By Buddy Tabler
Special to the Tribune
PRATT — Despite a huge height disadvantage the Larned boys controlled the tempo of the basketball game in the first half at Pratt Thursday evening, limiting the Greenbacks to a 27-20 halftime advantage. The first quarter showed only one field goal by each team. Pratt made 9 of 11 free throws and Larned converted 9 of 12.
However, Pratt increased the tempo in the second half and raced away to a 64-34 victory and moved into the substate finals Saturday evening against the Nickerson Panthers who surprised Haven 58-49.
Larned coach Jerrod Smith said, “We wanted to control the tempo, the pace of the game and take good shots. We didn’t want to get into a running game with Pratt. We did a good job of that in the first half but it got away from us in that second half.”
Pratt, behind the all-around play of senior Samson Kohman, outscored Larned 20-10 in the third stanza to grab a commanding 47-30 lead. They continued that dominance in the fourth quarter, outscoring Larned 17-4.
Pratt’s height advantage, featuring four players at 6-foot-4 and one at 6-6, keyed a huge rebounding advantage which ultimately led to a lot of second-chance points and runouts for fast break opportunities. Pratt blocked 10 Larned shots in the contest.
The Greenbacks were balanced in their scoring attack, keyed by Kohman’s 12 points. Travis Theis added 10 while Devan Stephens, Noah Meyers and Traik Peltier contributed nine apiece. Pratt made 10 of 13 free throw attempts as they improved their season record to 16-5.
The struggling Larned offense was led by senior Mason Schartz with 20 while Dalton Bright added 6. The Indians were 13 of 16 from the charity stripe. Larned finishes the season with a 4-17 record with three of those losses coming at the hands of Pratt.
• NICKERSON 58, HAVEN 49 — Nickerson avenged an early-season 14-point loss with a surprising 58-49 semifinal victory over Reno County rival Haven. Austin O’Toole scored 20 points and Jared Petz added 17 points.
PRATT 64, LARNED 34
Larned 5 15 10 4 — 34
Pratt 10 17 20 17 — 64
LARNED—Mason Schartz 6 4-4 20; Jon Herter 1 0-2 3; Dalton Bright 0 6-8 6; Thomas Harmon 0 1-2 1; Perez 1 0-0 2; Damontay Phillips 0 2-2 2; Totals 8 13-18 34.
PRATT—Kohman 4 4-4 12; Theis 4 0-0 10; Stephens 3 3-5 9; Studer 2 0-0 5; Bolen 1 0-0 3; Roadhouse 1 0-0 3; Peltier 4 1-2 9; Stegman 2 0-0 4; Totals 24 10-13 64.
NICKERSON 58, HAVEN 49
Nickerson 15 10 18 15 — 58
Haven 14 15 7 13 — 49
NICKERSON—Austin O’Toole 7 5-7 20; Jared Petz 7 2-6 17; Austin Engelland 2 4-4 9; Peyton Kuhns 0 2-4 2; Braden Stewart 0 1-2 1; Hunter Jones 0 0-2 0; 20 15-26 58.
HAVEN—Nathan Rohling 4 3-3 11; Thane Unruh 3 1-3 7; Kai Pierce 3 1-3 7; Kaleb Dale 1 0-0 3; Ezra Ezell 1 0-0 2; Hendrixson 2 1-2 5; Luke Wells 3 0-0 8; Aaron Yoder 2 2-2 6; Totals 19 8-13 49.
CLASS 4A-DIV. 2 BOYS
SATURDAY’S SUBSTATE FINALS
ANDALE—Wichita Collegiate 20-1 vs. Andale 19-2
CARBONDALE—Topeka Hayden 15-6 vs. Osawatomie 11-10
CONCORDIA—Smoky Valley 14-7 vs. Concordia 7-14
GIRARD—Baxter Springs 15-6 vs. Frontenac 13-8
MERIDEN—St. George-Rock Creek 17-4 vs. Holton 15-6
PARSONS—Burlington 16-5 vs. Parsons 10-11
PRATT—Pratt 16-5 vs. Nickerson 9-12
SCOTT CITY—Holcomb 20-1 vs. Scott City 13-8
CLASS 4A-DIV. 2 STATE—Emporia, White Auditorium, March 8-11
