No. 1 Lions win

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Above, Linton’s Trent Roemmich scores over Riley Streit during Tuesday’s game at the Civic Center.

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The No. 1-ranked Linton boys’ basketball team received a scare, but the Central Cass Squirrels weren’t scary enough.

The Lions weathered a combined 48 points from Central Cass’s 6-foot-7 senior center Harrison Weber and 6-5 senior forward Riley Streit to hang on to a 76-73 victory during the Linton Class B Basketball Jamboree inside the Civic Center.

“This is why we play good teams,” Linton coach Dan Carr said. “Central Cass has a good team and you don’t always see that much size in one team.

“They came ready to play.”

The momentum never seemed to leave the Squirrels in the opening 16 minutes. Central Cass took a 4-3 lead from the start and seven unanswered points late helped turn a 15-15 tie into a 22-17 Central Cass lead at the end of one.

The Squirrels’ Matt Zimmerman and Streit both hit treys in the period, while Streit scored nine of his 21 before the second.

Linton, however, never let the game get out of hand. The Lions dwindled the advantage to just three points (38-35) by the half, converting 8 of 11 shots at the foul line. Central Cass had built a six-point lead (29-23) with 5:44 to play, but six of Kelsey Larson’s 10 points in the half — four of which came at the charity stripe — helped the Lions stay close.

Larson led the Lions with 24 points in the contest.

Fouls played a big part in the game. Central Cass racked up 12 fouls before the half, and ended the game with 29 team fouls. Central Cass’s Weber had 12 points at the break.

The Lions finally got the momentum to swing their way in the third, taking their first lead since the opening minutes of play on back-to-back buckets from Derek Roemmich to the period.

Derek Roemmich ended the night with 16 points, and eight of those points in the third helped the Lions rally to a 62-51 advantage to start the fourth.

“We had a nice spurt to start the second half, which got us going, but we made some errors in the fourth and let them back in,” Carr said. “Central Cass also executed well.”

By this time, the Squirrels had piled on the fouls and entered the third period down a man (Jalen Ham fouled out) while Weber and Streit had four fouls and Adam Ratchenski had three.

Ham picked up a technical for his fifth foul with 3:00 remaining in the third.

But Central Cass pressed on and outscored Linton 22-14 in the final eight minutes. Another trey by Zimmerman slashed Linton’s lead to 73-70 with 35 seconds to go, and an off-balance three that Ellery Bresnahan banked in from the left wing cut the lead to two points (75-73) with 7.9 ticks left on the clock.

But time wasn’t on the Squirrels’ side and a bonus shot by Larson produced the final score. Central Cass had been in the double bonus since 2:35 left in the third. Linton went to the foul line a total of 41 times and sank 28 of those shots.

“We’ve got a lot of kids who can step up and make plays,” Carr said. “That’s probably where we won the game. Our guys were able to take the ball to the basket hard, and it wasn’t just us making shots. It got them into foul trouble as well.

“It’s hard to reproduce tight game situations in practice. When you get into close games you definitely learn a few things at the end,” Carr added. “We’re increasing the IQ of our players.”

Linton improved to 13-0 this season with the win. Counting last season’s championship run, Linton is a perfect 39-0 over the last two years.

Central Prairie 53, Strasburg-Zeeland 36

The Central Prairie boys produced a new first for the five-year basketball co-op between Cleveland, Gackle, Medina, Streeter and Woodworth.

They finally took down the Strasburg-Zeeland Clippers during the Linton Jamboree.

Central Prairie shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, including a 5 of 10 performance from behind the three-point line, propelling the Firebirds to the 17-point victory.

“We talked about wanting to come out looking sharp, not flat,” Central Prairie coach Paul Erbele said. “We’ve got guys who can shoot the basketball. We did a good job of moving the ball from side-to-side and guys stepped up and hit some shots, which was good to see.”

The Birds’ Dacotah Dockter drilled two treys in the first half, while Nic Moser, Eric Knodel and Chance Loock all also found the bucket from long range, helping Central Prairie build a 30-17 lead at the break.

Central Prairie’s Brock Knodel led all scoring in the first half, with nine of his 14 points in the game. Nic Moser ended with a game-high 17, with 12 of those points coming after the break.

Central Prairie cooled off a bit in the third, missing numerous bunnies around the bucket, but the team was still able to keep the Clippers and Danny Nieuwsma at bay.

Nieuwsma broke loose for seven of his 10 points in the frame, but Central Prairie still led 41-28 at the end of three. The Clippers were led by Bobbi Kramer with 11 points.

“It was nice to have the lead. Strasburg-Zeeland is a good team and they came out and played hard,” Erbele said. “They were more aggressive than us in the second half, which is something we have to be able to match.

“They had hands in our faces and were making things happen.”

The Firebirds clamped things down defensively in the fourth, allowing just four Strasburg-Zeeland field goals. The Firebirds led by as many as 21 points in the final period.

“I thought we played well defensively tonight,” Erbele said. “We’re really proud of our team effort.”

Central Prairie moved to 8-1 overall with the win, while the Clippers fell to 9-5.

Central Cass 55, Linton 41

The No. 5-ranked Squirrels, and 6-foot junior Taylor Kraft, were too tough for the No. 6-ranked Lady Lions to contain.

