Tiger Boys are State Bound!

For the first time since 2015, the Stockton Tiger Boys are bound for the KSHSAA Class 1A State Basketball Tournament after defeating the Greeley County Jackrabbits 51-33 in the finals of the substate tourney at Russell on Saturday. The Tigers (14-11) are the eighth seed at State and will face topseeded and undefeated Elbing-Berean Academy (25-0) this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge

Stockton advanced to the finals of Sub-State after downing the Claflin-Central Plains Wildcats 44-41 in the semifinal game last Thursday.

After falling behind 8-2 early in the contest against Central Plains, the Tigers came back and owned an 11-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter, behind scoring from Gage Conyac, Ethan Means and Quinn Coffey. A 19-point second period, in which Josh Coleman drained four treys, gave Stockton a 30-18 lead at the intermission, and much momentum to go with it.

However, in the third quarter the Tigers didn’t pick up where they left off in the first half. In fact, Stockton struggled to hit shots, while it seemed, despite good defense by the Tigers, the Wildcats made everything they threw up at the goal.

Central Plains scored to open the third period, but Trevor Miller answered for the Tigers with a trey to push the lead to 13, 33-20, at the 5:59 mark of the third. The Wildcats would go on to outscore Stockton 7-3 to finish out the period, cutting the Tigers’ lead to single digits, 36-27, going into the final eight minutes.

A three-pointer by Central Plains to open the fourth quarter got the Wildcats back within six, 36-30, and three minutes later, the difference was just two points, 36-34, with Stockton still on top.

The Tigers finally ended their five-minute scoring drought when Jace Hull hit a shot underneath the basket on a pass from Means to make the score 38-34 with 3:52 left in the game. A minute later the Wildcats scored, but Coffey was quick to answer to regain a 40-36 advantage.

With 1:31 remaining to be played, Stockton’s lead was cut to two, 40-38, and with 1:05 to go Coleman was fouled, hitting both shots from the charity stripe to put the Tigers back up by four, 42-38. A three-pointer by Central Plains with 48 seconds remaining to be played cut Stockton’s lead to one, 42-41, and the Tigers missed the front end of a one-and-one with 41 seconds left, with the Wildcats getting the rebound, trailing by only one.

On the ensuing possession, Central Plains put up a shot and missed, with Coleman getting the rebound. Again, Coleman was fouled and as he had done just seconds earlier, he calmly stepped up to the line and sank both free throws, giving Stockton a 44-411ead with 20 seconds left on the clock

Trailing by three, Central Plains got the ball in the front court and called a timeout, with 15 seconds left. The Tigers dug deep, and played tough defense. The shot attempt from the top of the key with about five seconds to go was blocked by Means, but the deflection ended up in the hands of a Wildcat, who kicked the ball out for another three-point attempt. Fortunately, the final shot hit the back of the rim and time ran out with Stockton holding on for the 44-41 victory, and advancing to the finals on Saturday against Tribune-Greeley County, who had cruised to a 58-40 win over Redford-Golden Plains.

Sophomore Josh Coleman led seven Tigers in scoring with 16 points. Central Plains was led by senior JJ Heredia with a game-high 17 points.

Tiger Boys vs. Greeley County

Saturday’s sub-state finals matchup pitted the top-seeded Tribune-Greeley County Jackrabbits (16-8) against Stockton (13-11), the second seed.

Greeley County put the first points on the scoreboard and just over a minute later Ethan Means scored for the Tigers, tying the game at 2-2. The opening period was a close one, with the Jackrabbits leading 9-8 at its end. Quinn Coffey scored the other six points for Stockton on a basket and four free throws.

A three-pointer by Josh Coleman gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, 11-9, at the 5:25 of the second quarter, but with 3:28 left in the half Greeley County was leading 12-11. Two free throws by Kameran Hamel put Stockton up 13-12 a few seconds later, but the Jackrabbits answered to regain a 14-13 advantage.

With 1:23 to go in second period, Troy Rogers hit a trey to give Stockton a 16-14 lead, but 30 seconds later the game was tied again at 16-16. Gage Conyac’s basket with 26 seconds remaining in the first half gave the Tigers a slim 18-16 advantage, and they never trailed from that point on.

Means and Coleman each scored within the first minute of the third quarter to push Stockton’s lead to 22-16, but Greeley County got back within four, 22-18, on two free throws. A shot by Conyac and another three-pointer by Coleman put the Tigers on top 27-18 at the 5:49 mark of the third, and by the end of the period Stockton, behind Means’ shots and assists, would enjoy a 38-23 advantage.

During the next three and a half minutes of action the Tigers would lead by as much as 15, but Greeley County was within 12, 42-30, with 4:12 left to play.

Neither team scored for awhile until Coleman made a basket with 1:28 to go, giving Stockton a 44-30 advantage. He would later add two free throws to push the margin to 46-30, and the Tigers would go on to win 51-33, and advance to the state tournament this week in Dodge City.

Josh Coleman led Stockton in scoring with 16 points, while junior Ethan Means added 14.

The Jackrabbits, who had just one senior on the team, were led by freshman Jaxon Brandi with 15 points.