With Cheney boys coach Linndy Frieden headlining the team’s medical report last week, the Cardinals found a way to handle their on-court challenges and win the Adolph Rupp Invitational in Halstead.
 
Pushed to overtime by top-seeded Andale in Friday’s championship game, Cheney held off the Indians 56-54 as junior and tournament MVP Quaid Thomas scored 28 points. Thomas had nine points in the extra period as Cheney outscored Andale 10-8 for its fifth consecutive victory.
 
Frieden was hospitalized after Cheney’s quarterfinal victory over Winfield with kidney stones, according to school principal Greg Rosenhagen. Frieden underwent surgery over the weekend and was scheduled to be released Wednesday.

 
In his place, Cardinals assistant Chad Harbour-Nordahl, with the aid of assistant Dave Haden, guided Cheney to a 70-60 semifinal victory over Haven and the win over Andale, which improved the Cardinals to 10-6.
 
“A bunch of us played C-team for him and we’ve already formed that bond,” Cheney junior Ayden Koehn said. “We’ve all loved him from the get-go. Him coming in and coaching us for these last two games has been amazing.”
 
After seeing its unbeaten record blemished by Haven in last year’s Rupp final, Cheney won the 56^th annual tournament for the second time in three years and fourth time in six years. The latest title run continued the Cardinals’ recent surge after a 2-4 start that included three consecutive losses by a combined seven points.
 
“Going back to the start of the year, it’s been next man up,” Harbour-Nordahl said. “From football, we had injuries and guys were getting into shape. That mentality transferred over to the coaching staff this weekend. We just came through and played well at the right time.”
 
The 6-foot-6 Thomas, who was joined by Koehn on the all-tournament team, gave Cheney a 21-18 halftime lead over Andale with a banked-in 3-point shot at the buzzer. The Cardinals used the spark to maintain the lead for most of the second half, stretching their advantage to as many as eight points, 40-32, when Thomas followed in a missed free throw with 5:27 remaining.
 
Andale, which survived a 50-45 overtime semifinal against Garden Plain, rallied to take a game beyond regulation for the second straight night. Senior Jack Horsch, who led the Indians in the title game with 15 points, scored nine in the fourth quarter and six in the final 1:17.
 
The last two were a gut punch to Cheney, as Horsch hauled in teammate Sam Harp’s inbound pass from the left sideline, which caromed off the backboard to Horsch, who put it off the glass and in the basket just before the buzzer sounded to tie the score at 46.
 
“We practice for those situations,” Koehn said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games this season. When those things do happen, we know we can come out in the overtime and punch back and not get defeated.”
 
Harbour-Nordahl implemented multiple defenses throughout the title game. The Cardinals generated turnovers with full-court pressure and stymied Andale at times with a 2-1-2 zone.
 
“Our goal the whole time has been to play our best at the right time,” Harbour-Nordahl said. “We’ve still got some things to work on for sure, but we’re getting better.”
 

 
CHAPARRAL WINS OWN TOURNAMENT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1980
 
For far too long in their view, the Chaparral Roadrunners have been a bit too gracious as hosts of the Roadrunner Classic.
 
Thanks to a fourth-quarter rally in the championship game, Chaparral finally changed all that.
 
Kale Greve hit three 3-pointers to help the Roadrunners outscore Wichita Homeschool 18-5 down the stretch and claim a 58-53 victory for Chaparral’s first title in the 55^th annual tournament since 1980.
 
Chaparral positioned itself to end the drought last January, building a seven-point halftime lead against Wellington in the title game. But the Crusaders rallied for a 58-48 victory.
 
This time, all-tournament selection Jack Walker led four Roadrunners in double figures with 16 points in the championship as Chaparral pushed its record to 12-1. Mason Corliss scored 13 to lead Wichita Homeschool, which led 48-40 after three quarters.
 
“That drove them a lot this year,” Chaparral coach Corbin Hostetler said of the 2025 loss to Wellington. “I still don’t really know if the kids know how big of a deal it was to finally win it. We’ll see whether this helps us moving forward or not.”
 
Brothers Carter and Daxton Hostetler each scored 12 points and Greve added 10 in the title game for Chaparral, which stretched its winning streak to 11 games. The top-seeded Roadrunners opened the tournament with a 61-51 victory over Belle Plaine and followed with a 47-35 semifinal win over Conway Springs.
 
