Goessel
Girls basketball—The Bluebird girls lost in the 1A substate game against Macksville with a final score of 43-39.
Boys basketball—The Bluebird boys played Burrton in the first sub-state game and won, 72-43. Goessel moves to 15-6 and will face Little River on Thursday, March 3, at Burrton.
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Regional awards were recognized at KSHSAA 3-2-1A Wrestling at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kan.
HHS Senior Garrett Helmer wrestles against his Onaga opponent in round two of the KSHSAA 3-2-1A State Tournament.
HHS junior Lane Rogers wrestles in round two of the KSHSAA 3-2-1A State Tournament in the 182 weight class.
HHS senior Eli Dalke wrestles at weight class 160 at the KSHSAA 3-2-1A State competition
HHS senior Tristan Rathbone wrestles at weight class 170 at the KSHSAA 3-2-1A State competition. Tristan placed fifth overall in the 170 weight class.
HHS senior Reese Hefley, #23, with a lay-up against Halstead.
HHS junior Zaylee Werth, #22, heads to the basket against Halstead.
Hillsboro
Girls basketball—In a scheduled makeup game, the Hillsboro girls basketball team beat Halstead, 51-31 on Monday.
“I was extremely pleased and proud of how our ladies played. We dropped a game to Halstead at the beginning of January, and I was very excited to see how we responded,” Hillsboro head coach Nathan Hiebert said.
Hillsboro got out to a fast start with an 18-6 run and then built that into a 25-16 lead at halftime. Halstead never got through the defense of the Trojans in the second half, and Hillsboro cruised to a 20-point victory.
Zaylee Werth led Hillsboro with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Savannah Shahan, 11 points, and Emersyn Funk, 10 points, were both in double-figures scoring, as well.
Boys basketball—Even without scoring in the fourth quarter, the Hillsboro boys basketball team blew out Halstead, 68-41.
Halstead played Hillsboro tough early, 13-11, but the Trojans put the defensive pressure on in the second quarter and went on a 29-5 run to end the half up, 42-16.
“We struggled to shoot the ball well in the first quarter, but we were able to turn up the defensive intensity, which help helped us get more rhythm on offense,” Hillsboro head coach Darrel Knoll said.
Halstead wasn’t able to match Hillsboro in the second half and never mounted a comeback attempt.
Grayson Ratzlaff led the way for Hillsboro with 19 points, three assists and five rebounds. Matthew Potucek had 18 points and Brekyn Ratzlaff had 17 points as the only other scorers in double figures.
“It is always great to complete senior night with a win. It was a great environment and an excellent way to complete the home regular season,” Knoll said. “I love how this class of seniors compete and how they are a great team who supports each other and celebrates each other’s success.”
Wrestling—Hillsboro High School saw four wrestlers compete at the 3-2-1A State Tournament at Gross Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Fort Hays State University on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25 and 26. The four wrestlers were seniors Tristan Rathbone, Garrett Helmer, Eli Dalke and junior Lane Rogers.
Both Dalke and Rogers were eliminated from competition on Friday, having suffered two losses. In the opening round, Dalke lost to the eventual third place finisher, Twombly of Rossville. In the first consolation round later on Friday, he lost to Hilyard from Douglass, who went on to place fourth.
“I am proud of Eli for earning this trip to state in his senior season. He has struggled with injuries the past two seasons and missed a lot of time this year with a chronic knee injury. He had a couple great matches at regionals to earn his first trip to state, and I am thrilled that he had this opportunity to compete at Hays,” said coach Scott O’Hare.
Rogers lost his opening round match to VanderVeld from Silver Lake, who eventually placed third. Later Friday afternoon, he lost to Stuhlsatz from Garden Plain.
“Rogers had really come on late with some outstanding wrestling, having placed in the top two at the last three regular season tournaments, including tournament championships at Hoisington and the CKL Tournament. He has really started to develop a solid wrestling style and continues to improve tremendously. We are excited to see him return next season to improve on his state finish,” said O’Hare.
Helmer had a tough draw in the first round, where he lost to the No. 1-ranked, defending state champion Bretz of Hoxie in the first round. He bounced back Friday evening with a solid 12-2 major decision win over Schwant of Onaga in the consolation first round. In the consolation second round on Saturday morning, Helmer lost to Renyer from Sabetha for his second loss of the tournament. Renyer would go on to finish sixth, where he was defeated by Wolff from Minneapolis. Helmer had two decisive wins over Wolff this season.
O ‘Hare said, “Garrett wraps up a stellar high school career, where he surpassed 100 career wins, finishing with 104. He also eclipsed the previous mark for most wins in a single season, finishing with a season record of 39-10 and the most career pins.”
Rathbone opened up his fourth and final state tournament appearance with a dominant second period pin over Desbian of Smith Center. He followed that up with a hard-fought 7-4 decision over Huaracha of St. Marys in the quarterfinals to guarantee a spot on the podium with a top six finish. In the semifinals Friday evening, Rathbone fell victim to No. 1-ranked Watkins of Hoxie. On Saturday, Rathbone came out strong in his consolation semifinals match, earning an early takedown and looking very solid against previously No. 1-ranked Kruger of Silver Lake. Unfortunately, in an odd scramble position, Kruger managed to expose Rathbone’s back and earn a pin with only four seconds remaining in the first period. Rathbone bounced back with a convincing 12-5 decision over Flores of Jayhawk-Linn to earn the fifth place medal.
“Coach Lambotte deserves a lot of credit for getting Rathbone prepared physically and mentally to earn his first state medal. Rathbone has wrapped up one of the most successful careers in Hillsboro High School wrestling history by becoming the school’s fifth four-time state qualifier. He broke the school record for the most wins in a single season (42), and he moved into second place all time for the most career wins with 124. He also broke the school records for the most pins in a single season (34) and most career pins (86),” said O’Hare.
“It’s hard to express the roller coaster of emotions after state wrestling weekend. Of course, we are thrilled for Tristan Rathbone on finally earning a state medal after coming up just one win short of reaching that goal the past two seasons. However, it was tough seeing Garrett Helmer, Eli Dalke, and Lane Rogers come up short and have their seasons come to an end prior to the medal rounds. I know all three of them had goals of finishing higher. There is no shame in how these three performed, as they competed hard against the best in the state,” said O’Hare.
The coach went on to say that these four young men have been great competitors and leaders in the wrestling program this year.
“We will miss Garrett, Eli, and Tristan and wish them well as they near graduation and move on to the next stages of their lives. We look forward to having Lane back to help lead the team next season,” said O’Hare.
