2 4, Lickiss 0-6 1-2 1, Totals 21-42 2 5-8 51.
3-point goals—SJ 3-19 (Calleros 2-8, Smith 0-3, McVey 0-1, Witt 0-1, Osborne 1-6), M 4-12 (Rein 2-5, Waters 2-2, Lickiss 0-2, Parr 0-3).
ALL TOURNAMENT
MVP—Jacob Rein, Macksville; Karson Waters, Macksville; Kreed Parr, Macksville; Quincy Smith, St. John; Tanner Halling, St. John; Damontay Phillips, Larned; Mason Perez, Larned; Nathan Monday, Ellinwood; Kolby Stein, Spearville; Mason Haxton, Hoisington; Taylor Odle, Kiowa County
3RD PLACE
Hoisington 11 18 7 9 — 47
Larned 20 19 7 16 — 63
HOISINGTON—Nicholson 2 2-2 7, Brewer 2 0-2 5, Xavier Robinson 0 3-5 3, Haxton 2 3-5 7, Woydziek 4 2-5 11, Prosser 2 0-0 5, Donovan 2 4-5 9, Totals 14 14-24 47.
LARNED—Sanger 1 3-4 6, Perez 2 2-6 6, Phillips 3 1-3 7, Smith 1 0-2 3, Skelton 4 1-2 12, Harmon 6 3-5 18, Castro 4 2-3 10, Barger 0 1-3 1, Totals 21 13-28 63.
7TH PLACE
Ellinwood 10 9 4 11 — 38
Kinsley 4 8 6 15 — 33
ELLINWOOD—Hammeke 8 4-8 20, Mcfarren 2 0-2 4, Robl 1 2-2 4, Knop 1 0-0 2, Wondra 0 0-2 0, Monday 3 2-6 8, Totals 15 8-20 38.
KINSLEY—Kellen Herrman 4 0-0 10, Bryce Herrmann 2 4-6 8, Gerhardt 1 0-0 2, Sexton 0 0-2 0, Hirsh 3 4-7 10, Haynes 1 0-0 3, Totals 11 8-15 33.
