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St. John boys blow away Eagles in 69-44 triumph
Prep basketball
spt kp St J b Reyes
Tigers guard Zuriel Reyes puts up a layup against Ness City. - photo by Kevin Price Great Bend Tribune

ST. JOHN — The St. John-Hudson High School Tigers — top-ranked in Class 1A in the lastest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association rankings — can put up points fast.
Friday night’s basketball game gave them a chance to showcase just how fast they can be, as they ran up 31 points in the first eight minutes on their way to a 69-44 victory over Ness City, the No. 3-ranked team in 2A.
“That’s the difference between this team and the teams of the last few years,” St. John head coach Clint Kinnamon said. “We can score the ball faster. When Ethan (Long) does what he did tonight, attack the basket and make some shots, that really makes us tough because then we’ve got the other four guys who are going to score pretty consistantly.”
In an 11-1 run that took less than two minutes, the Tigers took a commanding lead.
Spencer Nusser started things off on with a pair of free throws and a pair of layups. Kade Kinnamon found Zuriel Reyes open in the left corner for a 3-pointer, and Dean Wade grabbed an offensive rebound and put in a shot for two points.
“(Spencer) had 19 at the half,” Clint Kinnamon said. “Zuriel had 13, and Kade had 10 at the half. That really helps when we have so many who can score.
“When we’ve had games where one of those guys don’t play real well, and then the others come pick it up.”
The Eagles hit a series of 3-pointers early on to try to keep up with St. John, but the Tigers led 31-16 after the first quarter.
“I’ll tell you what, they made some shots in the  first half,” Clint Kinnamon said. “The difference between their shots and our shots was our shots were pretty much open first half. They hit some contested stuff. I’ll give them credit.”
St. John led 51-32 at halftime, and coasted to the win.
“It’s hard to keep the intensity like that up,” Clint Kinnamon said. “Our intensity level was good first half. They played well first half. We played well first half, and neither one of us played very well second half.”
Nusser finished the first quarter with 13 points, and scored 22 points.
Reyes also scored 22 points, going 4-for-8 from the 3-point range.
Kade Kinnamon finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

BOYS

At St. John

Friday

St. John 69, Ness City 44
NESS CITY
    Dalton Gantz 6-13 7-9 22, Pedro Flores 0 1-2 1, Matthew Fank 1-3 0-0 3, Wyatt Beckman 0-2 1-2 1, Koltyn Ratliff 2-7 0-0 5, Garrett Flax 3-9 2-4 10, Tucker VonLehe 0-5 0-0 0, Will Frusher 1-3 0-0 2, Kyle Harris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-45 11-17 44.
ST. JOHN (8-0)
   Kade Kinnamon 4-6 2-4 12, Trey Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Omar Ramirez 0-1 0-1 0, Francisco Calleros 0 1-2 1, Spencer Nusser 8-13 5-6 22, Ethan Long 3-4 0-0 6, Dean Wade 3-10 0-0 6, Zuriel Reyes 9-16 0-0 22. Totals 27-51 8-13 69.
Ness City    16  16    8   4  —  44
St. John      31  20   12  6  —  69
    Three-point goals — St. John 7-16 (Reyes 4-8, Kinnamon 2-4, Nusser 1-1, Nelson 0-1, Long 0-1, Wade 0-1); Ness City 7-19 (Gantz 3-6, Fank 1-2, Ratliff 1-6, Flax 2-3, VanLehe 0-2). Total fouls — St. John 14; Ness City 14. Fouled out — None.