jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HOISINGTON — Holt Hanzlick's behind-the-back pass dropped softly into Leyton Haxton's hands for a layup and a 85-55 lead over Ellinwood to trigger a running clock.
It was that type of magical night for the defending champions who rolled past Ellinwood 85-59 in Saturday's championship of the Hoisington Winter Jam. The Cardinals dominated offensively with 11 of 22 shooting from 3-point range and perfect free throw shooting (10-10) for the second consecutive night.
All-Tournament Drew Nicholson's signature play on a dazzling 24-point night was a steal against Ellinwood star Britton Dutton and a perfect assist to Dylan Richards for a 62-41 lead. Nicholson did everything from two blocked shots, a pair of 3-pointers to nifty assists.
Ryan Woydziak was spectacular with a career high 15 points in addition to his typical stellar defense. Woydziak was motivated by coach Kyle Haxton, who wanted his players to step up and compete rather than watch Nicholson and Mason Haxton work.
Woydziak knew it his night when Leyton Haxton's assist led to a 3-point play.
"That first play, basket-and-one got me fired up," Woydziak said. "Coach has been encouraging us to play our roles better and help our team. We stepped up and competed like we're capable rather than relying on two guys. It was great to see us play like this tonight. Ellinwood is a good basketball team."
The Cardinals' bench brigade delivered 36 points keyed by hot-shooting Leyton Haxton (13) and Holt Hanzlick (11). Every move Halzlick made was pure gold.
"We had guy after guy step up tonight," coach Haxton said. "It's a lot easier to get guys going when we're out in transition running the ball up the court."
Hoisington coaxed Ellinwood into throwing up a barrage of quick 3-pointers against the Cardinals' swarming 1-3-1 zone defense with nine of 26 shooting from long range. The Cardinals have rallied with their patented 1-3-1 pressure scheme, but started that way and never let up defensively.
"It all starts with defense," Haxton said. "We've played sluggish starting games and that really got us going tonight. We really did a nice job trapping and getting the game going fast for them."
Ellinwood point guard Britton Dutton was pressured all night. All-Tournament Dutton rallied with a 27-point night and several good passes, but the Eagles missed a few golden opportunities inside. The Eagles made nine of 24 shots inside the 3-point stripe.
All-Tournament Tyler Stuhlsatz contributed 13 points and four 3-pointers. Sparkplug Alek Brack played superbly off the bench with eight points and a pair of 3-pointers. Parker Scheck scored six points, but lost valuable court time with first-half foul trouble.
Ellinwood had cruised to nine wins with few close games.
"This might be the exact thing this team needs," said Ellinwood coach Derek Joiner. "Their defense got us putting up a few shots quicker than we would've liked. Britton ended up having a pretty good night offensively once he figured hos to attack their defense. But I didn't prepare us very well for their transition game tonight."
Once the Cardinals gained the momentum, the Eagles had no defensive answers.
"Hoisington shot the ball extremely well tonight," he said.
Ellinwood 19 9 15 16 — 59
Hoisington 18 24 22 21 — 85
ELLINWOOD (9-2)—Dutton 8-20 8-9 27, Stuhlsatz 4-11 1-2 13, Brack 2-5 2-2 8, Scheck 2-4 2-4 6, Gage Hosman 2-6 1-1 5, Behnke 0-4 0-0 0, Totals 18-50 14-18 59
HOISINGTON (9-2)—Nicholson 9-16 4-4 24, Woydziak 6-7 2-2 15, Leyton Haxton 6-9 0-0 16, Hanzlick 4-5 0-0 11, Mason Haxton 2-8 2-2 7, Chase Robinson 3-6 0-0 6, Richards 1-2 2-2 4, Mooney 1-2 0-0 2, Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 32-59 10-10 85
3-pointers—E 9-26 (Stuhlsatz 4-9, Dutton 3-10, Brack 2-3, Behnke 0-4); H 11-22 (Hanzlick 3-4, L. Haxton 4-6, M. Haxton 1-3, Nicholson 2-6, Woydziak 1-2, Mooney 0-1)
ELLSWORTH 51, LACROSSE 45
Ellsworth 16 9 13 10 – 51
LaCrosse 14 7 14 10 – 45
ELLSWORTH—Avery Haxton 6 8-9 21, Braden Schulte 7 1-2 20, Cravens 1 0-0 2, Kyler 1 0-0 2, Totals 18 9-13 51
LACROSSE—Pierce 7 3-4 22, Conner 3 0-1 8, Burk 3 0-0 7, Schmidt 2 1-2 5, Patterson 1 1-1 3, Totals 16 5-7 45
3-pointers—E 6 (Schulte 5, Haxton 1), L 8 (Pierce 5, Conner 2, Burk 1)
CIMARRON 65, PRATT 63
Pratt 8 12 26 17 – 63
Cimarron 21 9 16 19 – 65
PRATT (6-6)–Shanline 8 6-6 21, Koehler 5 5-10 15, Tatre 4 3-6 13, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Younie 2 1-4 5, Carson Hoeme 2 0-0 6, Totals 22 14-26 63
CIMARRON (7-4)–Harrison 7 6-7 22, Andrew Ridenour 3 6-8 13, Flores 4 0-0 11, Seth Ridenour 2 3-4 7, Frink 0 0-1 0, Marshall 2 4-7 8, Trevino 2 0-0 4, Totals 20 19-27 65
3-pointers–P 5 (C. Hoeme 2, Tatre 2, Shanline 1), C 6 (Flores 3, Harrison 2, A. Ridenour 1)
VICTORIA 48, OTIS-BISON 32
HOISINGTON — Otis-Bison's Dalton Regan scored 10 points in a 48-32 loss to Victoria for seventh place in the Hoisington Winter Jam. Kyle Pickering led LaCrosse with 14 points.
Victoria 11 22 9 6 — 48
Otis-Bison 6 6 12 8 — 32
OTIS-BISON (2-6)—Regan 4 2-2 10, Foust 4 1-4 9, C. Roth 1 0-1 2, Schneider 1 0-0 2, Kohls 2 0-1 5, Juno 1 0-1 2, Graff 1 0-0 2, Totals 14 3-9 32
VICTORIA (4-6)—Pickering 6 0-0 14, Wohler 1 0-0 2, Schoenrock 2 0-0 4, Englert 3 0-0 8, Windholz 2 0-0 5, Klein 1 1-2 3, Schwien 1 0-0 2, Karst 3 0-0 6, Schmeidler 2 0-0 4, Totals 21 1-2 48
3-pointers—OB 1 (Kohls 1), V (Pickering 2, Englert 2, Windholz 1)
ALL TOURNAMENT—HOISINGTON—Drew Nicholson, Mason Haxton; ELLINWOOD—Britton Dutton, Tyler Stuhlsatz; ELLSWORTH—Braden Schulte, Avery Haxton; PRATT—Peyton Koehler, Karter Hoeme; LACROSSE—Chase Schmidt; CIMARRON—Braxton Harrison; FREE THROWS—Britton Dutton, Ellinwood
