ST. JOHN GIRLS 49, LARNED 15 – St. John’s Darby Smith scored 11 points with six steals and Payton Meyer added nine points in Monday’s opening round of the Barton Hilltop Classic.
Erin Crissman and Payton Meyer each scored seven first-half points. St. John shot 17 of 34 from the field for a crisp 50% and shot a stellar 13 of 17 from the charity stripe.
Larned was led by Lynzi Myrick with four points. Eden Evers, Savannah Smith and Kathryn Holt each added three points. St. John held Larned to 5 of 27 shooting and forced 28 turnovers.
The Tigers to a 20-2 first-quarter lead and the dye was cast early. Larned converted 19 turnovers into points for a 28-5 halftime lead. St. John’s full-court pressure limited Larned to three first half field goal attempts. Larned's Reagan Krehbiel converted the Indians' lone basket. The Indians welcomed back Kaylee Mead who has sidelined since the first game with a wrist injury.
The Lady Indians fell to 0-10 on the season and will play their second round game of the tournament against Little River.
The Tigers (4-6) play Little River (6-4) at 6 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play No. 1 ranked Central Plains (10-0) in Friday’s championship game. Larned (0-10) plays Little River (6-4) at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Kirkman Center.
Larned 2 3 4 6 – 15
St. John 21 7 15 6 — 49
LARNED (0-10)—Myrick 2-4 0-4 4, Smith 1-1 0-0 3, Holt 1-3 0-0 3, Evers 0-3 3-6 3, Krehbiel 1-4 0-0 2; Hagerman 0-5 0-0 0, Lovesee 0-1 0-0 0, Short 0-2 0-0 0, Herrera 0-1 0-0 0, Grandy 0-2 0-0 0, Mead 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 5-27 3-10 15.
ST. JOHN (4-6)—Smith 4-8 3-4 11, Payton Meyer 3-3 2-2 9, Crissman 2-7 3-5 7, Bree Meyer 1-3 3-4 5, Portillo 1-3 2-2 4, Claussen 2-4 0-0 4, Reyes 1-1 0-0 3, Hudson 1-2 0-0 2, Hacker 1-1 0-0 2, Clark 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-34 13-17 49.
3-pointers—L 2-8 (Smith 1-1, Holt 1-2, Hagerman 0-2, Short 0-1, Herrera 0-1, Myrick 0-1), SJ 2-3 (P. Meyer 1-1, Reyes 1-1, Smith 0-1). Rebounds—L 21 (Evers 4), SJ 24 (Claussen 7). Assists—L 3 (Lovesee 1, Mead 1, Evers 1); SJ 10 (B. Meyer 3). Steals—L 7 (Evers 3), SJ 14 (Smith 6).
NESS CITY 34, ELL-SALINE 31—Alexa Reinhardt scored 12 points to spark Ness City past Ell-Saline 34-31 in Monday’s opening game of the Hilltop Classic.
Ell-Saline 5 7 8 11 – 31
Ness City 11 6 12 5 – 34
ELL-SALINE (0-10)— Rowley 2-5 2-2 7, Backhus 2-5 0-1 4, Kramer 2-8 0-0 4, Kohman 2-4 0-0 4, Ditto 1-7 1-2 3, Bradley 1-5 1-2 3, Lange 0-3 3-4 3, Vogt 0-0 2-2 2, Frisbie 0-2 1-1 1, Hardesty 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 10-40 10-14 31.
NESS CITY (3-8)—Alexa Reinhardt 5-9 2-3 12, Seib 3-10 3-4 9, Flax 2-5 0-2 6, Pfannenstiel 0-3 3-4 3, Starr 1-5 0-1 2, Ligget 1-3 0-1 2, Delaney 0-3 0-0 0; Totals 12-38 8-15 34.
3-pointers—ES 1-7 (Rowley 1-3, Kramer 0-1, Ditto 0-3), NC 2-6 (Flax 2-2, Seib 0-1, Starr 0-3). Rebound—
ES 36 (Backhus 7), NC 26 (Starr 6). Assists—ES 7; NC 6 (Ligget 2).
BARTON HILLTOP CLASSIC
MONDAY—Ness City 34, Ell-Saline 31; St. John 49, Larned 15
WEDNESDAY—Little River 32, Larned 20; Central Plains 10-0 vs. Ell-Saline 0-10, 2:30
THURSDAY—Little River 7-4 vs. St. John 4-6, 6 p.m.; Central Plains 10-0 vs. Ness City, 3-8, 7:30
FRIDAY—5TH—Ell-Saline vs. Larned, 4 p.m.; 3RD—Ness City vs. Little River-St. John loser, 6 p.m.; 1ST—Central Plains vs. Little River-St. John winner, 8 p.m.
