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By Melanie McGee
sports@pratttribune.com
Momentum in a basketball game can shift at any time — all it takes is for one person to make a play. Usually, a momentum-changing play will involve a basket or a steal, but during last night’s Class 4A State Quarterfinal game in Salina, perhaps the biggest play of the night was the charge that Pratt junior Matt Swank took late in the third quarter.
At the time that Swank went crashing to the deck, Circle had cut the Greenbacks’ lead to two points and the T-birds were headed in for a fast break basket.
But as Swank fell down, a whistle blew and the momentum swung back to Pratt, for good this time, as the Greenbacks got 11 straight points from sophomore point guard Micah Swank.
Fifteen seconds later after his brother took the pivotal charge, he buried a three-pointer for a 34-29 lead. After a basket by Circle’s Nick Warren, the younger Swank hit another three.
It was followed by a T-bird turnover, and with 1:45 left, Micah drove to the basket and drew a foul on Circle junior Jordan Phillips. The shot went in anyway, and he converted the three-point play for a 40-31 lead.
Matt Swank blocked a shot and got the rebound at the other end, and Micah scored in transition to put the Greenbacks in front 42-31 with 1:28 left in the third.
In the final seconds of the quarter, Micah picked off an entry pass intended for Phillips, then found Matt open for a three-pointer that sent Pratt into the fourth quarter leading 45-31.
Micah buried yet another three on Pratt’s first possession of the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 17 points before Phillips scored four straight for Circle to keep the T-birds within striking distance down 48-35 with 6:18 left.
“They were playing a really sagging man-to-man with their post kids camping in the lane, so he stepped up and made some plays,” PHS coach David Swank said. “That was probably the difference in the game.”
Over the next three minutes, every time Circle scored, Pratt had an answer.
The Greenbacks got two free throws from Matt Swank, a bucket in the paint from Luke Southard, a three by Matt, and a free throw from Southard to lead 56-42 with 4:30 remaining.
Even a three-minute scoring drought didn’t make much of a dent in Pratt’s lead. Circle scored five straight to get within nine points with 2:32 left, but the Greenbacks continued to get stops when they needed them.
With 1:17 left, Micah Swank cut down court ahead of everyone else and got an easy layup for a 60-49 advantage. After Matt Swank grabbed a defensive rebound with a minute left, Micah hit a pair of free throws to make it a 62-49 Pratt lead with 48.3 seconds left.
Warren buried a three with 40 seconds left, but it was too little, too late for the T-birds as Pratt held on for a 64-56 win and a spot in tonight’s semifinal round.
The Greenbacks (22-2) advanced despite shooting just 24.1 percent from the floor in the first half to 53.1 percent for Circle. Pratt attempted 14 more shots and scored eight points off of 14 first-half Circle turnovers.
About the only Greenbacks who shot remotely well in the first half were seniors Skylar Angood and Luke Southard.
Southard had Pratt’s first points and got a putback midway through the second quarter, plus had five rebounds in the opening half.
“Offensively he really played a good game,” Swank said of the 6-4 senior.
Angood hit an early three and had two baskets in the second quarter to keep Pratt in contention as the rest of the Greenbacks struggled to find their touch.
“Skylar Angood was huge in the first half,” Swank said. “He kept us in the game.”
Despite Circle’s eight-for-15 shooting, Swank was pleased with Pratt’s defense for the most part.
“I thought defensively we played pretty well in the first half, but we had opportunities to take a charge on Gardinier in the first half and didn’t do that,” he said. “I was disappointed a little bit with that.”
There wasn’t much to be disappointed with in the second half, as Pratt hit 13 of 24 field goals, seven of 11 three-pointers, and eight of nine free throws while pulling away for the win.
Micah Swank led all scorers with 26 points, plus had four rebounds, four assists and three steals while hitting all nine of his free throws.
Angood finished with 14 points while Matt Swank shook off a terrible start to put up 11 points in the second half. Swank also had six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Southard added seven points and eight rebounds despite spending most of the game in foul trouble. Brad Richardson had four points and two steals, and Rhett Hostetler scored two points for PHS.