Walker scored 47 points in the tournament. Daniel Schmidt, who scored 20 points in the opening victory over Belle Plaine, and Carter Hostetler, who added 37 points in three games, joined Walker on the all-tournament team.
 

GAITHER’S BUZZER BEATER GIVES OXFORD ELUSIVE SCBL TOURNAMENT TITLE
 
Oxford coach Kyle Green expected South Central Border League tournament titles to come frequently after leading the Wildcats to the championship in his first season in 2006-07.
 
Nearly 20 years and a buzzer beater later, Green has his second.
 
Junior Logan Gaither broke free under the basket on an inbounds play and scored at the buzzer on a feed from senior Tucker Ruyle, giving Oxford a 37-35 victory over Cedar Vale-Dexter in the SCBL tournament final at Cowley Community College in Arkansas City.
 
Gaither finished with 14 points and nine rebounds in the championship game as the third-seeded Wildcats prevailed to improve to 9-3. Senior Kellen Green added 11 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for Oxford, which overcame a 25-17 halftime deficit.
 
“We’ve had a lot of regular-season success in terms of SCBL league titles, but winning the tournament again had become elusive,” Kyle Green said. “Since the ’06-’07 season we had been in the finals five other times. Winning that sucker this past week was huge for our kids and our program.”
 
Oxford entered last year’s SCBL tournament as the No. 1 seed, but fell to South Haven in the semifinals. The Wildcats salvaged third place with a 57-55 over Cedar Vale-Dexter, getting the winning points in the closing seconds by Kellen Green, the coach’s son.
 
That memory played into the Wildcats’ thinking as they prepared to inbound the ball with 1.5 seconds to play and the score tied in Friday’s championship.
 
“We figured they would key on (Kellen), so we adjusted our inbounds play at the timeout and used him as a decoy,” Kyle Green said. “A lot of teams have geared their defenses to slow him down this year. … Huge credit to our kids for executing an end-game situation under pressure.”
 
Oxford paired several key plays with a strong second-half defensive effort to get the victory. A basket by sophomore Kale Moberly and ensuing three-point play by Ruyle cut a six-point deficit to one. Green, who scored 52 points in the tournament, hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining to tie the score at 35.
 
After a steal by Gaither, Oxford ran the clock down and Ruyle took a shot that missed, but the ball caromed out of bounds off Cedar Vale-Dexter. Gaither got the winning basket after sealing off a defender and catching Ruyle’s inbound pass right under the basket.
 
Oxford reached the championship game after defeating Udall 74-53 and Flinthills 55-37. Green scored 23 and 18 points in those victories. Gaither added 16 points in the quarterfinal victory over Udall, while senior Chase Douglas (15 points) and Moberly (10) joined Green in double figures in the semifinal win over Flinthills.
 
“We finally busted the door back down,” Kyle Green said. “For this bunch, with all the unknowns coming into the season, it’s huge for them. I know I’m very proud of them as is our community. They are a special group of kids.”
 

DEFENSE CARRIES NORWICH TO 54 CLASSIC TITLE
 
Norwich gave sixth-year head coach Nicholas Kyle his 100^th career victory on the way to winning the 54 Classic Friday at Pratt’s Skyline High School.
 
Many of those victories, including the three in last week’s tournament, have been stamped by the Eagles’ trademark defense.
 
Norwich yielded a combined total of 90 points in the three games, finishing the title run with a 50-36 victory over Heart of the Plains counterpart Stafford. Lane Hilger scored 15 points and tournament MVP Jayden Benge added 13 in the championship game for Norwich, which is on an eight-game winning streak after defeating Argonia 59-27 on Tuesday.
 
“Defense has been our backbone and kept us in games, even when shots aren’t falling,” said Kyle, whose team has yielded 36.1 points per game while posting a 13-3 record. “Winning this tournament was a confidence boost for our team that words can’t describe. It will continue to be a great motivator as we approach the postseason.”
 
The Eagles, who placed Benge and Drew Kelly on the all-tournament team, opened the 54 Classic with a 48-26 victory over Skyline and a 43-28 semifinal win over Medicine Lodge.
 
In the championship, Norwich outscored Stafford 24-10 in the second half to pull away after the score was tied at 26 at the break.
 
“After experiencing a number of rotation changes due to illness and injury early in the season, it felt as if we were finally getting into a routine and hitting our stride leading up to the tournament,” Kyle said. “Our play has been much more consistent, which was the name of the game throughout the tournament.
 
