Marion, Centre dominate in openers
Staff writers
Two of five county boys teams opened their seasons with victories Friday.
Marion
The Warriors put together four solid quarters against Goessel, winning 64-38.
“The season opener was a good night for us,” coach Kevin Dasenbrock said. “We played extremely hard and pressed the whole game.”
Luke Wessel led the team with 23 points, four assists, and four steals. Jackson Howard finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
“We did a great job keeping the pressure on but need to work on not fouling as much when we get tired,” Dasenbrock said. “That will come when we get in better shape.”
Kadon Mercer had 11 points and seven rebounds. Carson Krause had 11 points, five assists, and four steals.
“All around, I thought we played a good, physical basketball game,” Dasenbrock said.
The Warriors will be host for the Marion Classic this week with a Friday game against Berean Academy.
The tournament stretches into Saturday. The championship game will be played in the early evening.
Centre
Centre boys made a statement Friday against Wakefield, winning 52-36 at home.
Robert Spohn finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals.
Spohn’s performance was even more remarkable because he was coming back from a knee injury during football season.
“Spohn truly stepped up, and the team overall contributed in getting this season-opening win,” coach Richard Idleman said.
Noah Brunner finished with nine points and four rebounds. Brady Idleman had four points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
“The team struggled early on, but I was pleased with how they kept working up and down the floor throughout the game,” Idleman said.
The Cougars will play Rural Valley on Friday in a Herington tournament this week. The tournament’s final game will be Saturday in Herington.
Hillsboro
The Trojans fell to Sterling, 60-40, in Hillsboro’s home opener.
“We had a rough game from the field,” coach Kyle Kroeker said. “We were able to get open looks throughout the whole game but weren’t able to capitalize on the opportunities.”
Lincoln Wichert led the team with 15 points, followed by Easton Shahan with nine.
“We played with energy but need to clean some things up defensively,” Kroeker said.
Shahan crashed the boards with six rebounds. Seth Driggers had five.
Anders Weisbeck and Noah Beavers got into some foul trouble, both fouling out.
Hillsboro will participate in a Moundridge tournament this week with a game Thursday against Inman. The final tournament game will be played Friday in Moundridge.
“This will be a great opportunity to right the ship,” Kroeker said.
Goessel
Marion got hot early in Friday’s game taking advantage of Goessel’s early-season rust to jump out to a 7-0 lead but trailed 24-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Trailing by 11 at the half, the Bluebirds could only muster four points in the third quarter, and Marion outscored them 27-8 in the fourth.
Goessel was led in scoring by Koy Smith’s 12 points, Evan Walker’s 8 and Jack Nickel’s 8.
Goessel will be host of its Bluebird Classic with games Friday against Canton-Galva and Saturday as determined by results of earlier games.
Peabody-Burns
The Warriors dropped their first game of the season 58-46 to Central Christian.
Jameson Miles led the team with 21 points, followed by Dalton Philpot with nine.
Miles finished with six offensive and six defensive rebounds.
The Warriors will be back at home this Friday against Wichita Defenders.