Too many fouls and not enough defensive stops were the biggest culprits in a 45-33 loss last night at Kingman, as the Pratt High School girls basketball team fell to 5-10 on the season.
Pratt fell behind 5-0 before Aubrey Hoover hit an outside shot with 4:51 left in the first quarter.
The Lady Greenbacks trailed 8-2, but Dominique Staats found Payton Hoeme for a pair of buckets to end the first quarter with Kingman clinging to an 8-6 lead.
The Lady Eagles stretched it to a 14-8 lead near the midway point of the second quarter, but Hoover scored on a putback with 4:14 left to make it a four-point game.
Ashton Neumann then found Staats open for a baseline jumper with 3:42 left and Pratt was within two.
But Kingman’s Hayley Mertens hit a pair of free throws with 2:39 left for a 16-12 lead.
Hoeme’s basket with 2:27 left, which came off an assist from older sister Rystal, cut the lead to 16-14 at halftime.
Kingman out-rebounded Pratt 20-12 in the first half, and got to the free throw line six times while Pratt didn’t attempt a free throw.
Eight Kingman turnovers and dismal shooting (28 percent) by the Lady Eagles kept Pratt close.
On the first possession of the second half, Staats stole a Kingman pass and got fouled on a layup. She hit one of two free throws to get the Lady Greenbacks within one at 16-15.
But Kingman’s Jess Miller found Tina Molitor open under the basket for an 18-15 lead a minute into the quarter.
The teams traded baskets for several minutes, but Miller scored five straight points from the free throw line to put her team up 28-21 with 1:45 left in the third.
Pratt answered with a basket by Payton Home with 1:35 left, and Neumann got a steal and layup with 27 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
But Kingman’s Amelia Govert hit two free throws in the final 10 seconds as Kingman led 30-25 going into the fourth quarter.
In the final eight minutes, Kingman answered every Pratt rally attempt as they opened up a 44-31 lead in the final minute and went on to win 45-33.
Pratt struggled to score, hitting just 14 of 47 shots in the game (29 percent) and missing all eight three-pointers.
Kingman wasn’t much better, hitting just 13 of 39 shots, but the Lady Eagles buried three of four shots from long range and got to the free throw line 25 times to Pratt’s nine.
The Lady Greenbacks got 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks from Payton Hoeme.
Hoover added eight points, eight boards and two assists while Brooke Blankenship finished with six points, three rebounds, and two steals.
Neumann chipped in four points, three steals and two assists while Staats had three points to go with three steals, three assists and four rebounds.
Rystal Hoeme finished with two assists and two rebounds.
Kingman was led by Mertens with 17 points and Miller added 11.
The Lady Eagles (3-10) out-rebounded Pratt 39-24, helping to offset their 18 turnovers.
Pratt turned the ball over 16 times and committed 17 fouls.
The Lady Greenbacks did have 10 assists on 14 field goals.
PHS (5-10, 2-3 MSAA) will look to regroup Friday at Scott City. In the teams’ earlier meeting, Pratt led 32-28 in the fourth quarter before Scott City rallied for a 36-32 win.
The Lady Greenbacks are battling for a top-five seed in the Class 4A Sub-State tournament next month in Kingman, and a win over the 10-5 Lady Beavers would be a big help.
Other teams in the sub-state are Cheney (15-0), Ulysses (9-7), Colby (9-5), Clearwater (7-8), and Hugoton (3-10).
Pratt has home games against Larned and Ulysses, two teams they beat on the road earlier this season, to end the regular season next week, so a top four seed is not out of the question if the Lady Greenbacks can get on a roll starting Friday night.
Kingman 45, Pratt 33
PHS: Payton Hoeme 6 0-0 12, Aubrey Hoover 3 2-2 8, Brooke Blankenship 3 0-0 6, Ashton Neumann 1 2-3 4, Dominique Staats 1 1-2 3, Grace Fellhoelter 0 0-0 0, Rystal Hoeme 0 0-0 0, Martha Ramos 0 0-0 0, Whitney Tilley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 5-9 33.
KHS: Hayley Mertens 2 (3) 4-6 17, Jess Miller 2 7-11 11, Amelia Govert 1 3-6 5, McGinnis 2 0-0 4, Tina Molitor 2 0-0 4, Stephanie Funke 0 2-2 2, Sarah Schrag 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 10 (3) 16-25 45.
P 6 8 11 8 — 33
K 8 8 14 15 — 45
