Tonganoxie — A quick Santa Fe Trail surge in the third quarter negated a feisty fourth-quarter comeback by Tonganoxie, and the Chargers defeated the Chieftains, 74-65, in high school boys basketball Friday.
"I was really pleased by the effort in the third quarter," said SFT coach Brian Luther, whose team improved to 5-2. "The third quarter has really been a struggle for us this year but tonight was the most complete game we've put together."
Holding only a 31-28 lead at halftime, Santa Fe Trail quickly answered Tonganoxie's opening basket of the second half with a 16-6 run and led 55-45 by the quarter's end.
"They had a stretch in the third where we committed three turnovers and they scored on all three possessions for seven points, bam, bam, bam," Tonganoxie coach David Walker said.
Most of that spurt came from Chargers guard Ben Fawl, who scored 15 points 11 in the third quarter, including three three-pointers.
"There wasn't anything special about it," Fawl said. "I just felt the ball in my hand and went up with it."
While the third quarter provided a cushion for the Chargers, it almost wasn't enough as Tonganoxie roared back in the fourth cutting a second-half deficit of 15 to five in the final minute.
Chieftain forward Bryan Gurss, who scored a team-high 18 points, knocked down an off-balance jumper with his foot just inside the three-point line to cut the lead to 70-65 with :14.3 left.
But as was the case all night, Tonganoxie fouled and the Chargers hit their shots from the free-throw line.
"I was proud of the way my guys battled back in the fourth," Walker said. "That third quarter gave them a little cushion and they were able to try some different things. But you can't expect to win many games when you send a team to the line 48 times."
Santa Fe Trail didn't even shoot exceptionally well from the foul line, hitting 65 percent, but 31 points with the clock stopped made any Chieftains comeback seem slim.
And SFT's 6-foot-3 center, Brian Kral, was nearly unstoppable underneath.
Kral, who scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, missed only three shots two from the field and one free throw.
"It feels good to come back after the break and play like this," Kral said. "We have to keep this going and play complete games every time."
Santa Fe Trail girls 57, Tonganoxie 35
For a quarter and a half, Tonganoxie girls gave SFT all it could handle, but then the Chargers showed why they are 7-0.
Santa Fe Trail went on a 11-4 run midway through the second quarter to take a 24-16 advantage and then wore Tonganoxie down inside and out.
Melisa Ball had 18 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Chargers, and Alexis Pryor, Leslie Wurdeman and Lindsay Boss combined for 27 points. Boss also dished 10 assists.
Tonganoxie was led by Andrea Korb, who scored 15 points.
Santa Fe Trail boys 74, Tonganoxie 65
SANTA FE TRAIL (74)
Shane Miles 0-3 8-13 8, Cameron Babb 2-4 4-6 8, Brian Kral 6-8 10-11 22, Ben Fawl 5-8 2-2 15, Ryan Hulings 3-9 3-5 9, Justin Ramsdell 3-9 1-6 7, Jay Shively 1-3 0-1 2, Peter Sclar 0-1 1-2 1, Rob Musgrave 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 20-45 31-48 74.
TONGANOXIE (65)
Jacob Walker 2-8 6-6 10, Bryan Gurss 6-11 5-6 18, Joe Calovich 6-13 4-8 16, Jon Gripka 2-5 0-0 6, Matt Alexander 2-3 0-0 5, Shane Howard 0-3 0-1 0, Thomas Gilner 0-3 1-3 1, Jordan Glenn 3-8 0-0 7, Chad Turner 0-4 0-0 0, Kraig LaRosh 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-59 16-24 65.
Santa Fe Trail (5-2) 14 17 24 19 74
Tonganoxie (3-4) 8 20 17 20 65
Three-point goals SFT 3-6 (Fawl 3-4, Miles 0-1, Shively 0-1), Tonganoxie 5-15 (Gripka 2-3, Alexander 1-1, Gurss 1-3, Glenn 1-4, Turner 0-4). Total fouls SFT 21, Tonganoxie 34. Turnovers SFT 23, Tonganoxie 24.
Santa Fe Trail girls 57, Tonganoxie 35
SANTA FE TRAIL (57)
Janelle Arnold 2 0-0 4, Alexis Pryor 4 1-1 9, Ali Creek 1 0-2 2, Leslie Wurdeman 3 2-2 9, Jennie Deitrich 2 0-0 4, Erin Lee 1 0-0 2, Lindsay Boss 4 0-1 9, Melisa Ball 9 0-0 18. Totals 26 3-6 57.
TONGANOXIE (35)
Erin Seymour 0 4-5 4, Rebekah Mages 3 0--0 6, Alicia Stauch 1 2-2 4, Christie Menhusen 2 2-2 6, Andrea Korb 7 0-0 15. Totals 13 8-9 35.
Santa Fe Trail (7-0) 13 11 16 17 57
Tonganoxie (1-6) 8 8 5 14 35
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