El Dorado reverses course

EL DORADO — El Dorado basketball coach Gary Melcher probably saw more than just a wasted practice when he kicked his team out of the gym after 30 minutes Wednesday afternoon.

He likely saw a team whose season was ready to be deemed a failure entering a midseason tournament it was hosting. So he ejected his players and waited for their response.

It came Thursday, when the Wildcats upset Wichita Trinity 56-53 in the opening round of the Bluestem Classic. Trinity's Jason Netherton missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

"When you're 2-7, it gets hard to come to practice," Melcher said. "They came out and fought tonight, and I was happy about that. When you go on a roll and just lose, lose, lose, lose, you start feeling sorry for yourself and expect people to give you something. But nobody is going to give you anything."

Melcher was apprehensive about how his players would react to the ban 24 hours later. He got his answer quickly, as El Dorado took an early lead and kept it for most of the game, save for stretches during the second and fourth quarters.

The players didn't share Melcher's apprehension. They decided immediately after the 30-minute practice that things would be different starting Thursday.

"We stood out there and talked," said El Dorado senior forward Spencer Jensen. "Then we decided we would go home and get some rest and come play tough the next day."

Jensen was part of a post quartet that led the Wildcats' zone defense and made it difficult for Trinity to get baskets in the post.

The group — Jensen, Adam Just, Kutter Bookout and Alex Brown — also contributed offensively, combining for 34 points.

Trinity forward Austin Kessinger battled for his 14 points and nearly helped Trinity rally in the fourth. The Knights' potential zone busters were Netherton and Morgan Burns. Netherton stretched the defense with his outside shooting, and Burns slashed to the lane for layups. But neither got hot for extended stretches.

"We didn't guard them quite like I wanted to, but it was good enough," Melcher said.

Trinity missed its first six free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter before two by Brady Ziesch made it 55-53 with six seconds to go. Nick Payne had a chance to ice it for El Dorado, but his second free throw missed, giving Trinity a chance to tie. Netherton's guarded shot from the top of the key went off the front of the rim.

" (Melcher) was showing us that we weren't working hard enough," Jensen said. "We just realized it then and that we needed to work harder in practice. We stepped it up today."

El Dorado15 14 9 18 — 56 Wichita Trinity13 11 10 19 — 53

EL DORADO: Payne 3, Locke 11, Just 11, Jensen 11, Bookout 8, Clites 8, Brown 4. Totals 20 (1) 15-28 56.

WICHITA TRINITY: Billings 3, Dohm 2, Kempin 2, Netherton 12, Ziesch 12, Kessinger 14, Burns 7, Meisch 1. Totals 19 (5) 10-20 53.

Kapaun 71, Circle 39 — Kapaun's goal was to speed the tempo to offset Circle's advantage in brawn. The Crusaders found they had the edge in speed and physicality.

Twelve players scored for the Crusaders, who had a 45-28 rebounding edge and made eight three-pointers. They meet Wichita Collegiate in today's semifinals.

"We knew they had some size on the inside," Kapaun coach Bernie Pearson said. "Our game plan was to pressure up the guards and make it up-tempo a little bit, and it worked out to our advantage tonight."

Circle's edge in the paint was namely Jordan Phillips, a 6-foot-5 center who is a tight end for the Thunderbirds' football team. He's mostly a defensive presence, and while he had 10 rebounds Thursday, he never became much of a factor in changing Kapaun's offensive strategy.

"We were going to extend him," Pearson said. "We knew we wanted to get him out on the perimeter and make him move around a little bit. I knew that we would have an advantage with our quickness."

Kapaun led 23-6 after the first quarter and led by as many as 35. Keaton Lewis (12 points) and Michael Martin (10) were its only double-figure scorers. Lewis led the Crusaders with seven rebounds.

Kapaun Mount Carmel (6-3) 23 11 16 21 — 71 Circle (6-3) 6 10 10 13 — 39

KAPAUN: Rasmussen 1 0-0 2, Washington 1 2-2 4, Lewis 5 0-0 12, Laveist 1 0-0 3, Knott 1 0-0 2, Knox 2 3-5 7, Small 3 2-2 8, Reynolds 4 0-1 8, Boswell 2 0-0 6, Cook 2 0-0 5, Floyd 1 2-2 4, Martin 4 0-0 10. Totals 27 (8) 9-12 71.

CIRCLE: Warren 1 6-8 9, Tunnell 2 0-0 5, Kinder 1 2-4 4, Gardiner 3 5-8 11, Phillips 4 0-6 8, Kirkpatrick 0 0-1 0, Frazier 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 (2) 13-27 39.

Wichita Collegiate 72, Newton 36 — The Spartans advanced to the semifinals behind a balanced scoring effort. Trace Clark paced the Spartans with 15 points, while Tre Bailey (14), Blake Jablonski (12) and Bryce Cornejo (10) also scored in double figures.

The Spartans (11-0) led 28-13 after the first quarter and held Newton to 12 combined points in the second and third quarters.

Newton13 7 5 11 — 36 Wichita Collegiate28 11 23 10 — 72

NEWTON: Al. Vermillion 2, Au. Vermillion 8, Denno 3, Preston 7, Harms 8, Dorell 4, Rambo 2, Lawrence 2. Totals 14 (3) 5-9 36.

WICHITA COLLEGIATE: Cornejo 10, Richardson 3, Fiegel 3, Tisdale 2, LeMaster 4, Burton 4, Jablonski 12, Phox 5, Bailey 14, Clark 15. Totals 29 (8) 6-9 72.

Great Bend 57, Campus 44 — A Jack Schuelke three-pointer with 46 seconds to go in the third quarter cut Campus' 15-point halftime deficit to seven. But back-to-back Great Bend three pointers put the Panthers ahead 48-35 at the end of the third, and the Panthers led comfortably.

Logan Marshall kept Great Bend afloat as it struggled to start the second half. He scored nine of the Panthers' 15 points during the third and finished with game highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Schuelke led Campus with 15 points and eight rebounds. The Colts scored the first eight points of the third quarter after trailing 33-18 at half. They pulled to within eight midway through the fourth, but Great Bend led by double digits for the final 4:14.

Great Bend14 19 15 9 — 57 Campus8 10 18 9 — 44

GREAT BEND: Basye 3, Hildebrand 8, Marshall 18, Gray 7, Ellis 2, Zamarripa 2, Bowman 5, Casey 6, Thier 6. Totals 24 (4) 5-7 57.

CAMPUS: Brown 5, Charles 10, Schuelke 15, Meier 6, Thomas 4, Flax 4. Totals 19 (2) 4-9 44.