Sports

Paige Talbott — NCAA All-League 1st Team.

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By MIKE COURSON
For the I-R

The old adage that defense wins championships was alive and well on Championship Saturday across Kansas. In four of the eight state championship games, scores took a major dip as defenses prevailed. Nowhere was the principle more apparent than in Manhattan’s Bramlage Coliseum, where the Central Plains boys held St. Mary’s Colgan to nearly half its season average en route to a 47-34 win and a Class 2A championship.

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By MIKE COURSON
For the I-R

With a 41-25 lead midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Class 2A state championship game against Valley Heights, the Central Plains Lady Oilers all but had another title in the books.

A more dramatic finish was playing itself out some 70 miles down I-70 in Salina. There, McPherson erased a 50-46 lead with 1:44 to play in regulation to force overtime against a Bishop Miege team seeking a fifth straight title.

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By the I-R Staff

Ellsworth’s Lady Bearcats ended their 2017-18 season Tuesday, Feb. 27, with a loss at home against Riley County.

The first round of sub-State action went against the Lady ‘Cats 43-37, despite moments of hope.

The teams appeared well matched with the Lady ‘Cats seeded 4th and Riley County seeded 5th in the tournament.

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By the I-R Staff

For the second year in a row, the state-ranked Lady Dragons of Wilson were denied a trip to the 1A Division II State basketball tournament by the Lady Cougars of Central Christian Hutchinson.

In sub-state competition Saturday at Stafford that had the No. 1 seed Lady Dragons working to catch up much of the game, Central Christian managed in the end to outscore Wilson 39-35.

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By Taylor Holecek
For the I-R

For the Ellsworth seniors, this was one of the most intense and important games in their high school careers. Despite a hard fight, the Bearcats still fell to the TMP Monarchs in a heartbreaking sub-State championship game Saturday night at Minneapolis.

“Since it was my senior year it was that much more special. I’ve never gotten this far in sub- State so it was different and it was a lot more intense,” Chris Fitzgerald said.

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Both Central Plains Oiler Basketball squads took the sub-state title at their home court in Claflin this past Saturday. The Lady Oilers had to defeat league opponent the Kinsley Coyotes in the semifinals and the No. 4 ranked Kiowa County Mavericks for the championship. On the boys side, the Oiler men were victorious against the Skyline Thunderbirds who they took on in the semis, and league opponent the Macksville Mustangs to earn the trip to Manhattan. The girls will play at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Manhattan  and the boys play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday..

By the I-R staff

The Lady Bearcats finished the regular season Tuesday, Feb. 20, with a decisive win over the Sacred Heart Lady Knights at Salina.

Ellsworth’s Kolby Davis led all scorers with 17 points. Jaide Talbott added 12 points and Lakyn Tenbrink came off the bench to grab seven rebounds and score six points.

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Bearcat Zac Schneider puts Kery Finley of Colby in a bar hold this past weekend during his second match of the 2018 KSHAA 3-2-1A State Wrestling Championship in Hays. Finley won the match in the 170-pound class by a 7-1 decision. Schneider won his first match against St. Marys’ Schoenfeld in a major 9-0 decision.

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By TAYLOR HOLECEK
For the I-R

The Ellsworth Bearcats battled hard Monday at home against the Hoisington Cardinals to keep their spot in the 3-2-1A sub-state tournament.

With a full crowd to cheer them on, the ‘Cats were ready to play and scored within the first two minutes. Grant Gwinner climbed to the top for scoring in the first quarter with 8 points.

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