ST. JOHN – The St. John girls relied on a team effort to outlast Otis-Bison 36-35 to finish as the Central Prairie League runner-up. The Tigers outscored the Cougars 21-16 in the fourth quarter for a comeback victory.
Torre Fisher rescued the Tigers with the clinching free throws and seven fourth-quarter points and several steals. Erin Crissman converted four clutch free throws. Fisher and Jackie Rios ignited the rally with 3-pointers. The Tigers sparked the rally with extra possessions on a fullcourt press after shooting 1 of 15 in the third quarter to outscore the Cougars 4-2. Fisher scored 11 points and Tara Nelson added 10 points.
“We had 15 points after three quarters, but we outscored them in the third quarter,” said St. John coach Danny Smith. “It builds confidence to win a game when we didn’t play our best basketball. It was fantastic to see everyone contributing and stepping up and making plays. It was a great team win for us. That’s what we needed tonight.”
Smith said the Tigers wanted to push the Cougars into a fullcourt game to negate the height of Maddie Wiltse (16 points) and Cora Anderson (12 points). Wiltse hit a 3-pointer before the final buzzer.
“Our best bet to keep their big girls from dominating was to play fullcourt defense,” Smith said. “That helped us win that ballgame.”
Wiltse and Anderson were effective defensively in an aggressive zone in slowing down Tara Nelson, who scored 37 points last Friday.
St. John (13-6, 7-1 CPL) clinched the No. 1 seed in the 1A Norwich basketball substate. Otis-Bison (14-6, 5-3 CPL) will be seeded second behind Quinter in the Ransom 1A basketball substate.
OB 7 10 2 16 – 35
SJ 6 5 4 21 – 36
OTIS-BISON (14-6)—Wiltse 6-14 1-2 16, Anderson 3-5 6-9 12, Schnneider 2-3 0-0 4, Ewy 0-4 0-2 0, Trapp 0-1 3-9 3, Totals 11-27 10-21 35.
ST. JOHN (13-6)—Fisher 3-7 4-7 11, Nelson 4-13 2-2 10, Meyer 0-6 1-2 1, Crissman 0-2 4-6 4, Rios 2-5 1-2 6, Doran 1-4 2-4 4, Totals 10-37 14-23 36.
ST. JOHN BOYS 77, OTIS-BISON 32
ST. JOHN – Perennial state basketball qualifier St. John took a giant step building postseason momentum with a dominating 77-32 Central Prairie League victory over Otis-Bison.
The Tigers stormed to a shocking 35-10 first quarter lead built off 15 of 21 shooting. The Tigers fed 6-4 Chase Fisher for 22 points and 6-7 Tanner Halling for 18 points with impeccable passing. Fisher scored 14 first-quarter points. Quincy Smith, Braden Witt, Eddy Calleros and Mason Osborne led the passing game. Smith added 11 points and Witt continued his late-season surge.
“Our perimeter guys are really good passers and they did a fantastic job setting up our big guys inside for scores,” said St. John coach Clint Kinnamon. “We showed excellent defensive energy. We feel we’re a much better basketball team when we get in our transition game. We play like this in postseason, we’ll be OK.”
The Tigers turned 13 Otis-Bison turnovers into a first-quarter layup line. After four minutes, the Tigers led 20-2. Time-after-time, the Tigers trapped the ballhander and fed a scorer for an easy basket. The quarter ended with a 15-2 scoring dash to end the quarter.
The Tigers showcased its high-energy bench, which played the same fast-paced style. Fan favorite Persie Guo got into the fun with a fourth-quarter basket along with scores by A.J. Miller and Eddy Ibarra.
The Tigers (14-5, 6-2 CPL) will be second seeded behind Caldwell in the 1A Norwich basketball substate. Otis-Bison (10-10, 2-7 CPL) will be second seed behind Pawnee Heights in the 1A Ransom substate.
Anton Foust led the Cougars with 11 points and Clade Anderson added nine points.
OB 10 9 7 6 – 32
SJ 35 18 18 6 – 77
OTIS-BISON (10-10)—Foust 4-10 3-4 11, Anderson 2-5 4-5 9, Bahr 1-3 0-0 3, Cheely 1-2 2-3 4, Kohls 1-5 0-0 2, Higgason 0-2 0-0 0, Hoooingarner 1-6 1-3 3, 24 0-1 0-0 0, 10-34 9-15 32.
ST. JOHN (14-5)—Chase Fisher 10-15 2-3 22, Tanner Halling 8-9 2-7 18, Witt 3-5 0-1 6, Calleros 4-6 0-0 8, Smith 4-6 2-2 11, Mcvey 1-1 0-0 3, Osborne 1-4 1-3 3, Ibarra 0-3 0-0 0, Guo 1-2 0-0 2, Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Trey Fisher 0-2 0-0 0, Collin Halling 0-4 0-0 0, Totals 34-58 7-17 77.
HOISINGTON BOYS 43, PRATT 40
PRATT – Hoisington’s Mason Haxton rode to the rescue with a 14-point night and the decisive basket for a 43-40 Central Kansas League basketball victory over rival Pratt.
