Girls basketball
Werth stuns Halstead with buzzer-beater
Staff writers
Hillsboro
With only four seconds left Friday and the score tied at 31, Trojan Kingzley Ratzlaff inbounded the ball to Zaylee Werth, who scored a turnaround jumper to win the game, 33-31.
“It was a dog fight Friday night against a really good Halstead team,” coach Micah Ratzlaff said. “Halstead hit some really good shots throughout the game, but our girls continued to battle and defend at a high level.
“We struggled a bit offensively, but Zaylee Werth came through with a huge steal and an awesome buzzer-beater for the win. She is a winner and does a great job leading this team.”
Hillsboro (15-1 and ranked 2nd in the state in Class 2A) will be on the road Friday against Lyons (1-15-1) but first, will face Pratt (6-8-3) Thursday.
Goessel
The Goessel girls finished the week with two victories, securing third-in the Wheat State League.
Against Canton-Galva on Thursday, Goessel jumped out to a 13-5 lead, but the Eagles trailed by only two points at halftime. Canton-Galva rode momentum to a 26-20 lead in the third quarter, but baskets by Braylyn Hoopes and Greta Scholle erased the Eagle lead.
The Eagles led for the last time 34-33. Abbigail Funk and Hoopes dropped in late-game points to post a 40-34 victory. Greta Scholle led the Bluebirds with 15 points. Aimee Funk added 10, and Braylyn Hoopes scored 9.
At homecoming Friday, Goessel struggled to a 10-5 lead at the end of the first quarter, and the defense held Herington to four points in the second quarter as the Bluebirds coasted to a 46-21 victory. Greta Scholle scored 17 followed by Abbigail Funk with 12 and Aimee Funk with 11.
Goessel (7-2 in league play) will end the regular season with three non-league games, the next being Friday at Wichita Central Christian Academy.
Marion
The Warriors fell just short of victory Friday against Ell-Saline, losing 39-35.
“It was a struggle for us tonight on the offensive end to get anything going,” coach Jason Hett said. “We missed a lot of shots and just could not get into a rhythm. Defensively we worked hard and gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game on that end of the floor,”
Kenna Wesner led the team with nine points and eight rebounds. Erin Regnier scored seven with two assists. Grace Hett scored five points.
“Our last three Heart of America League games, we have been in them to win and felt like we should have, so we have continued to work on cleaning possessions up and digging deep to get late-game stops,” Hett said.
Marion (6-10) will be back on the road Friday against Elyria Christian (12-6).