A thirty one point effort by 8th grader Cisco Cody paced the Alliance St. Agnes boy’s basketball team in a matchup with Hay Springs on Monday. The Crusaders outlasted the Hawks 52 to 37 in a contest played in Hay Springs. With the victory, the Academy improves to nine and two for the year. Cody had 15 two point hoops on the evening plus a free throw to lead the Alliance attack. St. Agnes also got the win the junior varsity battle, besting the Hawks 26 to 11 thanks to 12 points by Crusader Enzo Kappius. The Alliance seventh grader score in every period to lead the offense for SA.
Seven early tallies by Cody in the first quarter got the Crusaders off to a good beginning. Both teams would hold first period leads. A Cody bucket started the game but a three by the hosts gave Hay Springs an early margin 3 to 2. Another goal by Cody was next and after a basket by Alliance’s Phoenix Red Nest, the Academy had a 6 to 3 advantage at the 4 minute stage. Momentum then went to the side of the Hawks as the hosts scored the game’s next 5 points to surge ahead 8 to 6. No points were scored until another 2 by Cody with under 2 minutes left in the quarter knotted the contest at 8. The period came to a close with a basket by Alliance’s Grayson Dibrito and a free throw by Cody. After 6 minutes of action, the Academy had an 11 to 8 lead.
Thanks to 8 second quarter points by Cody, SA extended its margin. Period #2 started with another 2 by Cody and a hoop by Danny Jelinek. The teams then swapped scores with Cody, Kappius, and Tripp Johnson getting into the scoring column. At the one minute stage of the half, back to back goals by Cody increased the Academy lead to 11 at 25 to 14. A two pointer by Johnson ended the scoring in the half with St. Agnes up 27 to 14.
Triples by the Hawks kept Hay Springs in the contest in the third period. In all, the hosts netted three 3 points in the quarter to stay in striking distance. Hay Springs would outscore Alliance just by 1 at 13 to 12 in the third. The period began with 2 more hoops by Cody and 5 points by the Hawks. At the 4 minute stage, a 4 to 0 run by the Hawks closed their deficit to 31 to 24. Scores by Jelinek and Cody ensued but another trey by the hosts pulled the Hawks to within 8. The quarter came to a conclusion with 4 more Cody tallies and the Academy ahead 39 to 27.
St. Agnes opened the fourth with some defensive pressure to pad their cushion, The Crusaders used a 1-3-1 full court press that led to 8 quick points. During the spurt, the Academy got 2 point buckets by Cody and 2 pointers by Dibrito and Johnson. The early 8 points put the score at 47 to 27 with under 5 minutes to play. Hay Springs would win the final part of the game, outscoring the guests 10 to 5. St. Agnes got baskets by Cody and Jelinek and a Dibrito free throw in the final moments as Alliance went on for the 52 to 37 win.
SA 11 16 12 13 52
HS 8 6 13 10 37
Scoring for Alliance Cody 31 Johnson 6 Jelinek 6 Dibrito 5 Red Nest 2 Kappius 2
In the first game of the day, the Academy held the Hawks to just single digits in every quarter to go on for the victory. The match was shorten to just 3 periods due to lack of players by the Hawks. Six quick tallies by Kappius carried the Academy offense in the first. A hoop by Tee Johnson was next as the Crusader lead grew to 8 to 0. At the 3 minute stage, Hay Springs garnered the final points of the first with SA out in front 8 to 2.
Play was even in the second with Alliance scoring 6 points and Hay Springs getting only 4. Seventh grader Tatum Devlin started the scoring for Alliance with a deuce that put the visitors ahead 10 to 2. Four consecutive points by Kappius was next as the Hay Springs deficit stood at 12, 14 to 2. Back to back 2 pointers by the hosts finished off the scoring in the second and the Crusaders took a 14 to 6 lead at half.
Alliance put together their best scoring quarter in the third, tallying 6 hoops. Any thoughts of a Hawks comeback were stopped early. Two point goals by Mason Conyers, Johnson, and Kappius helped the Academy extend their advantage to 20 to 6. Another basket by Conyers was next as SA went ahead 22 to 6. With three minutes showing on the clock, a Hawk hoop stopped the spree. Alliance then would get buckets down the stretch by Luke Jelinek and Gage Finkey to make the final score Alliance 26 Hay Springs 11.
SA 8 6 12 26
HS 2 4 5 11
Scoring for the Academy Kappius 12 Conyers 4 Tee Johnson 4 Devlin 2 Luke Jelinek 2 Finkey 2
Alliance traveled to Scottsbluff on Thursday.