By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Salthawk boys and girls basketball teams finally hit the hardwood for the first time in 25 days (because of Christmas break and weather postponements) and swept the Valley Center Hornets Tuesday night at the Salthawk Activity Center.
The Hutchinson varsity boys (4-1) routed the Valley Center boys 66-40 and the Salthawk varsity girls basketball team pummeled the Hornets 38-22.
The Valley Center boys (7-2) were ranked No. 6 in Class 5A in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll released on Tuesday.
The Hutchinson Salthawk boys led the Hornets 15-6 at the end of the first quarter, 29-20 at halftime and 56-30 after three quarters. Both teams scored 10 points in the final frame.
Taushaun Govain led the Salthawks with 21 points, including 12 in the third quarter. Terrell King scored 20 points, including 9 in the third quarter. Lamar Govain contributed 10 points.
The Hutchinson girls (4-1) led 15-6 over the Valley Center girls (5-4) at the end of the first quarter, 20-12 at halftime and 31-16 at the end of the third frame. Hutchinson outscored Valley Center 7-6 in the fourth quarter.
Hutchinson was paced by Kohlbie Craft with 11 points (9 in the second half). Grace Posch scored 8 and Kaia Smith 7.
Anna Duncan led Valley Center with 7 points.
“We got a nice win back from break after almost a month off,” said Hutchinson High School girls basketball coach Kalen Hilst. “Kohlbie Craft lead the way with 11 points and we were very balanced offensively and great on the defensive end.
“We have Great Bend on Friday for our homecoming game and then Derby next Tuesday.”
The Salthawk girls and boys host Great Bend Friday night on Homecoming Night. The Great Bend girls are 3-5 and the Great Bend boys are 7-1. The Panther squads had Tuesday night off.
Buhler girls down Augusta, Crusader boys fall to Orioles
The Buhler Crusader girls and boys basketball teams split their games against Augusta Tuesday night at the Augusta gymnasium.
The Buhler girls improved to 6-1 with a 49-39 victory over the Orioles and the Crusader boys lost 61-52.
The Crusader girls led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter, 28-24 at halftime and 42-37 at the end of the third quarter. Buhler outscored the Orioles 7-2 in the fourth quarter.
Nine Crusader girls scored in the game and Buhler forced 24 turnovers.
In the varsity boys game, the Buhler Crusaders (2-5) led Augusta 17-16 at the end of the first quarter, but trailed at halftime 33-26 and 45-36 at the end of the third quarter. Augusta outscored the Crusaders 16-13 in the fourth quarter.
The Buhler boys and girls play Friday night at Clearwater.
Monday night, the Buhler boys lost to Winfield 54-38.
Luke Holmberg and Jacob Miller led the Crusaders in the Winfield game with 8 points each. Isaiah Heredia scored 7 points, Julian Morrison 4, McCade Zachary 4, Jared Miller 2 and Reuben Harder 2.
“We struggled tonight (Monday) against the zone,” said Buhler boys basketball coach Eric Tate. “Winfield got hot from the 3-point line and went on a couple big runs that we didn’t match. We have to turn around quickly and head to Augusta tomorrow night. Looking forward to our response from our team.”
Haven boys improve to 8-0, Wildcat girls drop first game
The No. 3-ranked Haven High School boys basketball team improved to 8-0 with a 41-35 victory over the Hillsboro Trojans Tuesday night at Hillsboro.
The Haven boys led 10-8 after one quarter, 18-17 at halftime and 31-28 after three quarters. The Wildcats outscored the Trojans 10-7 in the fourth quarter.
The Haven girls basketball team dropped their first game of the season 49-43 to Hillsboro Tuesday night at the Hillsboro High School gymnasium.
Avery Brawner led the Class 3A No. 3 Haven girls (7-1) with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Sienna DeFrain scored 15 points and dished off 9 assists.
Halstead girls down Pratt, Dragon boys fall to Greenbacks
The Halstead High School girls and boys team took on Pratt Tuesday night at the Haltead gym.
The Halstead girls fought off Pratt 55-49, but the Dragons boys lost 67-41.
The Pratt Greenback girls led 21-18 after one quarter. Halstead led at halftime 39-34 and 47-42 at the end of the third quarter. The Dragons outscored the Greenbacks 8-7 in the fourth quarter.
In the boys game, Pratt led 16-5 after one quarter and 32-20 at halftime.
Nickerson basketball teams swept by Larned
The Nickerson High School boys and girls basketball teams were swept by Larned Tuesday night at the Nickerson gym.
The Nickerson girls lost 62-19 and the Panther boys fell 47-40.
The Panther teams play Smoky Valley at Lindsborg Friday night. The Smoky Valley boys defeated Chapman 57-46 and the Viking girls defeated Chapman 60-36.
Inman Teuton teams 2-4 against Berean Academy
The Inman varsity girls basketball team defeated Berean Academy 51-35 and the junior varsity girls won 33-25.
The Inman varsity boys lost 48-20, the JV boys lost 62-20, the C team boys lost 191-4 (half game) and the C team girls lost 10-2 (half game).
Haven boys, girls basketball teams both ranked No. 3 in KBCA Class 3A
The Haven High School boys and girls basketball teams are both ranked No. 3 in Class 3A in the Jan. 14, 2025, Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll.
Haven’s 5-foot-9 senior Sienna Defrain passed 1,000 career points last week. The Wildcats (3A) are 7-0 on the year and matchup against 4A Pratt Friday night.
Halstead is ranked No. 2 in Class 3A girls, Sterling is ranked No. 4 in Class 2A boys and Inman is ranked No. 8 in Class 2A girls.
The No. 1 ranked boys teams are Shawnee Mission Northwest, Class 6A; Topeka Highland Park, Class 5A; Baldwin, Class 4A; Wichita Collegiate, Class 3A; Moundridge, Class 2A; Coldwater-South Central, Class 1A Division I; and Cunningham, Class 1A Division II.
The No. 1 ranked girls teams are Overland Park-Blue Valley North, Class 6A; Topeka Seaman, Class 5A; Baldwin, Class 4A; Wellington, Class 3A; Pittsburg St. Mary’s Colgan, Class 2A; Little River, Class 1A Division I; and Hanover, Class 1A Division II.
The next KBCA rankings will be released on Jan. 21.
Halstead alumnus Karenna Gerber of Pittsburg State named MIAA Player of the Week for the 2nd week in a row
Karenna Gerber helped Pittsburg State to wins over Missouri Southern (84-72) and Newman (77-50) last week as the Gorillas moved into sole possession of first in the MIAA standings and is the lone undefeated team remaining at 6-0.
The senior forward/center from Halstead was the only MIAA player to average a double-double in Week 10 with 17 points and 10.5 rebounds a game while shooting 68.4% from the field while also making all eight of her free throw attempts.
Gerber has produced a double-double performance in three of the last four games and leads the conference with eight on the season.
In the win over the Lions, Gerber went for 22 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting from the field in the rivalry win.
On the road against Newman, she added 12 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes, hitting 6-of-10 from the field.
In league games this season, Gerber is averaging 18.8 points (3rd in MIAA) and 9.2 rebounds (1st in MIAA) a game while shooting 65.1% from the field (2nd in MIAA) and 93.9% from the line (1st in MIAA).
To date, she is the only player in the conference to also rank in the top five in each category.