Osage City looked the part of a top seed in its opening game of the Flint Hills Shootout.
The Indians threw Chase County out of rhythm early with their full-court pressure, and the Bulldogs struggled to get looks at the basket at all, let alone good ones. A 19-2 start set the tone, and Tyler Bartee scored 18 points to lead Osage to a 69-30 opening-round win over the eighth-seeded Bulldogs.
“We get after you and make you try to play our speed,” Osage coach Dennis Fort said. “If you do, that’s great for us; if you don’t, we might struggle a little bit.”
There was no struggling for the Indians in this one. In fact, it took virtually no time for Osage to dominate and frustrate Chase County. With the Indians up 8-2, Ethan Michael hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to push Osage’s advantage to nine, and the Indians’ lead then reached double digits for the first time off a steal and layin by Preston Conner. He was fouled on the play, and Chase County’s Greg Davis was whistled for a technical foul. Conner hit the and-one shot, then one of the two technical shots to make it 15-2. With time ticking away in the first, Bartee drove the right baseline, pulled up nine feet away and sank a midrange jumper to give Osage a 19-2 advantage.
The second quarter was more of the same. Bartee drove for a layup to make it 35-12, then stole the ensuing inbounds pass, hit a runner and drew contact. His and-one free throw made it 38-12. A three by Josh Carson, a drive through the middle of the lane by Kyle Hallgren and a buzzer-beating 9-footer on the baseline by Bartee gave the Indians a commanding 45-16 edge at halftime.
Bartee headed into the break with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
“It was pretty intense,” Bartee said. “It was probably one of the best nights I had. They couldn’t guard me when I was driving, so that helped.”
The Indians ran their way to 28 shots in the first half, making 17; the Bulldogs got off just 13 shots from the floor, hitting three.
Osage’s lead continued to grow in the third quarter. Josh Carson and Bartee hit back-to-back triples to make it 55-20, and Michael buried a three from the left corner to increase the Indians’ advantage to 60-22. With Osage up 63-26 at the end of the third, the running-clock rule went into effect for the fourth.
Bartee finished 8-of-10 from the floor. Carson added 11 points, Jacob Keighley had eight inside, and Michael and Hallgren each had six.
Chase County ended the game with 26.9 percent shooting (7-of-26), while Osage knocked down 56.5 percent of its 46 shots. Jesse Cole had 11 points to lead the Bulldogs, and Shawn Talkington had six, all coming from the foul line.
“One great thing about that defense when you watch ’em: they are all on the same page at all times,” Chase County coach Kip Wilson said. “There’s nothing unorganized about ’em. They pressure hard, they cover everything up very well. We lack a ballhandler at times, and so it really causes some problems for us. But in general, they cause a lot of problems for us.”
Osage will take on fifth-seeded Mission Valley in the tournament semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday after the Vikings defeated West Franklin 45-42 earlier Tuesday. Chase County will take on West Franklin in the consolation bracket at 3 p.m.
“I think our kids (look) forward to playing in the auditorium,” Fort said. “It’s such a neat place to play, and it’s a big gym, and if you (don’t) happen to get a chance to go to the state tournament, you’ve at least got a chance to play in a big gym.”
Osage City 69, Chase County 30
Chase County 2 14 10 4 — 30
Osage City 19 26 18 6 — 69
Chase County — Cooper 0-1 1-2 1, Davis 2-5 0-0 4, Talkington 0-5 6-6 6, Lauer 0-1 1-2 1, Lang 0-1 0-0 0, Cole 4-6 2-4 11, Benjamin 1-2 2-2 4, Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Crawford 0-1 2-2 2, Grokett 0-2 0-0 0, Heathman 0-0 0-0 0, Fancka 0-1 0-0 0, Holinde 0-0 0-0 0, Murawski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-26 15-20 30.
Osage City — Bartee 8-10 1-2 18, Carson 4-8 0-1 11, Tice 0-2 2-2 2, Marple 1-1 2-2 4, Keighley 3-6 2-4 8, Schwieger 1-4 0-0 2, Michael 2-5 0-0 6, Hallgren 3-3 0-0 6, Conner 1-3 2-3 4, Heward 1-1 2-4 4, Woodward 2-3 0-0 4, McFarland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-46 11-18 69.
3-point goals — Chase County 1-5 (Cole 1-1, Benjamin 0-1, Davis 0-1, Cooper 0-1, Lauer 0-1), Osage City 6-16 (Carson 3-6, Michael 2-4, Bartee 1-2, Conner 0-2, Woodward 0-1, Schweiger 0-1). Total fouls — Chase County 14, Osage City 18. Fouled out — None.
Mission Valley boys 45, West Franklin 42
Ryne Cook had just four points, but they were the biggest points of the night for Mission Valley — all four came in the final minute to give the Vikings the win in the boys tournament’s opening game.
Cook knocked down a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to put Mission Valley up 44-42. At the other end, West Franklin’s Trey Wadkins was fouled underneath with 10.2 seconds left. He missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but the ball went out of bounds off Mission Valley with 8.5 seconds left. The Falcons inbounded to Wadkins, who missed a three from the left corner, and Cook rebounded and was fouled with 3.6 seconds remaining.
Cook got the shooter’s roll to bury the first free throw, then missed the second, and West Franklin called timeout with 2.2 seconds left. Bryant Harmon got off a desperation shot from just inside halfcourt before the buzzer sounded, but it came up short of the basket.
TaZarus Isom led Mission Valley with 16 points. Harmon had 14 for the Falcons.
Mission Valley 45, West Franklin 42
Mission Valley 5 14 11 15 — 45
West Franklin 12 14 7 9 — 42
Mission Valley — Cook 4, Branch 6, Harris 5, Isom 16, Rudeen 5, Marcotte 8, Fritz 1.
West Franklin — Harmon 14, Cunningham 8, Brady 3, Humerickhouse 6, McChain 1, Wadkins 1, Nitcher 2, Miller 7.
Council Grove 58,
Herington 37
Second-seeded Council Grove had no trouble with seventh-seeded Herington in the capper to Tuesday night’s tournament action. Sean Carr scored 22 points to lead the Braves into a second-round matchup against Lyndon at 8:15 p.m. Friday.
“We did a good job really putting pressure on their ballhandlers, and then we also crashed the boards real hard on both ends of the floor,” Braves coach Bruce Hula said. “If you have that type of effort, you’re gonna be pretty successful, and you just need to do it every night.”
Derek Ziegenhirt added 15 for Council Grove, and Brandon Dugan had seven.
Council grove boys 58, Herington 37
Herington 7 7 12 11 — 37
Council Grove 15 17 15 11 — 58
Herington — Erickson 3, Shriver 2, Martin 1, Heitfield 2, Barber 19, Meyer 3, Knopp 7.
Council Grove — Bowles 2, Sisson 3, Johnson 3, Carr 22, Grimmett 2, Frye 4, Dugan 7, Ziegenhirt 15.
Total fouls — Herington 15, Council Grove 11. Fouled out — None.