MORAN — “There was a lid on the basket tonight,” said Marmaton Valley High boys’ head coach Denny Lasley following Tuesday night’s 61-52 Wildcat loss at home.
“We had our looks inside but we couldn’t get them to fall. But I can say our kids left it all out on the court tonight.”
Chetopa High’s Hornets went home with a Three Rivers League win over the Wildcats. Both teams came into the game at 2-5 in the league.
The Wildcats dropped to 2-6 in TRL play and 6-12 overall. They host Pleasanton for the MVHS homecoming game Friday.
Chetopa pushed out to a 16-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats charged back to get within one, 28-27, at halftime.
“We battled all the way through and it was a good game but we came up on the short end,” Lasley said.
In the third period, the Hornets maintained their lead with a 15-12 run. Chetopa finished off the game by outscoring Marmaton Valley 18-13 in the final quarter.
Zach Louk fired in 17 points as top Wildcat scorer. Cole Becker hit for 15 points and Lucas Hamlin added 10 points.
Becker stole the ball six times for the Wildcats. He also dished out five assists. Derrick Carr cleared five rebounds.
Marmaton Valley only shot four free throws in the game and hit three of them. Chetopa went 6 of 12 from the free-throw line.
The Hornets fired in five threes on the night, but it was 6-2 Brice Riddle who did damage inside with 18 points.
Derrick Cassell and Austen Sanders each scored 14 points. Tyler Pike had 13 points.
Marmaton Valley (12-15-12-13—52) (FG/3-pt): Louk 5/2-1-2-17, Smith 1-0-2-2, Carr 2-0-3-4, Becker 4/1-2-3-15, Hamlin 5-0-4-10, Stewart 1-0-0-2, Smart 1-0-2-2. TOTALS: 20/3-3-16-52.
Chetopa (16-12-15-18—61) (G/3-pt): Cassell 3/2-2-2-14, Pike 2/3-0-2-13, Johnson 0-0-2-0, Riddle 9-0-1-18, Sanders 5-4-1-14, Dvorak 0-2-0-2. TOTALS: 19/5-6-8-61.