Kraft torched the net, converting four three-pointers and ending the contest with a game-high 25 points to hand Linton its second loss of the season.

“This was why we wanted to play this game. We weren’t worried about winning or losing, we just wanted to focus on having a good overall game and whatever happened, happened,” Central Cass coach Barb Kraft said. “We wanted to play a team that was getting the same respect as we were from the rest of the state.”

Kraft stepped outside and drilled two threes in the first period to help the Squirrels take command 13-6 after one. A few key turnovers by Linton in the first 8 minutes contributed to a 13-2 lead with 2 minutes to go before the second.

Linton cut the Central Cass lead to within two points (20-18) with 2:47 to go in the second, but buckets by Kraft, Hannah Breske and Courtney Dixon down the stretch produced a 26-21 Squirrels’ lead at the break.

Linton’s Lacey Ryckman, who led the Lions with 15 points, picked up her third foul on back-to-back illegal screens with 3:42 remaining in the second and was forced to sit until the third. Ryckman had six points in the first half. Linton only trailed 19-17 when Ryckman was sent to the bench.

Central Cass also held Linton’s Alexis Jasper to just nine points in the contest.

“We do focus a lot on the defensive end, that’s the end we can control,” Barb Kraft said. “We’re not always going to shoot the ball well, and our defense helped us through.”

Kraft all but put the game away in the third, connecting on her other two treys of the game and scoring 12 in the period. Central Cass led 46-32 after three.

With the win, Central Cass upped its overall record to 15-1, while Linton drops to 11-2.

Strasburg-Zeeland 47, Central Prairie 20

Strasburg-Zeeland received 16 points from senior guard Carlene Ternes to help take care of business against the Firebirds.

Central Prairie struggled to find the bucket in the contest, converting just 8 of 48 shots from the floor in the game. The Clippers took command with a 24-9 advantage at the half.

Central Prairie was led by Lindsay Anderson with 10 points. The Clippers improve to 8-7 overall on the season, while the Firebirds fall to 0-13.

Linton Class B Basketball Jamboree at Jamestown

Girls

Strasburg-Zeeland 47, Central Prairie 20

Strasburg-Zeeland 10 24 37 47

Central Prairie 1 9 13 20

Strasburg-Zeeland — Carlene Ternes 16, Courtney Burgad 6, Jennifer Wikenheiser 6, Jennifer Weichel 6, Kelsie Silvernagel 6 Savanna Fetzer 3, Arielle Aberle 2, Emily Scherr 2. Totals: 22 FG, 2-8 FT, 13 fouls. Three-pointers: Ternes 1.

Central Prairie — Lindsay Anderson 10, Alecia Krapp 6, JaSondra Dockter 2, Sasha Krapp 2. Totals: 8 FG, 4-8 FT, 11 fouls.

Records: Strasburg-Zeeland 8-7; Central Prairie 0-13.

Central Cass 55, Linton 41

Central Cass 13 26 46 55

Linton 6 21 32 41

Central Cass — Taylor Kraft 25, Courtney Dixon 12, Hannah Breske 9, Kamie Roesler 8, Madison Gegelman 1. Totals: 19 FG, 13-20 FT, 17 fouls. Three-pointers: Kraft 4.

Linton — Lacey Ryckman 15, Alexis Jasper 9, Paula Nagel 7, Christa Nagel 5, Kayln Schneider 3, Nicole Hulm 2. Totals: 15 FG, 10-17 FT, 15 fouls. Three-pointers: P. Nagel 1.

Records: Central Cass 15-1; Linton 11-2.

Boys

Central Prairie 53, Strasburg-Zeeland 36

Strasburg-Zeeland 12 17 28 36

Central Prairie 15 30 41 53

Strasburg-Zeeland – Bobbi Kramer 11, Danny Nieuwsma 10, Mark Baumgartner 7, Ben Meier 6, Corey Eberle 2. Totals: 15 FG, 5-7 FT, 7 fouls. Baumgartner 1.

Central Prairie – Nic Moser 17, Brock Knodel 14, Chance Loock 7, Dacotah Dockter 6, Aaron Moser 6, Eric Knodel 3. Totals: 21 FG, 5-6 FT, 11 fouls. Three-pointers: Dockter 2, N. Moser 1, E. Knodel 1, Loock 1, B. Knodel 1.

Records: Central Prairie 8-1; Strasburg-Zeeland 9-5.

Linton 76, Central Cass 73

Central Cass 22 38 51 73

Linton 17 35 62 76

Central Cass — Harrison Weber 27, Riley Streit 21, Matt Zimmerman 11, Ellery Bresnahan 8, Ben Sundquist 3, Jalen Ham 2, Adam Ratchenski 1. Totals: 29 FG, 8-12 FT, 29 fouls (Ham). Three-pointers: Zimmerman 3, Streit 2, Bresnahan 2.

Linton — Kelsey Larson 24, Derek Roemmich 16, Tanner Purintun 15, Trent Roemmich 9, Tobie Wald 6, Brandon Weber 4, Brady Weber 2. Totals: 23 FG, 28-41 FT, 12 fouls. Three-pointers: T. Roemmich 1, Larson 1.

Records: Linton 13-0; Central Cass 7-3.

Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at mikes@jamestownsun.com

Tags: high school, class b, central cass, central prairie, sports, basketball, linton, boys, girls, strasburg, zeeland