BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
ST. JOHN — St. John High School basketball coach Clint Kinnamon enjoys when his team is tested. The Tigers have captured three state basketball championships during the past four seasons.
The Tigers expect a challenge Friday when No. 2 ranked Class 2A Ness City (7-0, 2-0 CPL) visits in an early-season showdown. The No. 1 ranked Class 2A Tigers (7-0, 1-0 CPL) have thrived in their second year without Kansas State starter Dean Wade. The Tigers have outscored their opponents by an average score of 72-24.
‘It’s fun scouting well-coached teams that run good plays,” said St. John coach Clint Kinnamon. “Our starters are excited because they’ll earn more minutes in a game like this. Ness City is a very talented basketball team with good athletes. They are an excellent offensive rebounding team. Our big guys, Chase Fisher and Triston Long, are looking forward to that challenge.”
Ness City’s best athlete is 6-foot-3 Chandler Stiawalt, a Class 1A high jump champion with slam dunking skill. Christian Scheopner (6-6) is Ness City’s other key inside player.
“Chandler is a dangerous scorer off the bounce with good speed and athleticism,” Kinnamon said. “Without a doubt, he’s one of our league’s best basketball players.”
Tiger defensive specialist Jorge Calleros draws the key defensive assignment against Stiawwalt.
“Jorge is a solid defensive player who will work for good position and challenge every shot and box his guy out,” Kinnamon said. “Stiawalt will score points, but we want him to shoot a low percentage. Defensively, we’ve played fairly well so far.”
Kinnamon said Ness City’s quick-shooting style offers promise for a fast-paced showdown. Point guard Cole Kinnamon (17 ppg), Chase Fisher (12 ppg) and Jorge Calleros (10 ppg) lead the Tigers, who feature a strong bench. The Tigers are shooting 56 percent, 36 percent on 3-pointers.
“We’ve love to get their big guys in foul trouble,” Kinnamon said. “They shoot the basketball really quick at times. We like the way our bench players have performed this season. We want everyone contributing.”
St. John’s girls (3-4, 0-1 CPL) feature high-scoring Tara Nelson and Bailey Burns against Ness City (2-5, 0-2 CPL).
ST. JOHN (7-0)
Skyline 82-25
Kinsley 103-6
Macksville 65-49
Spearville 47-36
C. Plains 62-31
Cunningham 85-11
Kinsley 57-13
NESS CITY (7-0)
Macksville 70-43
No. Valley 69-45
LaCrosse 82-41
Oakley 69-21
Hodgeman Co. 64-36
Kinsley 85-13
Ellis 60-31
CENTRAL PRAIRIE BOYS
Ness City 2-0 7-0
St. John 1-0 7-0
Otis-Bison 0-0 6-0
CPlains 0-0 5-2
Macksville 0-1 4-2
Ellinwood 0-0 3-3
LaCrosse 0-0 4-3
Victoria 0-0 0-6
Kinsley 0-2 0-7
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Ellis 59, Ellinwood 49
St. John 57, Kinsley 13
Otis-Bison 63, Stafford 41
Plainville 65, Victoria 19
LaCrosse def. Western Plains
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Kinsley at Cunningham
Macksville at Central Plains
Ness City at St. John
Otis-Bison at Victoria
CENTRAL PRAIRIE GIRLS
Kinsley 2-0 5-2
Macksville 1-0 3-3
CPlains 0-0 7-0
Otis-Bison 0-0 6-0
LaCrosse 0-0 3-4
Victoria 0-0 0-6
Ellinwood 0-0 0-6
St. John 0-1 3-4
Ness City 0-2 2-5
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Ellis 53, Ellinwood 50
Kinsley 58, St. John 53
Otis-Bison 57, Stafford 16
Plainville 53, Victoria 18
LaCrosse def. Western Plains
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Kinsley at Cunningham
Macksville at Central Plains
Ness City at St. John
Otis-Bison at Victoria
CENTRAL PRAIRIE
Macksville (4-2, 0-1 CPL) heads to No. 9 Class 2A Central Plains (5-2) for an entertaining shootout with the Mustangs featuring several 3-point shooters. The Central Plains girls (7-0) are poised to repeat as league champions behind Emily Ryan, Janae Ryan, Cassidy Crites and Kylee Kasselman.
The No. 2 Class 1A-Div. 2 Otis-Bison boys (6-0) journey to Victoria (0-6) and the No. 9 Class 1A-Div. 2 Cougar girls (6-0) will play Victoria (0-6) to start CPL play.
WESTERN ATHLETIC
The Great Bend girls (4-2, 1-0 WAC) travel to Garden City (3-4) seeking a road sweep after beating defending league champion Dodge City 52-37 Tuesday. Guard Carly Brack scored a career high 27 points against Dodge City.
The Great Bend boys (1-5, 0-1 WAC) pushed Dodge City in a 49-40 loss with a brilliant seven-minute stretch that sliced a 15-point lead to 42-40. Garden City (1-6) is energized by a 58-39 victory over Hugoton.
CENTRAL KANSAS
Hoisington’s boys (2-4, 1-0 CKL) travel to Kingman (3-4, 1-0 CKL) with a chance to start 2-0 in league play. The Cardinal girls (2-4, 1-0) started with a 47-43 victory over Lyons, but No. 4 Class 3A Kingman (7-0, 1-0 CKL) is the CKL favorite behind Sydney Bangert and Bailey Bangert.
Larned (2-5, 0-1 CKL) heads to No. 9 Class 2A Hillsboro (6-1, 1-0 CKL) to face a red-hot Trojan team. Larned’s girls (2-5, 0-1) face an evenly matched Hillsboro team (3-4, 0-1 CKL).
SOUTHERN PLAINS IROQUOIS
The Pawnee Heights boys (6-1, 1-1) will play at home against Ashland (3-5, 0-3) and the Tiger girls (1-6, 0-2) will play Ashland (1-7, 0-3) in what should be a tightly contested contest.
