By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

INMAN = Despite not having a full week of practice due to football and playing without three of their top players, the Inman boys basketball team still showed their athletic talents on Friday as they scored an eight-point, 56-48, season opening win at home over Minneapolis.

“With only three days of practice there were times it didn’t look very pretty,” noted Teuton head coach Brett Froese. “It was pretty close to what I expected out of us tonight, but I thought our guys really battled tonight. We had several chances to really end the game, but each time we just kind of ran out of gas and Minneapolis got themselves right back into it.”

While Inman was short on practice time, they were also short on some key players as Kyler Konrade is out for the season with a knee injury, Kendyn Blank was not playing due to a hamstring issue and Harrison Brunk was home sick.

Inman held a five-point, 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 34-27 advantage entering the halftime break. After pulling out to a 13-point lead (45-32) by the end of the third quarter, the visitors made it closer by outscoring the Teutons, 16-11, in the fourth, but it was not enough to keep Inman from gaining the final eight-point victory.

Tanner Heckel connected on three three-pointers in the game to lead the Teutons in scoring with 17 points while Jace Doerksen hit for 13 and Eli Brunk chipped in with 11.

Coach Froese had some high praise for a few individuals when he added, “I was really proud of Josiah Buller and Brody Froese for stepping up tonight in the absence of our normal starters. Both gave us good minutes tonight while Jace (Doerksen) and Tanner (Heckel) were good for us though even they had times where you could tell they were just laboring a bit. One huge factor in the game staying close, was us going just 9-of-28 from the free throw line, I think most of that was fatigue to be honest. We will shoot it better than that in the future.”

Froese concluded his post-game reflections by looking at the daunting schedule upcoming, saying, “We have a big week coming up with the Moundridge Tournament where we will play Hillsboro (defending Class 2A State Champions), Lyons, and Moundridge. Hoping to get a couple of our guys back next week.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR INMAN TEUTONS?

The Teutons now prep for a big battle on Tuesday when they play in the Moundridge Tournament facing defending Class 2A state champion Hillsboro.

Minneapolis at INMAN TEUTONS

SCORING:                 1          2          3          4          FINAL

Minneapolis             11       16       5          16       48      

TEUTONS                  16       18       11       11       56      

TEAM STATS:                       Minneapolis             TEUTONS                   

No Team Stats were available.

INMAN TEUTONS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (56 Total Points): Tanner Heckel – 17; Jace Doerksen – 13; Eli Brunk – 11; Josiah Buller – 5; Brody Froese – 4; Zach Martisko – 4; Dawson Mannebach – 2.

Three-Pointers Made (5): Tanner Heckel – 3; Josiah Buller, Brody Froese – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Stats not available.

Assist Leader: Stats not available.

Leader in Steals: Stats not available.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Stats not available.

{www.mcpherson-county-ks.com is looking for Inman Teuton SPONSORS to help cover costs – to help keep continue your school’s activity postings – inquiry by email to William at crossdovewriter@gmail.com}