By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post Sports
NORTON, Kan. — The TMP-Marian Monarchs basketball teams closed out the regular season Friday night with a pair of road wins over the Norton Blue Jays.
GIRLS: TMP 52, Norton 25
The TMP Lady Monarchs (14-7, 8-2 MCL) held the Norton Lady Jays to just two field goals in both the second and fourth quarters while building a double-digit lead in a 52-25 victory.
Claire Schippers opened the game with the first of her two 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 20 points as the Monarchs raced out to a 9-3 lead.
Norton closed the gap to four in the final seconds of the first quarter when Paige Koenigsman connected on a deep 3-pointer, cutting TMP’s lead to 12-8.
Koenigsman’s 3-pointer sparked a 31-5 run that spanned the entire second quarter and half of the third. TMP led 40-13 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
With a running clock in effect, TMP secured the 52-25 win.
Schippers led all scorers with 20 points.
The TMP girls will host a first-round substate game next Thursday.
BOYS: TMP 70, Norton 68
Grant Nehls scored back-to-back field goals in the final seconds Friday night, helping the Monarchs clinch the MCL regular-season championship and extend their winning streak to nine games with a 70-68 victory.
The teams traded the lead back and forth seven times in the first half and were tied nine times before TMP closed the half with a 39-30 advantage.
The Monarchs (17-5, 10-0 MCL) led by nine in the third quarter, but Norton chipped away at the deficit. After trailing by as many as nine, the Blue Jays pulled within four at 55-51 entering the fourth.
Norton took a 68-66 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining, converting four of five free throws, but the Monarchs answered.
With 24 seconds left, TMP got the ball to Grant Nehls in the post. He scored inside to tie the game at 68 and drew a foul with 13 seconds remaining.
Nehls missed the free throw, but Ian Nehls tipped the ball, and Grant Nehls secured the rebound before being tied up. The alternate possession arrow favored TMP.
On the ensuing inbound, TMP again found Nehls, who scored with just under eight seconds remaining.
Norton called a timeout but missed an errant 3-point attempt on its final possession as the Monarchs held on for the 70-68 win.
Grant Nehls led all scorers with 17 points, and Ty Schmeidler added 16.
The TMP boys will host a first-round substate game next Friday.