LARNED — Defensive pressure was the name of the game on Tuesday night for St. John High School’s girls’ basketball team.
The Lady Tigers, last season’s Class 1A Division-I state runners-up, forced numerous turnovers in their 40-23 win over Ellinwood in the opening round of Larned’s Keady Basketball Classic.
St. John head coach Danny Smith wasn’t focused on the pressure. He was more interested in several missed layups.
“I thought we played very hard, ran just about everything right and missed just about every little stinking easy shot we could miss,” Danny Smith said. “We got frustrated and missed about 20 layups that could’ve just changed the whole game. We did play hard. We played good defense.”
However, once the Lady Tigers got going, they put points up in a hurry.
St. John went on a 12-0 run to start the game, getting points from five separate players.
Jamie Waters got things started with a layup, followed by a pair of steals that resulted in quick baskets from Alexis Witt and Teresa Christie.
Tia Smith drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Tara Christie sank a 3-ball as well.
Ellinwood’s Sophie Hayes scored two points before Morgan Osborne dropped in two more for the Lady Tigers, making it 14-2 after the first quarter.
“I didn’t want us to have to play that hard for that long, but we couldn’t help ourselves out,” Danny Smith said. “We didn’t play terrible, I just thought we missed everything.”
The Lady Eagles started to level out after the first eight minutes, but they were only able to shave two points off the deficit before halftime, heading into the locker room behind 23-13.
“We spotted them 12 right out the gate,” Ellinwood head coach Ryan Mountain said. “That hurt bad, but after that, we played with them in the first half. I think we went into half down 10. That first three-minute blitz they put on us, after that we played with them for 13 to 14 minutes.”
Mountain said that he’s seen a lot of improvement, but it takes a while for big changes to occur.
“It’s hard to stay positive after a loss, however, we’re still improving,” Mountain said. “(Coach Danny Smith) gave our girls a compliment, he said in his years at St. John, he’s never seen this Ellinwood group play as hard as they did. That means something.
“I’m still seeing the improvement. We have a long way to go.”
Waters led the Lady Tigers with 13 points. Teresa Christie added nine.
St. John plays Hoisington on Friday at 2 p.m. in a second-round game.
Hayes scored a team-leading nine points for Ellinwood.
The Lady Eagles challenge Kinsley on Thursday at 2 p.m. in a consolation-bracket matchup.

Hoisington 47,
Kinsley 33
LARNED — Hoisington rebounded from a season-opening loss to beat Kinsley during the first round of the Gene Keady Classic.
Though it wasn’t easy.
Kinsley led 18-14 at halfime, but the Lady Cardinals outscored the Lady Coyotes 16-4 in the third quarter.
Jordin Greer scored a team-leading 17 points for Hoisington.
Mykela Riedl added 10 points.
Hoisington plays St. John on Friday at 2 p.m.

GIRLS

At Larned

Tuesday

Hoisington 47, Kinsley 33
HOISINGTON (1-1)
    Mykela Riedl 2 6-6 10, Karisa Schremmer 0 0-0 0, Jordin Greer 4 8-15 17, Olivia Lowry 1 0-2 2, Kylie Koester 3 2-4 8, Abi Rziha 1 2-4 4, Abi Demel 2 2-2 6, Presley Smith 0 0-0 0, Melissa Pata 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 20-33 47.
kINSLEY
    Paige Herrmann 1 0-0 2, Ashlie Espinosa 0 0-0 0, Amber Espinosa 4 1-2 9, Shaylee Meyers 2 1-2 5, Brittany Gleason 4 8-10 17, Clarissa Holguin 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 10-14 33.
Hoisington    4    10    16    17  —  47
Kinsley          8    10     4    11  —  33
    Three-point goals — Hoisington 1 (Greer); Kinsley 1 (Gleason). Total fouls — Kinsley 25, Hoisington 15. Fouled out — A. Espinosa, Meyers.

BOYS
Hoisington 61, Kinsley 41
LARNED — Hoisington was able to secure its first win of the season, unhinging Kinsley in a first-round game of the Gene Keady Classic.
The Cardinals scored 22 points in the first quarter on its way to a 33-18 lead at halftime.
Cody Stetler led Hoisington with 16 points.
Anthony Broeder added 14 as the Cardinals advanced to a semifinal game on Friday at 4 p.m. against St. John.

BOYS

At Larned

Tuesday

Hoisington 61, Kinsley 41
HOISINGTON (1-1)
    Trent Schremmer 3 0-0 6, Jacob Durrett 1 0-2 2, Cody Stetler 6 4-9 16, Ryan Becker 3 0-0 7, Steffon Dolechek 3 1-1 8, Jacob Wornkey 2 2-3 6, Darin Poland 0 0-0 0, Anthony Broeder 6 2-4 14, Taylor Crawford 1 0-2 2, Jeffery Kaiser 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 9-21 61.
KINSLEY
    Conner Frame 1 2-3 5, Nathan Frame 1 1-2 3, Gustavo Chavez 3 0-0 7, Tyson Espinosa 2 4-6 9, Austin Boggs 2 2-2 8, Taylor Abel 1 0-0 2, Weston Coss 3 0-0 5, Greg Newsom 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 9-13 41.
Hoisington    22    11    15    13  —  61
Kinsley           7     11     8     15  —  41
    Three-point goals — Hoisington 2 (Flagor, Dolechek); Kinsley 6 (Boggs 2, Coss, Chavez, Frame, Espinosa). Total fouls — Hoisington 15, Kinsley 15. Fouled out — Abel.

St. John 55, Ellinwood 26
LARNED — St. John led 17-8 after one quarter, but a 14-2 second period bolstered the Tigers to a 31-10 lead heading into the locker rooms.
St. John 6-foot-8 sophomore Dean Wade finished with a game-high 17 points, making 5 of 6 free-throw attempts.
Senior Spencer Nusser added 15 for the Tigers, who play Hoisington in a semifinal game of the Keady Basketball Classic on Friday at 4 p.m.
Ellinwood plays Kinsley on Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Eagles were led by Kyle Blakeslee, who finished with 13 points.

BOYS

At Larned

Tuesday

St. John 55, Ellinwood 26
ST. JOHN (2-0)
    Kade Kinnamon 4 1-1 10, Gera Calleros 0 0-0 0, Oar Ramirez 0 0-0 0, Francisco Calleros 1 0-0 2, Spencer Nusser 7 0-2 15, Ethan Long 0 0-0 0, Dean Wade 6 5-6 17, Zuriel Reyes 4 0-0 9, Jacob Nulton 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 6-8 55.
ELLINWOOD (1-1)
    Patrick Ringering 0 0-2 0, Cody Isern 2 1-5 5, Kyle Blakeslee 5 2-5 13, Tanner Swank 1 0-0 3, Derek Ward 1 0-0 2, Gavin Vink 1 0-1 3. Totals 10 3-13 26.
St. John       17    14    16     8   —  55
Ellinwood     8       2      5    11  —  26
    Three-point goals — St. John 3 (Kinnamon, Nusser, Reyes); Ellinwood 3 (Blakeslee, Swank, Ward). Total fouls — St. John 14, Ellinwood 10. Fouled out — none.