Goessel wins by 2 in thriller, Centre, Hillsboro win handily; Marion, Peabody outmatched
Staff writers
Traveling to Herington for their last Wheat State League game of this season, Goessel’s Bluebirds jumped to a 15-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the Railers grabbed a one point lead at halftime, 26-25.
Goessel ground out a three- point lead by the end of three quarters and built a seven-point lead with two minutes to play.
As the Bluebirds attempted to slow the pace of play and take time off the clock, Herington began fouling.
With Goessel missing free throws, Herington got to within a single point of the Bluebirds with five seconds left in the game.
Goessel managed to make a late free-throw to escape with a 54-52 victory.
“The guys battled hard and gutted out a good win,” head coach Curtis Guhr said.
Four Bluebirds hit double figures: Noah Schrag scoring 16; Jake Wiens and Joey Lapp, 12 each; and Caleb Burkholder, 10.
The boys finished league play with a 5-4 record and were 8-9 overall going into Tuesday’s game.
Goessel will celebrate homecoming Friday with a game with Central Christian Academy of Wichita (2-11).
Centre sweeps in rematch
Although they making just 25% from the field, Centre easily outscored Peabody 37-16 Friday on the road, sweeping their season series. The Cougars led 16-5 at halftime.
Robert Spohn had a double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Dane Meier led on the boards with 12 rebounds. He also had seven points and six steals. Nick Krch scored eight points.
The Cougars will finish regular-season play Friday, facing Chase County in Cottonwood Falls.
Hillsboro beats up on Halstead
Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, momentum is slowly building for Hillsboro basketball teams
That’s going to come in handy considering the Trojans will be hosting sub-state the final week of February.
Hillsboro completed a perfect week. After notching a home victory over Larned, the Trojans closed the week Friday with a road victory over Halstead.
The season hasn’t been the smoothest for Trojan coach Darrel Knoll’s farewell tour. But the majority of the team’s nine losses came against teams that will be a threat for deep postseason runs.
Hillsboro took the opportunity to vent its frustrations out on the Dragons in a 64-31 waltz Friday.
”It was an excellent effort start to finish,” Knoll said. “We opened the game on a 9-2 run and finished the quarter with an 18-7 lead.
“We kept the intensity up and took a 39-15 halftime lead and finished strong in the second half.”
That was more than enough to put the Dragons down for the count with the Trojans’ defense yielding just 23% shooting and Halstead spotting Hillsboro 26 points off 17 turnovers.
Hillsboro shot a season-best 58% from floor and 39% from long range while outscoring Halstead 36-10 on points in the paint.
Brekyn Ratzlaff picked up where he left off after dropping a season-high 32 points earlier in the week with a 29-point night, while pulling down a team-best 7 rebounds to go along with 6 steals and 5 assists.
The win boosted Hillsboro to 7-9 going into Tuesday’s game. The Trojans will wrap up the home portion of their schedule Friday against Lyons.
Marion walloped by Ell-Saline
Ell-Saline spoiled Marion’s homecoming ceremony Friday by defeating the Warriors, 66-28.
Turnovers allowed Ell-Saline to run away with the game. Marion had 19 turnovers vs. Ell-Saline’s 12, but Ell-Saline capitalized with 24 points off those turnovers compared to Marion’s four.
Carson Krause led the Warriors with nine points, followed by Jack Lanning with six, and Cole Smith with five.
“It definitely is not the outcome we were wanting, for sure, but I am proud of my guys for their efforts and for keeping their composure,” coach Donald Raymer said.
With Caden Wilhelm out with an injury, Jack Lanning has been drawing a lot of attention from opposing teams’ best defenders, making it difficult for him to gain any momentum.
The Warriors (3-14) will be up against 15-2 Elyria Christian team at home Friday to end their regular season.
Peabody-Burns can’t get revenge
Trying to avenge an earlier los, Peabody-Burns came up short in a 37-16 homecoming loss Friday to Centre.
The Warriors didn’t get on the scoreboard until 4 minutes 50 seconds into the second quarter, with a basket by Logan Esau. They trailed, 16-5, at halftime.
Their best performance was in the fourth quarter, when they outscored Centre, 8-7, on two baskets by Jessie Talkington, one by Luke Partridge, and free throws by Chris Spencer and Cade Gossen.
Talkington led Warrior scoring with six points. Tanner Parks and Luke Partridge each made a basket, and Leyton Coover made a free throw.
Last modified Feb. 15, 2023