Trojans 2nd; Warriors 4th; Cougars upset Railers
Staff writers
Hillsboro took second place in Moundridge, Centre upset Herington, and the Marion boys finished fourth in their home tournament in this weekend’s basketball action.
Hillsboro
The Trojans took second place Friday in a tournament at Moundridge.
Hillsboro beat Inman 67-27 on Thursday to qualify for the championship game against Moundridge.
The hosts stepped up Friday, though, and the Trojans were defeated, 53-40.
“During the first quarter, we played some very good defense,” coach Kyle Kroeker said. “Moundridge was able to gain a lead because of some costly turnovers and missed shots.”
Lincoln Wichert and Easton Shahan each scored 18 points. Shahan also pulled down four defensive rebounds.
“I was proud of the boys for battling all night. Our effort was there,” Kroeker said. “We need to clean up some things offensively and defensively, but we continue to improve each practice.”
The Trojans (2-2) will be at home Thursday for their next game, against Southeast of Saline (0-3).
Marion
The Warriors took fourth place in their tournament over the weekend, losing 50-24 to Berean on Friday and 80-53 to Halstead on Saturday.
“The last two games have been tough ones but games we grew in,” coach Kevin Dasenbrock said. “The boys are doing a great job adjusting to the run-and-gun style of play and are having fun doing it.”
Luke Wessel scored 17 points Saturday. Kadon Mercer and Carson Krause each scored 12. Jordy Ramer finished with seven points scored.
“As we continue to grow, we are going to be working on playing through contact and adding even more pressure to our defense,” Dasenbrock said.
Marion (2-2) will play its last game of 2024 Thursday at home against Sterling (2-1) before students are dismissed for winter break.
Centre
Centre lost 60-31 Friday night to Rural Vista before upsetting rival Herington 56-53 Saturday.
“I’m very pleased with our team’s efforts,” coach Richard Idleman said. “Noah Brunner battled in the paint, getting big rebounds, Micah Carlson did a solid job of feeding the ball for assists. Robert Spohn and Brady Idleman were solid in putting points in the basket, and when the game was on the line, Blaise Kitzmiller hit a basket-and-one with a free throw off a foul to seal the win.”
Spohn finished with 31 points. Brady Idleman had 17. Brunner pulled down 10 rebounds, Carlson had three assists, and every Centre player had at least one steal.
“The team had solid efforts from all,” Idleman said.
The Cougars (2-2) will play Friday at home against Canton-Galva (2-2) before students are dismissed for winter break.
Goessel
Against a bigger team, the Goessel boys struggled to score points Friday.
Canton-Galva led by eight at the end of one quarter, then flooded the scoreboard with 34 points in the second period to lead 48-17 at half.
The Bluebirds could not find a foothold in the second half, and Canton-Galva won by a final score of 73-33.
Wyatt Sommerfeld led the team with 13 points, followed by Jack Nickel’s 8.
In Saturday’s contest against Linn, the Bluebirds trailed 10-8 before the Bulldogs scored 13 unanswered to take a commanding lead.
Linn led 36-17 at the half and closed out the second half to win 68-39.
Wyatt Sommerfeld again led the Bluebirds with 15 points. Koy Smith added 10.
The Goessel boys are 0-4 for the season and will play Douglass at home Friday.
Peabody-Burns
The Warriors lost 59-34 at home Friday against Wichita Defenders.
Aiden Hurst led the scoring with 12 points, followed by Jameson Miles with 11.
Miles crashed the boards as well, pulling down seven defensive rebounds.
The Warriors (0-2) will end the calendar year on the road Friday in Herington (0-4) before students are dismissed for winter break.