Coming out hot from the start, the Sterling Black Bears won the tourney title with a 78-55 win over the Hugoton Eagles. Sterling shot 70 percent in the opening period, including five of six from beyond the arc to jump out to a 31-9 lead after eight minutes.
    Boston Ekart finished with 29 points, while Blake Smith poured in 24, including six three-pointers. Sophomore Jacob Lewis contributed 12 for the undefeated Bears (13-0).
    Senior guard Gavin Salazar led the Eagles with 20 points. Overall, Hugoton (9-4) shot just 35 percent for the game and 28 percent from beyond the arc.
    "We played very free today," explained Sterling Coach Derek Schneider. "A basket on one end starts with a stop on the other."

Sterling    31 20 22 5 - 78
Hugoton    9 20 12 14 - 55

    The Scott City Beavers were in control from the very beginning with a comfortable 63-28 win over the Trinity Celtics for third place.
    Behind 26 points from Junior Meza and 10 points from Avery Radke, the Beavers never looked back after taking an 18-11 lead after the first quarter.
    The Celtics committed 22 turnovers, and no player scored in double figures. The Beavers move to 6-5 on the year, while Trinity falls to 4-9.

Scott City    18 18 20 7 - 63
Trinity        11 7 9 1 - 28

    Kriatian Ryan poured in 28 points, including seven in overtime to pull out the 63-54 victory for Smoky Valley. After trailing19-8 after the first quarter, Lyons came back in the second half with 16 points in each the third and fourth quarters.
    Quanick Hamilton led the Lions with 20 points, followed by Paco Espinoza with 12. However, the Lions could only come up with four points in the exptra period to fall to 5-8 overall. Smoky Valley moves to 7-5 after tournament action.

Smoky Valley    19 11 10 10 13 - 63
Lyons        8 10 16 16 4 - 54

Trojans Defeat Kingman on Final Day
    Still recovering from injuries sustained during a state-title run in football, the Southeast of Saline Trojans picked up a win over Kingman, 54-48 on Friday afternoon. Scoring 19 points int he opening period, the Trojans held off the Eagles for move to 4-10 on the season.
    Tiernan Ptacek poured in a game-high 26 points to lead the Trojans. The Eagles were led by Dawson Wood with 19 points and Grayson Smith with 17. The loss dropped  the Eagles to 2-13 for the year.

SE of Saline 19 13 8 14 - 54
Kingman    16 11 13 8 - 48

​    The Lady Trojans (11-2) put on a defensive clinic in picking up their first tourney title with a 43-21 win over the Hugoton Lady Eagles. Hugoton (8-6) never reached double figure scoring in any of the four quarters as they shot just 23 percent for the contest.
    Southeast was led by Kyiah Samuelson with 12 points and Reese Heinrich with 10. The Lady Eagles were forced into 21 turnovers in the loss. Only four players scored for the Lady Eagles.

SE of Saline    10 9 10 14 - 43
Hugoton        4 3 9 5 - 21

     Behind 13 points from Peyton Gentry and Piper Fox, the Scott City Lady Beavers (5-5) came away with the third place trophy with a 48-37 win over the host Sterling Lady Black Bears.
    Sterling (4-9) took the initial lead 10-9 after the first quarter but could only come up with four points in the second quarter to trail 24-14 at halftime. Aleya Ravenstien led Sterling with a game-high 21 points.

Scott City    9 15 13 11 - 48
Sterling     10 4 10 13 - 37

​    Not to be denied, the Smoky Valley Lady Vikings came through with 25 fourth quarter points, to pick up fifth place with a 44-38 win over the Kingman Lady Eagles.
    Kenzley Haxton finished with 18 points to lead the Lady Vikings. She connected on four three-pointers in the final quarter to help grab the win. Smoky Valley is now 4-7 on the season, while Kingman drops to 2-13 overall.

​     Scoring 20 points in the third quarter, the Lady Lions came from behind to defeat the Lady Celtics, 50-41 on Friday afternoon. Keirah Davis led Lyons (2-12) with 16 points, including four baskets from beyond the arc.
    Anika Paulsrud led the Lady Celtics (0-13) with 12 points. Also in double figures were Brecken Dowsey and Cienna Maskil with 11 points each. Lyons connected on eight of 10 free throws in the second half to help secure the win.

