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Valley Heights beats Mustangs 67-51
Class 1A D-I State Tournament
spt MS Macksville Miller
Macksville High Schools Simon Miller (11) goes up for a shot against Valley Heights' Charles Musil (24) during the Class 1A Division-I State Tournament in Emporia. Miller had 15 points in the 67-51 first-round loss on Wednesday night. - photo by Mark Sanchez Special to the Tribune

EMPORIA — The Valley Heights High School boys’ basketball team outscored Macksville 34-27 in the fourth period to pull away for a 67-51 quarterfinal victory Wednesday in the Class 1A Division-I State Basketball Tournament.However, by the time the Mustangs got their fast pace going, it was too late.

Valley Heights led 33-24 after three periods. Both teams scored more points in a fast-paced final period then they did in the first three quarters. Valley Heights led 17-13 after one period and 23-19 at halftime.

Macksville (16-8) was paced by Tanner Tranbarger with 26 points. Simon Miller scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Their teammates finished 3 of 17 from the field.The Mustangs forced 22 Valley Heights turnovers, but shot 31 percent on 18 of 57 field goals.

Valley Heights (22-2) outrebounded the Mustangs 41-23 and outscored the Mustangs 26-10 at the free throw line by attacking the basket.

“We played good enough defense, but we didn’t rebound very well,” said Macksville coach Jeff Kuckelman. “We got it going too late. We didn’t give ourselves good shot opportunities. We were stagnant on offense. We didn’t move the basketball like we wanted.”

Bennett Bargill led Valley Heights with 19 points and three first-half 3-pointers. Derek Trimble scored 15 points and Elijah Smith added 12 points.

VALLEY HEIGHTS 67, MACKSVILLE 51

Macksville 13 6 5 27 – 51

Valley Hts 17 6 10 34 – 67

MACKSVILLE (16-8) – Tranbarger 9-22 4-5 26; Miller 6-18 2-2 15; Welch 2-8 3-4 7; Herrman 1-2 1-2 3; Ibarra 0-4 0-0 0; Russell 0-3 0-0 0; Totals 18-57 10-13 51.

VALLEY HEIGHTS (22-2) – Bargill 5-9 6-8 19; Trimble 5-12 5-8 15; Smith 4-9 4-6 12; G. Woodyard 1-4 5-5 7; B. Woodyard 2-3 1-2 5; Musil 1-1 3-3 5; Blaske 1-4 2-2 4; Totals 19-42 26-34 67.

3-point goals—Macksville 5-21 (Tranbarger 4-11, Miller 1-5, Russell 0-3, Ibarra 0-1, Welch 0-1). VH 3-9 (Bargill 3-6, Trimble 0-1, Smith 0-1, Blaske 0-1). Rebounds—Macksville 23 (Miller 8), VH 41 (Musil 11). Assists—Macksville 5 (Ibarra 2), VH 10 (Smith 4). Turnovers—Macksville 14, VH 22. Fouls—Macksville 21, VH 17.