BY RAY STRUNK
Special to the Tribune

HOISINGTON — The Hoisington boys reeled off a third straight upset victory Saturday night to clinch back-to-back Cardinal Winter Jam titles.
After upsetting no. 4 seed Ellinwood in the first round and the undefeated No. 1 seed Otis-Bison in the semifinals, the fifth-seeded Hoisington Cardinals scored a 63-51 upset victory over No. 2 seed Ellsworth in the championship. The Cardinals won their three tournament games by double digits.
Even without senior captain Grant Dolechek (out with leg injury), the Cardinals were firing on all cylinders Saturday night.
“It’s a group of kids that is starting to gel right now,” said head coach Kyle Haxton. “They beautifully executed a game-plan, played together, were selfless … I enjoyed every second.”
Brenner Donovan led all scorers with 18 points. Cameron Davis finished with 12 points and Braxton Donovan 11 points. Brenner Donovan, Cameron Davis and Grant Dolechek were named All-Tournament-Team.
Remington Cravens led the Bearcats with 12 points. Ellsworth’s beat No. 7 seed Russell and No. 6 seed Minneapolis to tereach the finals.
Both defenses came out strong in the first quarter as each team was held to single-digits. Tyler Specht put Hoisington on the board at the 6:50 mark, before Ellsworth’s Kaden Davis put the Bearcats on top with a three just 19 seconds later. The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, unable to find many buckets. A basket from Cameron Davis in the final minutes of the quarter gave Hoisington a 7-5 lead to start the second.
Offenses began to pick up in the second quarter. Each team traded buckets for the first two minutes, when a bucket from Hoisington’s Kyle Lang gave the Cardinals an 11-9 lead.
From there, Ellsworth went on a three-and-a-half minute 6-0 run capped off with a bucket from Colton Hower to put the Berarcats ahead 15-11.
The Cardinals dug deep, as they had done all tournament, and finished with 12 straight points in under three minutes.
At the 54-second mark Brenner Donovan drained a stepback three while drawing a foul from Hower to convert a rare 4-point-play. Kyle Lang followed with a 3-pointer as time expired to hand Hoisington a 23-15 halftime lead.
Ellsworth sliced the lead to six points in the third quarter, but the Cardinals responded with an 8-0 run for a 14-point margin. The cardinals led 37-27 after three quarters.
Davis drew a foul while banking a bucket and converted a 3-point play at the 5:50 mark. The Cardinals used one more 8-0 run for a 54-35 lead with 3:20 left. The Cardinals converted nine of 12 free throws in the final two minutes.
Coach Haxton called a timeout with 20 seconds remaining and cleared the bench to allow his younger players an opportunity to experience the championship karma.
Ellsworth 5 10 12 24 — 51
Hoisington 7 6 14 26 — 63
ELLSWORTH—Kaden Davis 2-3 2-2 7, Sam Keener 1-3 0-0 2, Remington Cravens 5-9 0-0 12, Jordan Base 4-9 1-3 9, Grant Gwinner 2-3 0-0 4, Colton Hower 4-8 0-0 10, Jackson Connally 0-1 3-4 3, Chris Fitzgerald 0-0 0-2 0, Blake Bayles 0-0 0-1 0, Jacob Kerby 0-0 0-2 0, Totals 19-48 7-18 51.
HHS—Brenner Donovan 6-10 4-4 18, Cameron Davis 5-16 2-5 12, Braxton Donovan 2-5 5-8 11, Alex Schremmer 2-4 5-6 9, Kyle Lang 3-4 1-2 8, Tyler Specht 1-4 3-4 5, Totals 19-43 20-31 63.
3-point goals—E 6-22 (Cravens 2-5, Hower 2-6, Davis 1-6, Schulte 1-2, Base 0-3); H 5-10 (Brenner Donovan 2-4, Braxton Donovan 2-3, Lang 1-2, Davis 0-1). Rebounds—E 33 (Davis 7), H 33 (Braxton Donovan 7). Assists—E 11 (Craven 3), H 15 (Schremmer 4). Steals—E 4 (Craven 3), H 5 (Brenner Donovan 3). TO—E 13, H 11.

ALL-TOURAMENT TEAM
HOISINGTON—Cameron Davis, Grant Dolechek, Brenner Donovan-Hoisington
ELLSWORTH—Jordan Base
OTIS-BISON—Kade Urban
MINNEAPOLIS—Jace McKinney, Tre-Vaughn Thomas
RUSSELL—Travis Ochs, Austin Price
ELLINWOOD—Tyson Martinez
FREE THROW WINNER—Tyson Martinez, Ellinwood

CARDINAL WINTER JAM
SATURDAY
1st—Hoisington 63, Ellsworth 51
3rd—Otis-Bison 56, Minenapolis 51
5th—Russell 50, Ellinwood 46
7th—LaCrossse 53, Victoria 37

SECOND ROUND
Hoisington 56, Otis-Bison 39
Ellsworth 53, Minneapolis 36
Ellinwood 56, Victoria 45
Russell 64, LaCrosse 39

FIRST ROUND
Otis-Bison 46, Victoria 32
Hoisington 47, Ellinwood 36
Ellsworth 78, Russell 68
Minneapolis 54, LaCrosse 34