CENTRAL PLAINS 31, LARNED 29 — Central Plains outscored Larned 9-2 in the final minutes to rally for a 31-29 victory over the Indians in the St. John Tournament.
Free throws were the difference in the game. The Oilers made 12 of 23 from the charity stripe while Larned made 5-of-7. Larned made 12 field goals to nine for Central Plains.
Larned led 27-22. Oiler Marilyn Soeken hit a 3-pointer. Oiler Maggie Strouse hit a go-ahead rebound basket off a free throw miss. Soeken converted two free throws for a 31-27 lead.
Larned's Jaidyn Crosby capped a 16-point night with a basket for a 31-29 score. Crosby missed a 3-pointer and potential tying basket in the final minute after the Oilers missed four free throws.
“Games like these are preparing us for tough postseason matchups,” said Oiler coach Pat Stiles. “We’ve shown we can handle pressure situations, which is exactly what we will need to do in the future.”
Both defenses caused their opponent to struggle. Larned led 17-12 at halftime by forcing 12 Central Plains turnovers. Larned converted 1 of 7 field goals as the Oilers sliced the lead to 23-22 after three quarters.
A 9-6 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter led to the final 31-29 score. The Oilers (6-2) play St. John Friday riding a 29-game winning streak against the Tigers since 2012. Larned (3-6) plays Chase Thursday.
“We made a few mistakes down the stretch and Central Plains made us pay," said Larned coach Jerrod Smith. "We missed a block-out on the free throw line that turned into three points, and they got ahead of us. I'm super proud of our defensive effort. We simply didn’t shoot very well, especially from the outside. Their 2-3 zone bothered us.”
Larned’s tenacious full-court defense held Soeken to one first-half point but she rallied in the second half a team-high 13 points.
After shooting 38% in the first half, Larned made 4 of 16 field goals to finish 12 of 37 (32%). Akielah Collins added 10.
Larned 4 13 6 6 — 29
C. Plains 8 4 10 9 — 31
LARNED (3-6)—Crosby 6 4-5 16, Collins 6 0-0 12, Hagerman 0 1-2 1, Totals 12-37 5-7 29.
C. PLAINS (6-2)—Soeken 2 8-12 13, Ogle 2 1-3 5, Lamatsch 2 0-4 4, Kempke 1 3-4 5, Strouse 2 0-0 4, Totals 9-25 12-23 31.
3-pointers—L 0-11; CP 1 (Soeken 1).
MACKSVILLE GIRLS 52, NICKERSON 20 – Macksville’s Mayce Russell scored 23 points with eight steals. The Mustangs outscored the Panthers 23-5 in the fourth quarter for a 52-20 victory in the St. John Midwinter Classic. Macksville had 23 steals.
Nickerson’s Destiny Ponds and Ayla Ontjes scored six points.
Nickerson 5 2 8 5 – 20
Macksville 6 12 11 23 – 52
NICKERSON (1-7)—Ponds 1 3-6 6, Ontjes 2 0-0 6, Hambrick 3 0-0 6, Abernathy 1 0-0 2, Bankston 0 0-2 0, Totals 7 3-8 20.
MACKSVILLE (7-2)—Russell 7-20 7-12 23, Adams 5-17 2-2 12, Ortiz 3-10 1-2 7, Garcia 1-3 0-0 2, Chadd 1-3 2-4 4, Sanders 0-3 0-0 0, Butler 0-3 4-6 4, Totals 17-59 16-26 52.
3-pointers—N 3 (Ontjes 2, Ponds 1); M 2-13 (Russell 2). Rebounds—M 34 (Adams 12). Assists—M 5 (Russell 2). Steals—M (Russell 8)
ST. JOHN GIRLS 79, CHASE 6 — St. John roared to a 40-0 lead and coasted past Chase 79-6 in Monday's St. John Midwinter Classic. St. John (8-1) placed Mia Meyer (15), Gentri Bright (13), Regan Bonner (10) and Lydia Reed (10) in double figures.
The Tigers (8-1) play Central Plains in Friday's semifinals after losing 29 consecutive games to the Oilers since 2012.
Chase's Jersey Meyeres scored four points.
Chase 0 2 0 4 — 6
C. Plains 40 18 11 10 — 79
CHASE (0-9) —Meyeres 1 2-2 4, Blackburn 1 0-0 2, Totals 2 2-2 6.
ST. JOHN (8-1) —Meyer 7 2-4 15, Bright 5 3-5 13, Reed 4 2-4 10, Bonner 5 0-0 10, Heidi Fisher 2 4-6 8, Miller 4 0-0 8, Gracia 3 0-0 7, Dowling 1 0-0 2, Bre Fisher 1 0-0 2, Brummer 1 0-0 2, Totals 33 11-19 79.
3-pointers —SJ 2 (Meyer 1, Gracia 1).
ST. JOHN MIDWINTER GIRLS
FINALS—1ST—St. John 63, Wichita Sunrise 59; 3RD—Central Plains 41, Macksville 30; 5TH—Larned 52, Nickerson 27; 7TH—Cimarron 77, Chase 9
SECOND ROUND—St. John 43, Central Plains 23; Wichita Sunrise 56, Macksville 41; Larned 73, Chase 13, Nickerson 58, Cimarron 52
FIRST ROUND—St. John 79, Chase 6; Central Plains 31, Larned 29; Wichita Sunrise 71, Cimarron 35; Macksville 52, Nickerson 20