Haxton’s basket handed the Cardinals a 42-38 lead and Xavier Robinson added a free throw for a 43-40 lead after Brett Winsor’s basket. Pratt’s Kaden Evert and Travis Theis missed game-ending tying 3-pointers. Hoisington’s Isaac Prosser defended Evert’s 3-point attempt. The Cardinals will travel Tuesday for a 3A substate basketball game.
HHS 12 12 11 8 – 43
Pratt 12 12 11 5 – 40
HOISINGTON (7-13)—Haxton 14, Nicholson 10, Robinson 7, Donovan 3, Woydziak 4, Prosser 5.
PRATT (8-12)—Theis 16, Studer 7, Winsor 6, Kolm 4, Bolen 4, Evert 3.
PRATT GIRLS 47, HOISINGTON 44
PRATT – Pratt’s Danielle Staats converted two free throws and Kierson Maydew added a third free throw to break a 44-44 tie for a 47-44 Central Kansas League basketball victory over Hoisington.
Hoisington tied it at 44 after Suzanna Schneider hit a 3-pointer and Jocelynn Pedigo added two tying free throws. But the Cardinals made a mistake by fouling Staats, Pratt’s best foul shooter.
Schneider led the Cardinals (7-13, 3-7 CKL) with 13 points and Iris Suarez added 11 points and super defense on Pratt’s Allisan McGowan. Pratt (9-11, 5-5 CKL) was led by Kaitlyn Rasmussen with 12 points and McGowan added nine points.
The Cardinals will play at Russell in Monday’s 3A substate basketball game.
HHS 10 14 11 9 – 44
Pratt 13 10 15 9 – 47
HOISINGTON (7-13)—Schneider 13, Suarez 11, Warnken 6, Pedigo 6, Schmidt 5, Reif 3.
PRATT (9-11)—Rasmussen 12, McGowan 9, Maydew 8, Baird 4, Staats 6, Hoover 4, Kiley 2, Fincham 2.
CENTRAL PLAINS BOYS 68, ELLINWOOD 28
CLAFLIN – Brett Liebl (18), Devin Ryan (11) and Alex Barton (10) sparked the Central Plains Oilers to a 20-0 regular season with a 68-28 Central Prairie League basketball victory over Ellinwood. Alex Hickel and Ryan each had three steals. Ryan dished out four assists. The teams will play again Monday at Claflin in the 2A Central Plains basketball substate.
The Oilers (20-0, 8-0 CPL) will be top seeded in the Central Plains basketball substate. Ellinwood (2-18) was paced by Brandon Carr with nine points and David Hammeke with eight points.
Ellinwood 4 10 8 6 – 28
C Plains 25 9 22 14 – 68
ELLINWOOD (2-18)—Hammeke 3 2-4 8, Mcfarren 2 0-0 4, Carr 3 2-2 9, Robl 1 0-1 2, Knop 1 0-0 2, Wondra 1 0-0 3, Totals 10 4-7 28.
CENTRAL PLAINS (20-0)—Liebl 8-10 2-2 18, Devin Ryan 5-9 0-0 11, Barton 4-6 1-2 10, Hickel 3-10 0-0 6, Menges 3-4 1-3 7, Bieberle 2-2 0-1 4, Heredia 2-4 0-0 4, Thompson 2-3 0-0 4, Wimmer 1-4 0-0 2, Oeser 0-1 0-0 0, Short 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 30-55 4-8 68.
CENTRAL PLAINS GIRLS 95, ELLINWOOD 38
CLAFLIN – All-stater Emily Ryan scored 46 points as No. 1 ranked Central Plains tuned up for postseason with a 95-38 Central Prairie League basketball victory over Ellinwood. The Oilers (20-0, 8-0 CPL) have won 78 consecutive basketball games and four consecutive 2A state titles. The Oilers play Ness City (0-20) in Tuesday’s basketball substate at Claflin.
Rachel Lamatsch scored 14 points and Delaney Rugan added 12 points. The Oilers scored a season high 44 points in the second period and converted 13 3-pointers. Ellinwood (1-19) was led by Madison Ward with 20 points. The Eagles play Kiowa County in Tuesday’s Claflin substate.
Ellinwood 17 5 7 9 — 38
C Plains 18 44 25 8 — 95
ELLINWOOD (1-19)—Ward 6 8-11 20, Mendez 1 1-2 3, Petz 2 0-0 5, Panning 0 1-3 1, Harrington 2 1-2 5, Henderson 1 2-2 4, Totals 12 13-20 38.
CENTRAL PLAINS (20-0)—Ryan 17 5-6 46, Lamatsch 4 2-2 14, Rugan 5 2-2 12, Oeser 2 0-0 5, Donecker 2 0-1 4, Rylee Cunningham 0 4-4 4, Avery Hurley 2 0-0 5, Jeffrey 1 0-0 3, Startmann 1 0-2 2, Totals 34 13-17 95.