Circle got 12 points each from Gardinier and Phillips, and four players scored seven points for the T-birds.
In other Class 4A boys quarterfinal action, Ottawa beat Holton 46-41, Coffeyville – Field Kindley beat Nickerson 52-38, and Sumner got a 64-63 overtime win over Topeka-Hayden to end the night.
Today’s semifinal round will feature Ottawa taking on Field Kindley at 4:45 p.m. and Pratt facing Sumner in the 8:15 p.m. contest.
Pratt 64, Circle 56
CHS: Alex Gardinier 4-9 4-7 12, Jordan Phillips 6-8 0-1 12, Kanyon Kinder 2-4 2-2 7, Eric Shepard 3-5 1-1 7, Brett Tunnell 2-5 2-2 7, Nick Warren 3-8 0-1 7, Logan Breault 1-1 0-0 2, Jacob Engels 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Frazier 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Harstine 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Kirkpatrick 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Ronnebaum 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 22-43 9-14 56.
PHS: Micah Swank 7-12 9-9 26, Skylar Angood 4-11 4-4 14, Matt Swank 3-14 2-2 11, Luke Southard 3-6 1-2 7, Brad Richardson 2-6 0-0 4, Rhett Hostetler 1-1 0-0 2, Brady Batman 0-2 0-0 0, B.J. Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Grayson Hostetler 0-1 0-0 0, Payson Maydew 0-0 0-0 0, Austin McClain 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-53 16-17 64.
C 10 12 9 25 – 56
P 12 11 22 19 – 64
3-point goals – CHS 3-7 (Kinder 1-1, Tunnell 1-1, Warren 1-4, Gardinier 0-1), PHS 8-22 (Ma. Swank 3-11, Mi. Swank 3-6, Angood 2-4, Richardson 0-1). Rebounds – CHS 31 (Shepard 9), PHS 28 (Southard 8). Assists – CHS 7 (Gardinier 3), PHS 11 (Ma. Swank 5). Turnovers – CHS 21, PHS 14. Total fouls – CHS 16, PHS 19. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
By Melanie McGee
sports@pratttribune.com
Momentum in a basketball game can shift at any time — all it takes is for one person to make a play. Usually, a momentum-changing play will involve a basket or a steal, but during last night’s Class 4A State Quarterfinal game in Salina, perhaps the biggest play of the night was the charge that Pratt junior Matt Swank took late in the third quarter.
At the time that Swank went crashing to the deck, Circle had cut the Greenbacks’ lead to two points and the T-birds were headed in for a fast break basket.
But as Swank fell down, a whistle blew and the momentum swung back to Pratt, for good this time, as the Greenbacks got 11 straight points from sophomore point guard Micah Swank.
Fifteen seconds later after his brother took the pivotal charge, he buried a three-pointer for a 34-29 lead. After a basket by Circle’s Nick Warren, the younger Swank hit another three.
It was followed by a T-bird turnover, and with 1:45 left, Micah drove to the basket and drew a foul on Circle junior Jordan Phillips. The shot went in anyway, and he converted the three-point play for a 40-31 lead.
Matt Swank blocked a shot and got the rebound at the other end, and Micah scored in transition to put the Greenbacks in front 42-31 with 1:28 left in the third.
In the final seconds of the quarter, Micah picked off an entry pass intended for Phillips, then found Matt open for a three-pointer that sent Pratt into the fourth quarter leading 45-31.
Micah buried yet another three on Pratt’s first possession of the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 17 points before Phillips scored four straight for Circle to keep the T-birds within striking distance down 48-35 with 6:18 left.
“They were playing a really sagging man-to-man with their post kids camping in the lane, so he stepped up and made some plays,” PHS coach David Swank said. “That was probably the difference in the game.”
Over the next three minutes, every time Circle scored, Pratt had an answer.
The Greenbacks got two free throws from Matt Swank, a bucket in the paint from Luke Southard, a three by Matt, and a free throw from Southard to lead 56-42 with 4:30 remaining.
Even a three-minute scoring drought didn’t make much of a dent in Pratt’s lead. Circle scored five straight to get within nine points with 2:32 left, but the Greenbacks continued to get stops when they needed them.
