Third quarter costs Greenbacks against Larned
It was a donnybrook Tuesday night when the Pratt High boys basketball team hosted Larned. The clubs had met in the season opener, in which the Indians rallied past the Frogs late. This time, Larned thwarted Pratt’s revenge effort and took a hard-fought 45-40 decision to hand the Greenbacks their first CKL defeat.
The first half will probably not appear on either team’s highlight reel, but the game got exciting toward the end. Larned was just able to make a few more plays down the stretch and hang on for the win.
If you like games where bodies are flying all over and hitting the floor hard and often, this would have been the game for you. Larned isn’t blessed with what you’d call traditional basketball grace, but they make up for it with hustle and physical play. “We knew coming in how tough and physical they are,” PHS head coach David Swank agreed.
Neither side could muster much offense early on. Samson Kohman scored all 5 points for PHS as the Frogs found themselves behind 8-5 after one quarter. “We didn’t shoot the ball well, but neither did they,” Coach Swank observed.
The second quarter was the best one for Pratt all night. Spencer Sullivan hit a couple of trifectas and Brandon Ruckle, Derek Barnard and Adam Bartel each hit 1-and-1s. Pratt took a 17-13 lead at halftime.
After intermission, the Greenbacks offensive woes returned, and that would prove to be Pratt’s undoing. Larned d’d up hard the entire game, and their frequent switching between zone and man seemed to keep the Frogs from ever getting in a rhythm. Again, Kohman’s 5 points were all the Greenbacks could muster in Q3, just like in Q1.
Meanwhile, Larned’s pounding of the offensive glass began to pay dividends. They were able to keep possessions alive and add to their scoring with second-chance points. On the night, Larned outboarded Pratt 32-22, and much of the difference came on the offensive glass for Larned. With most statistical categories even-steven, the difference in the game was probably on the boards. “I was disappointed that the game came down to rebounding,” Coach Swank acknowledged.
Pratt was down 29-22 after the disastrous third stanza, but continued fighting in the fourth quarter and definitely made things interesting. By the 1:30 mark, Pratt had gotten back to within 1 at 37-36. Bartel had 5 points, Kohman 2, Sullivan 3, Ruckle 2 and Barnard 2 as the Greenbacks rallied.
After Larned made three freebies, Jacob Kurz hit a trey to close the gap back to one. Pressuring the in-bounds pass, Pratt got a steal, but was whistled for a charge while driving for the go-ahead basket. On the Indians’ next possession, they made 1 free throw. Brandon Ruckle answered for PHS with one from the charity stripe, but Larned then executed their pressbreaker well to go up by 3 again, 43-40.
With 6 seconds remaining, Pratt got a good look, but the trey that would have tied the game rimmed out. Pratt fouled in desperation, and Larned made a 1+1 to account for the final score, 45-40 Indians.
“I gotta tip my hat to Larned,” Coach Swank said graciously. “They’re well-coached. They play hard.”
The Greenbacks will host Nickerson on Friday for Homecoming. “We’ll bounce back,” Swank concluded. “We’ll be ready.”
PHS boys 5 12 5 18 40
Larned 8 5 16 16 45
Samson Kohman 12, Ruckle 5, Barnard 4, Kurz 3, Sullivan 9, Bartel 7