Girls basketball
Hillsboro sweeps Trojan classic
Staff writers
In a three-day, three-game sweep, Hillsboro, ranked third in the state in Class 2A, beat Republic County 55-29 Thursday, Clay Center 46-26 Friday, and Hesston 45-30 Saturday to win the Trojan Classic basketball tournament.
“It was great to see the people and community come out and support our basketball team,” coach Micah Ratzlaff said. “We found enough ways to put points on the board on offense and then we made things as difficult as possible for our opponents to score on the other end. That seemed to be a winning combination for the week.”
The Trojans (10-1) will be at home Friday against what appears to be an evenly matched Minneapolis team (10-1).
Marion
The Warriors placed second in last weekend’s Cougar Classic at Centre.
Marion, the No. 4 seed, knocked down Wakefield 52-20 Thursday and upset No. 1 seed Smoky Valley Homeschool Educators 51-37 Friday.
In a hard-fought battle Saturday, the Warriors lost 50-48 to No. 3 seed Elyria Christian.
Grace Hett led the team with 19 points and five rebounds Saturday. Erin Regnier finished with 11 points, three assists, and two steals. Kenna Wesner had eight points, and Taryn Kraus had four points and four assists.
“The response that this group showed all week to some of the things we are pushing them to do was great to see,” coach Jason Hett said. “This was a hard week, playing three straight days, but we battled and showed a lot of grit as a group.
“Even though we came up a little short in the championship game, it was great getting a taste of playing in a championship game and giving us that experience.”
Marion (4-7) will have its homecoming game on Thursday against Council Grove (3-7).
Goessel
The Bluebirds got off to a slow start Friday, recovered, and then saw their chances for victory slip away in the second half.
Moundridge jumped out to a 13-0 lead. The Bluebirds cut into this deficit with the help of eight first-quarter points from Greta Scholle.
Baskets from Aimee Funk, Jaicee Griffin, Logan Bryant, Cheyenne Sawyer and Scholle cut the deficit to two, as Goessel trailed 32-30 at halftime.
The Wildcats put on a full court press to start the second half, and the Bluebirds committed too many turnovers. Moundridge built its lead back to 11 points at the end of the third quarter. The taller Wildcats took the fourth quarter, winning 74-55.
Scholle led the Bluebirds with 26 points, Aimee Funk and Cheyenne Sawyer scored 8 each.
The Goessel girls (5-3) will be at a tournament in Fairfield this week.
Centre
The Cougars still are looking for their first victory of the season after finishing in eighth place at their Cougar Classic this weekend.
The Cougars lost 60-17 Thursday to top-seed Smoky Valley Home Educators, 40-22 Friday to Wakefield, and 47-33 Saturday to Rural Vista.
Olivia Carlson, returning to action after a yearlong recovery from injury, led the team with 10 points Saturday. Ryleigh Jones backed her up with six points.
Allie Stuchlik and Jenna Bittle were missing because of injuries.
“Our Saturday game against Rural Vista was probably the best we have played this season, despite missing seniors due to injury,” coach Alan Stahlecker said. “Defensive effort was again solid, and the offensive output was more balanced.”
By Friday, Centre will have played six games in nine days, including a makeup game Thursday against Elyria Christian and a visit Friday to Peabody-Burns.
Peabody-Burns
The Warriors lost 45-19 Friday to Newton Homeschool.
The girls started off slow but picked up momentum in the second quarter, cutting their deficit to seven. In the second half, however, they couldn’t get the shots they wanted to fall and ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.
“I am really proud of how these girls competed when we were down and made a run in the second quarter and carried that momentum into the third,” coach Thomas Spencer said. “Defense change after halftime didn’t work as well as I had hoped.”
Peabody-Burns will play host to Centre on Friday.