Corn Bible boys finish as consolation champs

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The Corn Bible Crusaders basketball team won the consolation trophy of the West Central tournament after defeating Burns Flat-Dill City 47-41 Saturday at Arapaho-Butler High School.

In the first round of the tournament, Corn Bible played at Hydro-Eakly, and lost 67-26.

Corn Bible was supposed to play the loser of Calumet and Thomas, but Calumet had to drop out of the tournament because of some COVID-19 protocols. Corn Bible advanced straight to the consolation championship game.

“We did a good job taking care of the basketball down the stretch and making free throws when we needed to,” coach Asa Zoschke said. “We had to have some guys come in when Harrison (Penner) and Joshua (Clayton) fouled out. Harrison played a heck of a game and played great on defense and Joshua played well too. Give Burns Flat credit as they battled back, but we did a good job finishing the game. We did not play well against Hydro-Eakly, but we did a great job bouncing back Saturday against Burns Flat.”

Corn Bible player Harrison Penner made the all-tournament team. He scored 8 points and had 8 rebounds against Burns Flat.

“This was a team effort and I could not have done this on my own,” Penner said. “We did not play well the first time we played Burns Flat, we did not play well. I was not expecting to win this award and I thought everyone on my team played well.”

Hydro-Eakly 67,

Corn Bible 26

Hydro-Eakly built an early 10-4 advantage with plays like Nolan Gore scoring a fast break layup. Hydro closed the first quarter on a 13-0 run and was ahead 23-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Hydro-Eakly opened the second quarter on a 15-0 run with plays like Cade Berkey passing the ball to Price for an easy backdoor layup. Joshua Clayton scored Corn Bible’s first points of the second quarter on a layup, but they trailed 38-10 with a little more than a minute left in the first half. Hydro-Eakly was ahead 42-10 at halftime.

Clayton scored Corn Bible’s first points of the second quarter on a layup, but they trailed 38-10 with a little more than a minute left in the first half. Hydro-Eakly was ahead 42-10 at halftime.

Hydro-Eakly built a 40-point lead with a made 3-pointer by Kade Kimble. Nolan Gore achieved a double-double when Hydro-Eakly was ahead 61-16 1:38 left in the third quarter. Hydro-Eakly got five offensive rebounds in a row and the Bobcats were ahead 63-16 going into the fourth quarter. Hydro-Eakly won the game 67-26.

“I have seen better nights from my guys,” Zoschke said. “I did not think we played our best game. Give credit to Hydro-Eakly as they are a great team. We did not shoot the ball well and our defense did not play well either. We have to take better care of the basketball and fix the little things such as move more and not stand around when playing.”

Corn Bible 47,

Burns Flat-Dill City 41

The first quarter was low scoring. Burns Flat hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the first quarter. Gage Grube hit a layup with 5 seconds left in the first quarter, making the score 7-5 at the end of the first quarter.

Penner grabbed his own rebound after a missed shot and scored a layup. Phillip Javorsky scored a 3-pointer with a minute left in the first half, giving Corn Bible the lead, making the score 14-12. Burns Flat scored a layup to tie it, 14-14, at halftime.

Corn Bible outscored Burns Flat 6-3. To open the third quarter. They expanded their lead with plays like Clayton scoring a fast-break layup. He also scored two free throws late in the third quarter and Corn Bible was ahead 27-19 going into the fourth quarter.

“Joshua played very well and had three or four assists for us,” Zoschke said. “I will say we have struggled in the third quarter, but this was one of the best third quarters we have played all season long. He, Phillip Javorsky and Brendon Miller both played well and gave us a lead going into the fourth quarter. They all hit big shots for us and it was a good all-around quarter.”

Penner scored a layup, giving Corn Bible its first double-digit lead of the game. Corn Bible also went on a 6-0 run, making the score 33-19. Burns Flat battled back and made it 37-24 with 2:09 left in the game.

Burns Flat cut the lead to seven with 1:45 left in the game. Burns Flat cut it the lead to four with a minute and a half left in the game. Brendon Miller scored a layup, making the score 40-34 with 1:15 left in the game.

Burns Flat scored a layup, making it 40-36. Miller was fouled and made a free throw. Penner and Clayton fouled out of the game.

Corn Bible got a stop and Miller was fouled again with 26 seconds left in the game. He made them both, making the score 43-36. Burns Flat hit a 3-pointer, making it 43-39 with 11 seconds left in the game.

Miller was fouled again. He made both, giving Corn Bible a 45-39 advantage. Burns Flat would not go away, scoring a layup, making it 45-41 with 3 seconds left to play. Javorsky was fouled and he made his free throws and Corn Bible won 47-41.

Corn Bible went 8-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Zoschke said making free throws late in a game matters and was the difference in the game.

“Making free throws at the end of the game always is huge,” Zoscke said. “We shot free throws well and made shots when it mattered late in the game as well. Closing out games by making free throws is super important and we executed very well.”

Corn Bible improves to 4-10 on the season. They played at Union City Tuesday and they return to action, 8 p.m. Thursday at Mountain-View Gotebo.

“We have to keep building off the success we had in this tournament,” Zoschke said. “We have been working on blocking out and closing out on attackers. I am hoping we continue to defend like we do. I really want us to get in the gym by shooting more and working on fundamentals on defense.”