Lyons  8 9 20 13 - 50
Trinity   9 11 15 6 - 41

       The host Black Bears connected on 57 percent of their shots from the field, including 45 percent from three in grabbing the 69-34 win over the Scott City Beavers. Sterling was led by seniors Blake Smith with 17 points and Boston Ekart with 16.
    Scott City could manage on 28 percent shooting, including just 2 of 15 from outside the arc, as they fell to 5-5 on the season. Sterling, the top ranked team in Class 2A, moves to 12-0. 
    The Beavers will take on Hutchinson Trinity for third place at 4:30 pm in the Gleason Center at Sterling College. Sterling, looking for their ninth title, will face Hugoton in the championship contest at 7:30 pm, also at Sterling College.

Sterling    16 24 19 10 - 69
Scott City    6 7 7 14 - 34

The Hugoton Eagles put up 20 first quarter points and never looked back, picking up a 60-21 semi-final win over the Trinity Celtics (4-8) on Thursday evening at Sterling College. The Celtics finished the game shooting just 28 percent from the field, while committing 20 turnovers.
    Nine players scored for the Eagles (9-3) with Gavin Salazar and Cameron Rosas finishing with 15 points each. Rosas also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Hugoton    20 18 16 6 - 60
Trinity    9 3 7 2 - 21

      ​Trailing 39-37 going into the final quarter, the Vikings put up 22 points to take the win, 59-55, in consolation bracket play on Thursday afternoon. Behind a game-high 26 points from 6'8" Kriatian Ryan, the Vikings move to 6-5 on the season, while the Trojans fall to 3-10.
    Southeast was led by Hendrix Lund with 20 points and Tieman Ptacek with 15. Also in double figures for the Vikings was Ty Heitschmidt with 18.
    The Vikings will take on Lyons for fifth place at 4:30 pm at Sterling High School. Southeast will face Kingman for seventh place, also at 4:30 pm in the South gym at Sterling High School.

Smoky Valley    14 6 17 22 - 59
SE of Saline    9 10 20 16 - 55

Lyons forced the Kingman Eagles to just 31 percent shooting while picking up the win, 50-41 in a consolation game played at Sterling College. Trailing 24-22 at halftime, the Lions held Kingman to just four points in the third quarter.
    Paco Espinoza picked up 17 points for Lyons (5-7), with Tegan Link adding 11. Kingman (2-12) was led by Jaxson Campbell with 18 and Dawson Wood with 15 points in the losing cause.

​Lyons    11 11 7 21 - 50
Kingman    9 15 4 13 - 41

Despite trailing after the first quarter, the Southeast of Saline Lady Trojans put up 26 in the second and third quarters to put themselves in the championship game on Friday night with a 45-23 win over the Lady Beavers.
    Abigail Pearson led the Lady Trojans (10-2) with 13 points, while Southeast connected on 11 of 14 free throws for the game. In double figures for Scott City (4-5) was Peyton Gentry with 10 points. 
    Southeast will look for their first Sterling Invitational title on Friday against Hugoton in the championship game at 6:00 pm in the Gleason Center on the campus of Sterling College. Scott City will face host Sterling in the third place contest at 3:00 pm, also at Sterling College.

Southeast    6 14 12 13 - 45
Scott City    8 5 4 6 - 23

Tough defense and timely shooting sent the Hugoton Lady Eagles into the championship game with a 54-20 over host Sterling. Amiley Lewis and Morgan Niehues led the Lady Eagles (8-5) with 11 points each. Nine players scored for the Lady Eagles as they go after their second tourney title on Friday.
    Sterling (4-8) was led by Blaine Locke with nine points. Sterling never threatened as the game finished with a running clock in the fourth quarter.

Hugoton  16 13 19 6 - 54
Sterling    7 2 5 6 - 20

Behind 14 points from Parker Beam, the Kingman Lady Eagles advanced in the consolation bracket
to play for fifth place on Friday with a 39-30 win over the Lyons Lady Lions. Also in double figures for the Lady Eagles (2-12) was Caylor Helm with 12 points. Dayana Gonzalez led the Lady Lions (1-12) with 12 points.
    Kingman will play at 3:00 pm against Smoky Valley, while Lyons will face Hutchinson Trinity, also at 3:00 pm for seventh place.

