BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
CLAFLIN — St. John’s Cole Kinnamon was smoking hot from the 3-point line.
So hot, he drilled five in a row to spark a stunning 15-point outburst on five trips down the court. By the time Kinnamon’s outburst was done, the Tigers led 52-22.
Kinnamon finished with eight 3-pointers and 26 points as No. 1 ranked Class 2A St. John overpowered No. 7-ranked Central Plains 62-31 in Tuesday’s non-league basketball showdown. The Oilers swept four games from St. John last year after the Tigers had won three consecutive state basketball championships.
Kinnamon credited his teammates for the scoring outburst. The Tigers (5-0) drilled 10 of 15 from long range to shoot 67 percent.
“Once I hit my second one, my teammates get an excellent job getting me the basketball again,” he said. “It was one of those nights where I got it going.”
The Oilers played the Tigers even in the first quarter, leading 7-5 after they scored three baskets. But the Tigers ended the period on a 11-0 scoring burst keyed by four points and an assist by Chase Fisher in an 11-point effort.
The Tigers attacked the offensive boards for seven second-chance points to spark 13-4 run for a 29-11 lead midway in the second period. Six Tigers scored in the quarter.
“We’ve got some players who can shoot the basketball and tonight they knocked them down,” said St. John coach Clint Kinnamon. “We showed really good balance and everyone was contributing.”
The Tigers dominated every category. They controlled the boards at both ends and got the Oilers out of their game with a physical defensive style.
Jorge Calleros led the defensive charge by holding Oiler leading scorer Alex Hickel to 4 of 13 shooting and 12 points, seven below his average.
“My goal was to contest every shot and make him work hard for everything he hot,” Calleros said. “I didn’t want him to get anything easy. Our defense was really good tonight.”
Oiler Devin Ryan added 10 points, but it was a struggle scoring inside against a physically tough Tiger team.
“We got in some early foul trouble, dug ourselves a hole and never found our offensive rhythm tonight,” said Central Plains coach Brett Rolfs. “St. John did exactly what we knew they were capable of. They played an outstanding game.”
Rolfs was dismayed by the lack of defensive discipline that created some early foul issues.
“That comes down to discipline and we didn’t show that,” he said.
The Oilers (4-1) captured the Russell Tournament title last week. They play Larned at home Friday.
TIGERS 62, OILERS 31
SJ 16 17 21 8 — 62
CP 7 10 8 6 — 31
SJ—Cole Kinnamon 9-15 0-0 26; Jorge Calleros 3-5 1-2 7; Braden Witt 0-1 0-0 0; Eddy Calleros 2-3 0-0 6; Quincy Smith 1-4 0-0 2; Alexis Valenzuela 1-1 2-4 4; Mason Osborne 1-1 0-0 2; Triston Long 2-3 0-1 4; Chase Fisher 4-8 3-4 11; Joel Ibarra 0-1 0-0 0; ; Tanner Halling 0-2 0-0 0; Kevin Neri-Leon 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 23-45 6-11 62.
CP—Alex Hickel 4-13 3-4 12; Devin Ryan 4-8 0-0 10; Brett Liebl 2-4 3-3 7; Collin Schlochtermeier 0-4 0-0 0; Bryce Miller 1-7 0-0 2; Lawson Oeser 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 11-37 6-7 31.
3-point goals—SJ 10-15 (Kinnamon 8-11, E. Calleros 2-2, Fisher 0-1, Neri-Leon 0-1),
CENTRAL PRAIRIE BOYS
Ness City 2-0 6-0
St. John 0-0 6-0
Otis-Bison 0-0 5-0
CPlains 0-0 5-1
Macksville 0-1 3-2
Ellinwood 0-0 3-2
LaCrosse 0-0 3-3
Victoria 0-0 0-5
Kinsley 0-1 0-6
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Central Plains 66, Larned 54
Ellinwood, Ellis, ppd.
Macksville 97, Stafford 43
Ness City 85, Kinsley 13
Otis-Bison 55, LaCrosse 52
St. John 85, Cunningham 11
CENTRAL PRAIRIE GIRLS
Kinsley 1-0 4-2
Macksville 1-0 3-2
CPlains 0-0 6-0
Otis-Bison 0-0 5-0
St. John 0-0 3-3
LaCrosse 0-0 2-4
Victoria 0-0 0-5
Ellinwood 0-0 0-5
Ness City 0-2 2-4
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Central Plains 62, Larned 31
Cunningham 45, St. John 29
Ellis, Ellinwood, ppd.
Kinsley 43, Ness City 33
Macksville 62, Stafford 42
Otis-Bison 52, LaCrosse 47
