BY BUDDY TABLER
Special to the Tribune
NICKERSON -- Larned's boys saw a 36-24 lead dwindle to 42-39 before closing out a key 47-40 Central Kansas League victory over Nickerson Tuesday.
Larned's Andres Martinez scored 13 points and Tristan Regan added 10 points. Larned made 18 of 39 shots, and converted 6 of 15 free throws. Kylier Greene added eight inside points.
The Indians held off Nickerson's fourth-quarter rally. Nickerson's Alex King and Dallas Yoder converted 3-pointers to slice Larned's double-digit lead to 42-39.
Nickerson's Garrett Crossman scored 15 points, nine in the fourth quarter before missing four free throws. The Panthers made 10 of 20 free throws and 6 of 21 3-pointers. RaShawn Walker added six points.
In the end, Larned’s patient offense forced Nickerson to foul and Larned made enough free throws to hold off the surging Panthers.
“Our guys did the best job of running our offense tonight that we've done all year," said Larned coach Luke Steinlage. "They were patient and we got good shots and we shot well. It was a good win for our guys.”
The two teams locked into a defensive struggle in the first half as Larned eked out a 9-7 first quarter advantage and a 17-15 halftime edge.
Larned’s conservative offense hit key inside scores in the third quarter and the Indians pushed their margin to 36-24 behind stellar play of guards Carson Shaver and Martinez . Carter Crosby, Regan and Greene controlled the backboards which led to second chance baskets for Larned.
Larned 9 8 19 11 — 47
Nickerson 7 8 9 16 — 40
LARNED (4-3, 1-0) (FG 3 FT TP)—Martinez 4-10 (3-7) 2-6 13, Regan 4-6 2-4 10, Shaver 3-10 (2-4) 1-2 9, Greene 4-5 0-1 8, Martin 2-2 0-0 4, Crosby 1-4 1-2 3, Pinkston 0-1 0-0 0; Gonzales 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 18-39 (5-11) 6-15 47
NICKERSON (1-6, 0-1) (FG 3 FT TP)—Crossman 6-13 (1-5) 2-6 15, King 1-5 (1-3) 1-2 4, Yoder 1-4 (1-2) 1-2 4; Brawner 0-6 (0-3) 3-4 3, Riley Linn (1-3) 2-4 5, Walker 2-5 (1-2) 1-2 6, Wood (1-2) 0-0 3; Smith (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 12-39 (6-21) 10-20 40
LARNED GIRLS 62, NICKERSON 19 — Larned's Jadyn Crosby scored 22 points to spark a 62-19 Central Kansas League basketball victory over Nickerson Tuesday. Larned led 43-7 at halftime. Larned used a first-quarter explosion of 18-0 to set the tone.
Larned led 29-0 before Nickerson's Emmaly Martinez converted two free throws with 3:22 left before halftime. Larned led 43-7 at halftime. Crosby posted 18 first-half points.
Hot-shooting Larned made 7 of 14 three-point shots in the first half and converted 17 of 34 field goals for 50%. Meanwhile Nickerson made only one field goal in the first half. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
“We hadn’t played a game in nearly a month so I was concerned about how we'd star," said Larned coach Jerrod Smith said. "The girls were ready to play. We did a good job of running our offense and getting the shots we wanted. Nickerson did not cover our outside shooters, so we took more 3-point shots than normal but we made them so it all worked out.”
Nickerson made 5 of 27 shots and 6 of 10 free throws. Nickerson was led by senior Adaylee Morrell’s 10 points. The Lady Panthers saw their season record fall to 1-6.
Larned made 25 of 59 shots for 42% but converted just 2 of 11 free throws. The Lady Indians were led in scoring by Jadyn Crosby’s 22 points while Karley Lemuz added 12, Lauren Sleder 8, Brooke Simmons 6, Cassidy Wachs 5, Cammy Upson 4 and Taeton Reynolds 3.
Larned improved to 5-2 for the season and will travel to Halstead for a Central Kansas League game on Thursday.
Larned 18 25 15 4 — 62
Nickerson 0 7 8 4 — 19
LARNED (4-3, 1-0)—Crosby 22, Lemuz 12, Sleder 8, Wachs 5, Brooke Simmons 6, Upson 4, Reynolds 3; Totals 25-59 (10) 2-11 62
NICKERSON (1-6, 0-1)—Morrell 3 (2) 2-2 10, Lamas 0 2-4 2, Groth (1) 0-2 3, Martinez 0 2-2 2, Powell 1 0-0 2, Totals 5-27 (3) 6-10 19