Kingman    10 14 8 7 - 39
Lyons        6 11 6 7 - 30

The Smoky Valley Lady Vikings held the Hutchinson Trinity Lady Celtics (0-12) to just six field goals for the entire contest, winning 46-17. The Lady Vikings (3-7) were led by Kamryn Ryan with 12 points. She was joined in double figures by Kenzley Haxton and Illie DeBaere with 10 points each. 
    Trinity will play at 3:00 pm in the Sterling High School South Gym for seventh place, while Smoky Valley will also play at 3:00 pm in the Ora Shields Activity Center for fifth place.

Smoky Valley    11 12 14 9 - 46
Trinity        5 8 4 0 - 17

​    A 31-point first quarter was more than enough for the Lady Trojans as they picked up the easy win over the Lady Celtics (0-11). Kyiah Samuelson led Southeast with 15 points. She was followed by Taryn Goetz and freshman Vada Durfee with 14 each.
    The Lady Trojans (9-2) backed up their  first quarter efforts with 24 more in the second quarter to secure the first round win.

Southeast 31 24 12 12 - 79
Trinity 4 11 7 6 - 28

      Behind 25 points from Boston Ekart and 21 from Jacob Lewis, the Sterling Black Bears cruised to a comfortable first-round win. Sterling (11-0) lead 37-17 at the break and 66-23 after three quarters.
    The top-ranked Class 2A Bears picked up 18 steals against the Eagles (2-11). Blake Smith also finished in double figures for Sterling with 10 points. Dawson Wood led the Eagles with 12 points.

Sterling 15 22 29 15 - 81
Kingman 11 6 6 12 - 35 

​    Hutchinson Trinty had three players in double figures while holding Smoky Valley to just 36 percent shooting in picking up the first-round win. Trinity took control in the third quarter, outscoring Smoky Valley 24-9.
    Roberto Guerrero led the Celtics (4-7) with 15 points, while Alex Guajardo finished with 14 and Beau Towell had 12. Ty Heitschmidt led the Vikings (6-4) with 15 points. 

Trinity 9 12 24 14 - 59
Smoky Valley 16 11 9 12 - 48

​    Hugoton (8-3) shot 55 percent from the field in picking up the first-round win. The Eagles also grabbed 12 steals while turning over the Trojans 15 times.
    Miguel Hernadez led five Eagles in double figures with 24 points. He was followed by Cameron Rosas with 12, David Gamez and Adrian Adigun with 11 each and Gavin Salazar with 10. Adam Thiel finished with 15 for Southeast (3-9) while Hendrix Lund and Tierman Ptacek had 13 each.

Hugoton 26 18 23 14 - 81
Southeast 18 14 11 10 - 53

​The Scott City Beavers forced the Lyons Lions into 18 turnovers as they picked up the first-round win. Lyons (4-7) grabbed the early lead 16-12 after the first quarter, but the Beavers (5-4) eventually took the lead in the third quarter. 
    Brody Stoecklein led the Beavers with 23 points. Junior Meza also finished double figures with 11. Paco Espinoza led the Lions with 15 points while Tegan Link followed with 14.

Scott City 12 12 14 21 - 59
Lyons 16 11 7 12 - 46

The Sterling Lady Bears took advantage of poor shooting by the Lyons Lady Lions to come away with a comfortable 60-27 first-round win. Senior Aleya Ravenstien lead Sterling (4-7) with 16 points. Also in double figures were Blaine Locke with 14 and Allie Gray with 12.
    The Lady Bears outrebounded Lyons (1-10) 44-24 while holding the Lady Lions to just 21 percent shooting for the game. Sophomore Hayden Linden led Lyons with 16 points.

Hugoton jumped out to a 17-2 first quarter lead and never looked back. Hugoton (7-5) increased their lead to 32-9 by halftime and 50-16 after three quarters.
    Natalie Villegas led the Hugoton Lady Eagles with 16 points, including 4 threes. She was followed by Amiley Lewis with 12. No players for the Kingman Lady Eagles (1-12) were in double figures.

Hugoton 17 15 18 3 - 53
Kingman 2 7 7 6 - 22

    Three players, Kaylee Felker, Payton Gentry, and Lily Lightner, each scored 11 points for the Scott City Lady Beavers in their opening round win. Scott City (4-4) led 23-9 at half, while the Lady Vikings were unable to connect from the field in the second quarter.
    Despite 16 points from the Lady Vikings (2-8) in the third period, the Lady Beavers were able to advance with the win.

Scott City 10 13 16 13 - 52
Smoky Valley 5 4 16 7 - 32