“We’re getting high quality offensive possessions and I’m really proud of our shot selection.”
 
The Eagles made their presence felt in the tournament’s individual competitions as well. Hilger won the 3-point contest and Benge won the free throw contest.
 

NO. 1 STERLING ROLLS TO TITLE IN OWN TOURNAMENT
 
Of all the things Sterling accomplished last year on its way to the Class 2A boys basketball title, winning its own tournament wasn’t one of them.
 
The Black Bears emphatically checked that box last week, cruising to three Sterling Invitational victories by an average of 34.7 points. The last was a 78-55 victory over Hugoton in the championship game that pushed 2A’s top-ranked team to 14-0.
 
Senior Boston Ekart scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the final to lead Sterling, and also became the tournament’s all-time scoring leader with 223 points, surpassing Little River’s Lucas Raleigh, who scored 217 from 1998-2001. The Black Bears won the tournament – which started in 1975 – for the ninth time overall and second time in three seasons.
 
“We really played our brand of basketball throughout the tournament,” Sterling coach Derek Schneider said. “I was proud of how well we defended, particularly our help-side defense and our rotations. Because these two areas were strong, it allowed us to pressure the ball all over the court.
 
“We have really been working on trusting each other on defense, and we took a great step forward in this tournament toward that goal.”
 
With Ekart scoring 70 points during the tournament, Sterling also had its offense covered as well.
 
Joined by fellow senior Blake Smith and sophomore Jacob Lewis on the all-tournament team, Ekart led top-seeded Sterling to an 81-35 victory over Kingman in the quarterfinals, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Lewis added 18 points and Smith had 13 against the Eagles.
 
In the semifinals, Smith scored 17 points and Ekart added 16 as Sterling blistered Scott City, last year’s tournament champion, 69-34. Smith backed up Ekart’s stellar championship performance with 24 points against Hugoton as the Black Bears won their 28^th consecutive game since the 49-45 loss to Scott City in last year’s tournament finale.
 
Ekart also set a tournament record for career field goals with 91, while senior Logan Isaac won the tourney’s 3-point contest.
 
“It’s always great to win the midseason tournament, but probably is even more meaningful to us because we host the tournament,” Schneider said. “We use the tournament to prepare for sub-state, as the format is similar with two big games in a row to win the championship.”


BEREAN ACADEMY SHUTS DOWN FOES IN ELI J. WALTER TITLE RUN
 
With several key Heart of America League tests awaiting in February, Berean Academy put its most effective weapon – defense – on full display during the Eli J. Walter Invitational.
 
The Warriors held three tournament opponents – two of them ranked in Class 2A – to 27 points or less in cruising to a title in their home tournament. Berean smothered previously unbeaten Ell-Saline 45-27 on Friday for the championship.
 
Nolan Sweazy scored 18 points and Jace Unruh added 10 in the title game for Berean, which improved to 12-1 and climbed to No. 4 in this week’s Kansas Basketball Coaches Association 2A rankings.
 
The Warriors held Ell-Saline 20 points below its previous season-low point total of 47, outscoring the Cardinals 13-3 in the third quarter to stretch their lead to 35-18. But that wasn’t the only display of defensive dominance Berean displayed in the tournament.
 
The Warriors opened with a 56-23 victory over Hutchinson Central Christian, then shut down Wichita Classical 52-26 in the semifinals. Classical entered the tournament ranked No. 6 in 2A, while Ell-Saline was No. 2.
 
Ell-Saline was the ninth opponent Berean has held under 30 points this season.
 
 
SALINA SOUTH WINS WEATHER-DELAYED SALINA INVITATIONAL
 
Salina South won its first Salina Invitational title in five years, using a big third-quarter run to pull away from Great Bend 63-39 in Monday’s championship game at Mabee Arena.
 
The top-seeded Cougars moved their record to 11-4 after tournament victories over Wichita South and rival Salina Central put them in the final against defending champion Great Bend. Kobie Henley, who missed the tournament opener due to illness, scored 13 points in the final to lead South’s balanced attack.
 
Great Bend pulled within 27-23 shortly after halftime before the Cougars countered with 18 of the next 22 points. South was particularly strong from long range, making 8 of 11 3-point shots in the contest.
 
Tournament MVP Gavin DeVoe and Easton Wilcox each scored 11 points to boost South in the championship. Jaxon Myers joined that duo on the all-tournament team for the Cougars.