RVL, GPAC tournaments get under way

The Republican Valley League and Golden Plains Athletic Conference basketball tournaments got under way Monday night with first-round girls division games.

The host teams all won Monday night in the RVL Tournament.

Southern Valley defeated Alma 49-36, Cambridge defeated Bertrand 51-28 and Republican Valley defeated Arapahoe 56-33.

The tournament shifts to Cambridge for games Thursday through Saturday.

In the semifinals Thursday, Southern Valley will play Dundy County, which received a first-round bye, and Cambridge plays Republican Valley.

First-round boys action starts tonight. Cambridge received a bye, Republican Valley hosts Bertrand, Dundy County hosts Southern Valley and Arapahoe hosts Alma.

Games start at 7 p.m.

Cambridge will play the Betrand-Rep Valley winner in the semifinals Friday, followed by the other semi between the Dundy County-Southern Valley winner and the Alma-Arapahoe winner.

The championships are slated for Saturday night.

In first-round games at the GPAC tournament, Wauneta-Palisade defeated Maywood 74-31, Hayes Center clipped Twin Valley 45-44, Wallace beat Lakeside Central 52-30 and Wheatland downed Culbertson 36-23.

The semis Thursday will feature Wauneta-Palisade vs. Hayes Center at 6 p.m. and Wallace vs. Wheatland at 7:30 p.m.

The third-place game starts at 3 p.m. Saturday and the championship game is slated for a 6 p.m. tip-off.

The tournament shifts to Madrid for the semifinals, third-place games and championship games.

RVL tourney

Southern Valley

girls 49,

Alma 36

OXFORD -- Southern Valley outscored Alma 15-8 in the first quarter and 10-1 in the third period to beat Alma.

Jenee Perkins led the Eagles with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Megan Becker added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Macenzie Quinn added 10 points, including a 3-pointer.

Whitney Ehrke paced the Cardinals with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Jennifer Rupke added 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Adrian Robison contributed 9 points and 5 rebounds.

Cambridge

girls 51,

Bertrand 28

CAMBRIDGE -- Cambridge outscored Bertrand 36-19 in the second half to advance to a semifinal showdown with Rep Valley.

Lisa Minnick led the host Trojans with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Stacy Moore poured in 12 points and added 4 assists.

Andi Langley added 7 points and 8 rebounds.

Cassie Bruckman had 6 points and 5 rebounds.

Kaci Nickerson scored just 2 points, but dished off 7 assists. Ashley Rice had 2 points and 3 boards.

The Vikings were led by Kinsey DeBoer with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

Brianne Ehmen added 6 points.

Republican

Valley girls 56,

Arapahoe 33

INDIANOLA -- The Rep Valley girls jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter and led at halftime 36-15.

Savannah Noyes led the victorious Mustangs with 15 points, followed by Caitlin Schaffert with 14.

Jaime Coolidge added 7 points, Chelsea Morgan 5, Lisa Daffer 5, Cayla Skaritka 4, Lindsay Esch 3, Danielle Vontz 2 and Chelsey Quigley 1.

Brittany McConville and Jeanie Bayliss played but did not score.

Coolidge and Morgan each pulled down 10 rebounds, followed by Schaffert with 9 and Daffer 5.

Skaritka had 3 steals and Coolidge handed out 4 assists. Coolidge and Schaffert each blocked 3 shots.

Skaritka and Noyes each had 2 blocked shots.

No stats were available from Arapahoe.

"It was a good team effort," said Rep Valley girls basketball coach Dennis Troester. "The bench contributed to our success."

GPAC tourney

Wauneta-

Palisade girls 74,

Maywood 31

WAUNETA -- The Wauneta-Palisade girls basketball team opened up a 41-15 halftime lead on the Maywood Tigers.

Four Broncos scored in double figures, led by Staci Alberts with 18 points.

Betsy Anderjaska added 14, Melissa Long 11 and Brittany O'Neil 10.

The Broncos fired in four 3-pointers, led by O'Neil with two.

Crystal Zwickl paced the Tigers with 19 points. Nicola Arensdorf added 8.

Hayes Center

girls 45,

Twin Valley 44

HAYES CENTER -- The Hayes Center Cardinal girls withstood a 22-15 run by the Twin Valley Rebels in the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals entered the final period with a 30-22 lead. Hayes Center led at halftime 22-11.

Kayla Laird led the Cardinals with 12 points.

Amy Cox and Sara Richter each added 8, Mary Gohl 7, Tera Bishop 6 and Jenny Hamilton 4.

Kayla McConville and Amanda Weaver each scored 15 points for the Rebels.

The duo combined for four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Weaver hit 7-of-9 free throws.

Wallace girls 52,

Lakeside

Central 30

WALLACE -- The Wallace girls put Lakeside Central away with a 20-9 fourth quarter.

Nicole Gier led the Wildcats with 13 points and Sandy VonBrening added 10.

Three players scored 7 -- Amber Hochstetler, Whitney Hochstetler and Amanda Rizello.

Ashley Kauffman led the Falcons with 8 points, followed by Jenna Faimon with 7.

Wheatland

girls 36,

Culbertson 23

MADRID -- Wheatland led at halftime 19-12 and outscored the Bears 13-5 in the fourth period.

Megan Ross led the Spartans with 12 points. Nikki Sis added 7 and Ashley Day 6.

Kayla Bauer paced the Bears with 9 points, including two 3-pointers. Ashley Hagan added 6 points. Allison Smith and Corin Hartzer each scored 4 points.

Bauer and Hartzer each grabbed 6 rebounds and Smith 5.

"The girls played very well tonight," said Culbertson girls basketball coach. "We continue to have trouble shooting the basketball.

"We did a much better job of executing on offense and played a very good defensive game.

"I am pleased with the effort this team put on the court tonight. We showed improvement and excellent teamwork. If we can continue to improve like this the rest of the season, we may find a way to earn another victory or two."

Other games

Loomis boys 102,

Rep Valley 80

LOOMIS -- The Loomis Wolves outscored the Republican Valley boys 39-23 in the fourth quarter en route to a 102-80 victory in a late Saturday shootout at Loomis.

Loomis led by 3 points, 25-22, at the end of the first quarter.

The Wolves led at halftime 45-44 and led 63-57 entering the fourth period.

"We played very well and hung with them for three quarter," said Rep Valley boys coach Troy Werkmeister.

"Then their depth wore us down. I'm very proud of our guys."

Jesse Randolph led the Rep Valley Mustangs with 19 points, including four 3-pointers.

Keith Stritt added 17 points, including a 4-pointer and 6-of-7 free throws. Mason Nelms dropped in 14 points and Travis Reitz 9.

Drew Billeter paced the Wolves with 27 points.