LARNED — Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
St. John High School’s Zuriel Reyes was repeatedly during a second-quarter run that gave the Tigers a stranglehold on a Keady Basketball Classic semifinal game against Hoisington on Friday evening.
The Tigers, who are ranked No. 2 in Class 1A Division-I in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll, beat Hoisington 63-43.
“The difference in the game was guard play,” St. John head coach Clint Kinnamon said. “I’ve got some good guards. I’ve got good, athletic guards. I’ve got guards that can shoot. I’ve got guards that can score in transition.”
The Cardinals led 12-11 after the first quarter, getting eight points from 6-foot-8 senior center Cody Stetler, who has signed to play for Houston Baptist University.
“Obviously, Cody causes problems for us inside,” Kinnamon said. “I mean, he’s going to score. We’ve just got to limit him and keep the other guys from having a night to match him.”
Things changed drastically in the second quarter as the Tigers went on a 22-0 run to take a 35-16 lead with 1:31 remaining in the first half.
“Frustrating,” Hoisington head coach Kyle Haxton said. “It’s basically another floating 2-3 zone. I can broadcast to the entire state that we’re struggling against the 2-3 zone, and they’ll play it against it. Until we figure it out, we’re not going to be effective.
“It was a 22-0 run, and we lost the game by less than that. It’s disappointing that a three-minute stretch can be the difference in the game, but that’s what it is.”
The Tigers repeatedly picked the Cardinals’ pocket and found 5-foot-10 junior Reyes open in transition for uncontested layups.
Reyes finished with a game-high 21 points, including 11 in the second quarter.
He was one of four players from St. John in double figures.
“We’ve got good shooters,” Kinnamon said. “You can’t say you got to guard No. 3. You got to guard No. 34. We’ve got five or six guys who can shoot the 3. We stretch the floor. Then we have an inside presence.
“That’s the difference in this game. They don’t have the outside presence that we do.”
Dean Wade finished with 15 points, Kade Kinnamon added 13 and Spencer Nusser scored 10.
Stetler led Hoisington, which is ranked No. 7 in 3A, with 17 points.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Sixth Annual Keady Basketball Classic

BOYS

At Larned

Friday

St. John 63, Hoisington 43
ST. JOHN (3-0)
    Kade Kinnamon 5 2-2 13, Gera Calleros 1 0-0 2, Omar Ramirez 0 0-0 0, Trey Nelson 0 0-0 0, Francisco Calleros 0 0-5 0, Spencer Nusser 5 0-2 10, Ethan Long 0 2-2 2, Dean Wade 5 2-2 15, Zuriel Reyes 8 3-4 21. Totals 24 9-17 63.
HOISINGTON (1-2)
    Trent Schremmer 2 0-0 4, Jacob Durrett 0 0-0 0, Cody Stetler 8 1-1 17, Steffan Dolechek 2 0-0 4, Jacob Warnken 2 0-0 6, Anthony Broeder 4 0-0 8, Taylor Crawford 0 0-2 0, Cody Richter 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 1-3 43.
St. John                      11    27  13  12  —  63
Hoisington                  12    9   10  12  —  43
    Three-point goals — St. John 6 (Wade 3, Reyes 2, Kinnamon); Hoisington 2 (Warnken 2). Totals fouls — Hoisington 19, St. John 10. Fouled out — Broeder.

Macksville 45,
Kiowa County 38
LARNED — Macksville dominated the fourth quarter for a semifinal win at the classic.
Tanner Tranbarger scored 18 points, including four in the fourth quarter that saw the Mustangs out score the Mavericks 12-4.
Adolfo Ibarra added 11 points.

BOYS

At Larned

Macksville 45, Kiowa County 38
MACKSVILLE (2-1)
    Tanner Tranbarger 5 5-8 18, Hugo Flores 0 0-0 0, Adolfo Ibarra 5 1-3 11, Clayton Wood 0 2-2 2, Jordan Welch 3 2-3 8, Simon Miller 1 2-2 4, Billy Burnett 0 0-0 0, Kaden Herman 1 0-0 2, Peter Penner 0 0-2 0. Totals 15 12-20 45.
KIOWA COUNTY
    Caleb Davis 4 0-0 9, David Perez 1 0-0 2, Mikel Behm 0 0-0 0, Rustin Ardery 3 2-2 8, Corbin VandenHoek 2 0-0 4, Damie Odle 7 0-1 15. Totals 17 2-3 38.
Macksville                8   15  10  12  —  45
Kiowa County          13  10  11   4   —  38
    Three-point goals — Macksville 3 (Tranbarger 3); Kiowa County 2 (Odle, Davis). Totals fouls — Kiowa County 19, Macksville 11. Fouled out — none.

Phillipsburg 61,
Central Plains 53
RUSSELL — Central Plains led 22-19 heading into halftime, but Phillipsburg rallied to win in a second-round game at the Amos Morris/George Stephens Classic.
Layne Bieberle scored a game-high 23 points for the Oilers.
Konnor Hickel added 12 points, and Michael Ryan went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line to finish with eight.

BOYS

At Russell
Amos Morris/George Stephens Classic

Phillipsburg 61, Central Plains 53
CENTRAL PLAINS (2-1)
    Chris Woolf 0 0-0 0, Layne Bieberle 7 7-12 23, Konnor Hickel 4 0-0 12, Joe Barton 1 0-0 2, Michael Ryan 0 8-8 8, Braeden Crites 2 2-2 6, Michael Lamatch 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 17-22 53.
PHILLIPSBURG (3-0)
   Newlan 7 2-9 17, Ellis 1 0-0 3, Derr 6 6-9 20, Thompson 2 0-2 5, Means 2 0-0 4, Juenemann 0 1-2 1, Crist 1 1-2 3, Wickham 4 0-3 8. Totals 24 10-27 61.
Central Plains                4  18    15  16  —  53   
Phillipsburg                  12   7    19  23  —  61
    Three-point goals — Central Plains 6 (Hickel 4, Bieberle 2); Phillipsburg 6 (). Totals fouls — Phillipsburg 20, Central Plains 19. Fouled out — Crites.

Pretty Prairie 62,
Stafford 46
PRATT — Pretty Prairie jumped ahead 21-9 in the first quarter in a Pratt-Skyline.
Stafford closed the gap before halftime, leaving the game knotted at 27.
The Bulldogs pulled away in the second half for a 20-point victory.
Taylor Newell led the Trojans with 12 points.

BOYS

At Pratt

Pretty Prairie 62, Stafford 46
STAFFORD (1-1)
    Newell 3 5-6 12, Du. McClure 4 1-4 10, Buchanan 1 1-1 3, De. McClure 2 0-0 5, Ceniti 2 1-2 5, Johnson 4 3-7 11. Totals 16 11-20 46.
PRETTY PRAIRIE
    Tallant 6 2-6 14, Broce 8 5-5 21, Haflich 2 2-2 6, Crum 1 1-6 4, Rampe 2 3-4 8, Bair 1 0-0 2, Welker 3 1-12 7. Totals 23 14-35 62.
Stafford                  9  18  10   9   —  46
Pretty Prairie        21  6   19  16  —  62
    Three-point goals — Pretty Prairie 2 (Crum, Rampe); Stafford 3 (Newell, Du. McClure, De. McClure). Total fouls — Stafford 20, Pretty Prairie 20. Fouled out — Newell, Du. McClure.