Ten players got into the scoring column for the Alliance St. Agnes boy’s basketball squad in a semi final matchup Monday against Crawford. The Crusaders raced past the Rams 60 to 8 to advance to a first place battle with Hemingford. Earlier in the day, the Academy defeated Cody Kilgore to surge into a battle with the Rams. Hay Springs was hosting the event as part of the Panhandle Conference tournament in the junior high boy’s division. Top scorer for SA was Tripp Johnson who nailed 14 points while fellow 8th graders Phoenix Red Nest and Grayson Dibrito added 8 points apiece. With the victory, St. Agnes now has a 6 and 2 record for the season.
Red hot shooting for the Crusaders propelled the Academy out to a big lead in the first period. In all, Alliance put 25 points on the scoreboard in the opening 6 minutes to take a big advantage. The game started with 2 pointers by Red Nest and Johnson as the Academy went up 4 to 0. After a Crawford score, St. Agnes ran off the game’s next 8 tallies to take a 10 point advantage. Buckets by Red Nest, Johnson, and Danny Jelinek made the score 12 to 2 after 3 minutes of action. The Rams then netted a deuce but the Academy answered back with an 11 to 0 run to increase their margin. Scoring during the spree were: Red Nest, 2 three pointers by Dibrito, a Johnson trey, and a 2 pointer by Cisco Cody. The quarter closed with a Crawford goal and SA up 25 to 6.
Scoring slowed in the second with Alliance tallying 8 points and the Rams getting just 2. Seventh grader Enzo Kappius padded the Alliance lead early in the second with a two that put SA out in front by 21. A Crawford bucket ensued but a goal by Cody kept the Academy ahead comfortably. With 3 minutes left in the half, St. Agnes had a 29 to 8 lead. The Academy would outscore the Rams 4 to 0 in final stages of the quarter. Hoops by Johnson and Dibrito made the half score Alliance 33 Crawford 8.
Alliance’s defense was super strong in the second as the Rams failed to score in either quarter. Meanwhile, the Academy offense continued to put tallies in the scoring column. Alliance netted 18 points in period #3 to increase their margin. Early baskets by Cody and Jelinek and 5 Johnson points made the score 42 to 8 at the 3 minute stage. Alliance then would get tallies from their bench player. Points by Mason Conyers, Tee Johnson, Joe Collins, and Kappius ended the third period scoring with St. Agnes out in front 51 to 8. In the fourth, a three pointer by Alliance’s Braden Myers started the scoring. It was followed by 4 points by Collins and another 2 by Tee Johnson. Final Alliance 60 Crawford 8
CRAW 6 2 0 0 8
SA 25 8 18 9 60
Scoring for the Academy Tripp Johnson 14 Red Nest 8 Dibrito 8 Collins 7 Cody 6 Jelinek 4 Kappius 4 Tee Johnson 4 Myers 3 Conyers 2
St. Agnes faced Hemingford in the championship game.