BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
ST. JOHN – Larned's Chance Sanger and red-hot Layton Crosby each scored 10 points in a hard-fought 40-31 victory over Central Plains in Thursday’s St. John Lions Club Mid-Winter Classic.
Tyler Holmes led the Oilers with nine points and Ethan Hurley and Jerred Bieberle each added six points.
Larned rode three 3-point baskets by Brock Skelton in the first quarter to take an 18-11 advantage. It would be the only quarter Larned would score in double digits as the Oilers used a methodical ball-control offense to keep the game close.
The Indians led by 12 points. It was a quickly played game that took only a little over an hour to play as very few fouls were called and few free throws were attempted. Larned had only two attempts and Central Plains four.
Larned had a 25-15 halftime advantage that was trimmed to 34-26 at the end of the third stanza. Due to few fouls, it proved costly for Central Plains in trying to play catch up by fouling as they had not accumulated enough fouls to put Larned on the free throw line and the Indians were able to play keep away the final minutes.
“It was a low-energy game," said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. "We played like we were walking in cement. Our quickness just wasn’t there tonight but, credit Central Plains. They had a good game plan and executed it well. They are well coached.”
Central Plains was 13 of 31 shooting from the field for 41% and 2 of 4 from the charity stripe. The Oilers (2-8) play Kansas City Christian at 4:45 Friday.
Larned (8-2) also saw Brock Skelton score nine points. Skelton had three 3-point baskets in the opening quarter. The Indians made 17 of 34 field goal attempts for 50%. Larned plays Ness City at 8:15 p.m. Friday.
ST. JOHN 50, MACKSVILLE 36 – St. John's Marshall Woolf rescued the Tigers with 21 overpowered Macksville 50-36 in Thursday’s Mid-Winter Classic.
Eli Delp subbed for starter Tanner Halling and delivered 11 points and an inside presence. The Tigers (8-2) play Nickerson (4-6) in Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal which will match against Nickerson's 6-foot-9 Connor MacDonald.
Macksville's Ryan Kuckelman scored 14 points.
Macksville 8 12 10 6 –36
St. John 11 9 21 9 – 50
MACKSVILLE (4-6) — Kuckelman 7-9 0-0 14, Barron 5-8 0-0 11, Huggins 1-4 2-4 4, Rogelio Ibarra 1-10 1-2 4, Blaske 0-2 1-4 1, Mendez 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Alvaro Ibarra 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 15-40 4-10 36.
ST. JOHN (8-2) —Marshall Woolf 7 7-7 21, Delp 3 5-6 11, Ortiz 3 1-2 8, Calleros 3 1-2 7, Toby Woolf 1 0-0 2, Fisher 0 1-2 1, Dunn 0 0-2 0, Totals 29 15-21 50.
3-pointers—M 2-13 (Barron 1-2, R. Ibarra 1-9, A. Ibarra 0-2); SJ 1 (Ortiz 1). Rebounds—M 25 (Barron 6). Assists—M 5 (R. Ibarra 2). Steals—M 2 (R. Ibarra 2).
Central Plains 11 4 11 5 – 31
Larned 18 7 9 6 – 40
CENTRAL PLAINS (1-9) —Holmes 4 1-2 9, Oeser 3 0-0 6, Hurley 2 0-0 6, Heredia 1 1-4 4, Bieberle 3 0-0 6, Totals 13 2-6 31.
LARNED (8-2) —Sanger 4 0-0 10, Crosby 5 0-0 10, Skelton 3 0-0 9, Smith 2 0-0 4, Tucker 2 0-0 4, Perez 1 0-0 2, Stelter 0 1-2 1, Totals 17 1-2 40.
3-pointers—CP 3 (Hurley 2, Heredia 1); Larned 5 (Skelton 3, Sanger 2).
NESS CITY 58, KC CHRISTIAN 44
ST. JOHN – Ness City's Cable scored 19 points to spark the Eagles past Kansas City Christian 58-44 in Thursday’s Mid-Winter Classic.
KC Christian 9 12 10 13 – 44
Ness City 19 14 14 11 – 58
KC CHRISTIAN (1-7) —Ko 3 0-1 6, Brannon 1 0-0 3, Wichman 3 0-0 6, De la Torre 1 0-0 2, Knernschield 7 0-0 14, White 2 0-0 5, Allen 4 0-0 8, Totals 21 0-144.
NESS CITY (8-3) —Rodriguez 2 0-1 4, Guzman 4 1-4 11, Ethan Seib 4 0-0 11, Delaney 2 1-2 5, Cable 8 3-3 19, Jackson Seib 1 0-0 2, Stoecklein 2 0-0 4, Fehrenbach 1 0-0 2, Totals 24 5-10 58.
3-pointers—KC 2 (Brannon 1, White 1); NC 5 (E. Seib 3, Guzman 2).
ST. JOHN MIDWINTER CLASSIC
TUESDAY—Nickerson 42, Macksville 33
THURSDAY—St. John 50, Macksville 36; Larned 40, Central Plains 31; Ness City 58, KC Christian 44
FRIDAY—KC Christian vs. Central Plains, 4:45; St. John vs. Nickerson, 6:30; Ness City vs. Larned, 8:15
SATURDAY—5th—4:45; 3rd—6:30; 1st—8:15
