A great week of basketball at the Purple and Gold Tournament in Wakeeney concluded Saturday night with a couple of stellar championship games.
The first contest of the evening featured the Trego Golden Eagles and the Oakley Lady Plainsmen. Both team came into the game undefeated on the year.
Trego go out to a fast start, scoring the games first 11 points and leading 19-6 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was a stalemate and the Golden Eagles led 27-14 at the half.
Oakley showed signs of life in the 3rd quarter, but Trego kept firing, pushing the lead to as much as 19. Heading into the final period it was 40-26 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
Oakely made a furious comeback attempt, cutting the lead down to 7 points with 3 minutes left in the game, but that would be as close as they would get. The final score showed Trego victorious 50-38.
Lillie Shubert had a complete game with 13 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds. Tillie Malinowsky had 13 points and 7 rebounds off of the bench. Libby Frost chipped in 12 points. Jordan Lowrie of Oakley led all scorers with 15 points, she also had 6 rebounds. Liberty Booker had 11 points off the bench for the Lady Plainsmen.
Trego won the Purple and Gold tournament for the second time in as many years after they defeated Oakley in last years championship game as well. Donnie Shubert's squad is 4-o on the season and ranked 4th in the state at the 2A level.
Oakley moves to 3-1 on the year.
The night cap was the boys championship game between the Hodgeman County Longhorns and Ness City Eagles. This was Ness City's 5th straight trip to the championship game of the Purple and Gold Tournament. Hodgeman County was making their first appearance in the championship since 2009.
Ness City got out to a fast start and led 14-8 after one quarter. However, the shots began to fall for the Longhorns in the 2nd and the Ness City lead had been reduced to a single point by halftime. It was 24-23 Eagles at the intermission.
The 3rd quarter was a regular dog fight and things were all knotted at 38 heading into the final quarter. Several lead changes ensued and Hodgeman County had several opportunities at the end to secure a possession for a game winning shot attempt, but big offensive rebounds and a timely bucket by Taylor Cable were the difference as Ness City came away with a 53-49 win.
Taylor Cable finished with 24 points. He had 20+ in every game of the tournament. Jose Guzman had 10 points and 5 rebounds for the Eagles. Isaac Salmans led the Longhorn scoring effort with 18 points. His brother Eli contributed 12 points.
Ness City has now won the Purple and Gold Tournament 8 times since 2008, including 4 of the last 5. They advance to 4-0 on the season.
Hodgeman County is 3-1. The second place finish matches the best by the Longhorns in the tournament.
For a complete list of Saturday's score from the Purple and Gold Tournament, see below:
Girls
Championship: Trego 50 Oakley 38
3rd Place Game: Stockton 46 Victoria 41
Consolation Championship (5th): Hodgeman County 43 Lacrosse 14
7th Place Game: Ness City 43 Northern Valley 10
Boys
Championship Game: Ness City 53 Hodgeman County 49
3rd Place Game: Lacrosse 59 Stockton 54
Consolation Championship (5th): Trego 45 Oakley 23
7th Place Game: Northern Valley 60 Victoria 41