ELLINWOOD GIRLS 35, CENTRAL PLAINS 22 (1ST) — Ellinwood's girls held off Central Plains 35-22 for the Central Prairie League championship in an old-fashioned ball-possession ballgame.
Julia Schlessiger led Ellinwood (20-1) with 12 hard-earned points. Ayla Ritchie and Alyvia Batchman added six apiece.
Oiler Aevyn Siemsen scored 12 points, but the Eagles shut out her sister Emery Siemsen.
Ellinwood basketball coach Greg Maxwell was pleased to earn a victory against legendary Oiler coach Pat Stiles.
"Central Plains made us work for it like we knew they would," Maxwell said. "I was proud of how our girls handled the situation. They took advantage of the opportunities presented to them. We're proud to be CPL champions. We want to use this success to build momentum headed into postseason."
Maxwell said the Eagles' primary regular-season goals were to sweep the Central Prairie regular and tournament titles.
"After sharing a regular season title, our goal was to win it outright in both the regular season and in the tournament," Maxwell said.
Central Plains 4 6 8 4 — 22
Ellinwood 6 9 12 8 — 35
CENTRAL PLAINS (13-7)—Aevyn Siemsen 5 (2) 0-0 12; Hekele 2 0-0 4; Izzy Hurley (1) 0-0 3; Lilly Hurley 0 2-2 2; Nixon 0 1-2 1; Totals 8 (3) 3-4 22
ELLINWOOD (20-1)—Schlessiger 5 2-6 12; Ritchie 2 2-5 6; Batchman 2 2-3 6; Brynn Widener 2 1-2 5; Maxwell 1 0-0 2; Reese Stickney 1 0-0 2; Panning 1 0-0 2; Totals 14 7-16 35
VICTORIA GIRLS 40, ST. JOHN 28 (3RD) — The Victoria girls (7-14) avenged a 64-42 setback to St. John with a 40-28 victory over the Tigers for third place in the Central Prairie League tournament.
MACKSVILLE 49, OTIS-BISON 22 (7TH) —
CENTRAL PLAINS 59, ST. JOHN 49 (1ST) — Central Plains outlasted St. John 59-49 for the Central Prairie League boys basketball championship a week after the Oilers likely clinched the regular season title with a 60-54 victory.
St. John 14 7 14 14 — 49
Central Plains 13 15 20 11 — 59
ST. JOHN (15-6)—Totals 49
CENTRAL PLAINS (18-2)—Totals 59
ELLINWOOD 55, OTIS-BISON 50 (5TH) — Ellinwood's boys edged Otis-Bison 55-50 for fifth place at the Central Prairie League tournament and broke a school record with 72% of their field goals being 3-pointers, 13 out of 18 field goals.
Hot-shooting Layton Wirtz converted seven 3-pointers for 21 points. Cade Coleman kicked in four 3-pointers for 12 points.
"It's another fun one because Wirtz and Coleman were on fire from 3," said Ellinwood coach Jaron Lane.
Otis-Bison continued to play solidly behind Kelson Juno with 17 points and Aiden Ochs-Lohrey with 13 points.
Otis-Bison 12 19 15 4 — 50
Ellinwood 9 22 13 11 — 35
OTIS-BISON (9-11)—Juno 8 1-2 17; Ochs-Lohrey 6 (1) 0-0 13; Starr 4 0-1 8; Kolten Cory 3 0-2 6; McVey (1) 0-0 3; Firebaugh (1) 0-0 3; Totals 23 (3) 1-5 50
ELLINWOOD (10-11)—Wirtz (7) 1-2 22; Coleman (4) 0-0 12; Heinz (2) 0-0 6; Behnke 2 2-2 6; Hosman 2 1-2 5; Brack 1 2-3 4; Totals 18 (13) 6-9 55
CPL BOYS
1ST—Central Plains 59, St. John 49; 3RD—Victoria 62, La Crosse 61; 5TH—Ellinwood 55, Otis-Bison 50; 7TH—Kinsley def. Ness City
SECOND ROUND—Central Plains 71, Victoria 38; St. John 66, La Crosse 52; Ellinwood 63, Kinsley 38; Otis-Bison 62, Ness City 54; FIRST ROUND—Central Plains 60, Ellinwood 37; La Crosse 72, Ness City 59; St. John 70, Otis-Bison 38; Victoria 66, Kinsley 63; PLAY-IN GAMES—Ellinwood 61, Macksville 33; Otis-Bison 70, Chase 11; CONSOLATION—Macksville 70, Chase 30
CPL GIRLS
1ST—Ellinwood 35, Central Plains 22; 3RD—Victoria 40, St. John 28; 5TH—Victoria 50, Kinsley 27; 7TH—Macksville 49, Otis-Bison 22
SECOND ROUND—Ellinwood 47, La Crosse 40; Central Plains 42, St. John 22; Kinsley 43, Macksville 37; Victoria 50, Otis-Bison 31; FIRST ROUND—Ellinwood 71, Macksville 15; Central Plains 50, Victoria 26; St. John 53, Otis-Bison 19; La Crosse 47, Kinsley 36; PLAY-IN GAMES—Macksville 47, Ness City 20; Victoria 2, Chase 0