With 1:17 left, Micah Swank cut down court ahead of everyone else and got an easy layup for a 60-49 advantage. After Matt Swank grabbed a defensive rebound with a minute left, Micah hit a pair of free throws to make it a 62-49 Pratt lead with 48.3 seconds left.
Warren buried a three with 40 seconds left, but it was too little, too late for the T-birds as Pratt held on for a 64-56 win and a spot in tonight’s semifinal round.
The Greenbacks (22-2) advanced despite shooting just 24.1 percent from the floor in the first half to 53.1 percent for Circle. Pratt attempted 14 more shots and scored eight points off of 14 first-half Circle turnovers.
About the only Greenbacks who shot remotely well in the first half were seniors Skylar Angood and Luke Southard.
Southard had Pratt’s first points and got a putback midway through the second quarter, plus had five rebounds in the opening half.
“Offensively he really played a good game,” Swank said of the 6-4 senior.
Angood hit an early three and had two baskets in the second quarter to keep Pratt in contention as the rest of the Greenbacks struggled to find their touch.
“Skylar Angood was huge in the first half,” Swank said. “He kept us in the game.”
Despite Circle’s eight-for-15 shooting, Swank was pleased with Pratt’s defense for the most part.
“I thought defensively we played pretty well in the first half, but we had opportunities to take a charge on Gardinier in the first half and didn’t do that,” he said. “I was disappointed a little bit with that.”
There wasn’t much to be disappointed with in the second half, as Pratt hit 13 of 24 field goals, seven of 11 three-pointers, and eight of nine free throws while pulling away for the win.
Micah Swank led all scorers with 26 points, plus had four rebounds, four assists and three steals while hitting all nine of his free throws.
Angood finished with 14 points while Matt Swank shook off a terrible start to put up 11 points in the second half. Swank also had six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Southard added seven points and eight rebounds despite spending most of the game in foul trouble. Brad Richardson had four points and two steals, and Rhett Hostetler scored two points for PHS.
Circle got 12 points each from Gardinier and Phillips, and four players scored seven points for the T-birds.
In other Class 4A boys quarterfinal action, Ottawa beat Holton 46-41, Coffeyville – Field Kindley beat Nickerson 52-38, and Sumner got a 64-63 overtime win over Topeka-Hayden to end the night.
Today’s semifinal round will feature Ottawa taking on Field Kindley at 4:45 p.m. and Pratt facing Sumner in the 8:15 p.m. contest.
Pratt 64, Circle 56
CHS: Alex Gardinier 4-9 4-7 12, Jordan Phillips 6-8 0-1 12, Kanyon Kinder 2-4 2-2 7, Eric Shepard 3-5 1-1 7, Brett Tunnell 2-5 2-2 7, Nick Warren 3-8 0-1 7, Logan Breault 1-1 0-0 2, Jacob Engels 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Frazier 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Harstine 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Kirkpatrick 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Ronnebaum 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 22-43 9-14 56.
PHS: Micah Swank 7-12 9-9 26, Skylar Angood 4-11 4-4 14, Matt Swank 3-14 2-2 11, Luke Southard 3-6 1-2 7, Brad Richardson 2-6 0-0 4, Rhett Hostetler 1-1 0-0 2, Brady Batman 0-2 0-0 0, B.J. Dean 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Grayson Hostetler 0-1 0-0 0, Payson Maydew 0-0 0-0 0, Austin McClain 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-53 16-17 64.
C 10 12 9 25 – 56
P 12 11 22 19 – 64
3-point goals – CHS 3-7 (Kinder 1-1, Tunnell 1-1, Warren 1-4, Gardinier 0-1), PHS 8-22 (Ma. Swank 3-11, Mi. Swank 3-6, Angood 2-4, Richardson 0-1). Rebounds – CHS 31 (Shepard 9), PHS 28 (Southard 8). Assists – CHS 7 (Gardinier 3), PHS 11 (Ma. Swank 5). Turnovers – CHS 21, PHS 14. Total fouls – CHS 16, PHS 19. Fouled out – None. Technicals – None.
