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

INMAN – On Tuesday, the Inman boys took their first step toward the goal of making the state tournament by rolling past Berean Academy by 30 points, 55-25, in the first round of the Class 2A sub-state.

The win improves the Teutons season mark to 17-4 as they now prep to tangle again with cross-county rival Moundridge on Friday in Whitewater. Moundridge improved to 18-3 with a dominating 26-point, 70-44 win over Flint Hills on Tuesday.

“A little rocky start for us tonight,” pointed out Teuton head coach Brett Froese. “Got some good looks but just did not finish them. From that point on, we were really, really good on both ends of the court. We moved the ball extremely well and guarded really well also.”

Berean Academy had their best set of the game in the first quarter when they took a four-point lead at 8-4 into the second quarter before the Teutons put 19 points on the scoreboard in the second eight minutes of play to take a nine-point, 23-14 advantage into the halftime break.

Coming out of the break, Inman out scored Berean Academy 24-4 in the third quarter to take a commanding 29-point, 47-18 lead into the final eight minutes of play.

Eli Brunk had a huge game for Inman, leading the Teutons with 19 points while Jace Doerksen scored 13 and Tanner Heckel chipped in with 11.

Coach Froese finished off his post-game reflections by adding, “Jace (Doerksen) had one of his best games in a while as he has been hampered by an ankle injury but showed no signs of it tonight. Sometimes seniors just know when it is time to go. Eli (Brunk) is playing at an elevated level of play right now while Tanner (Heckel) is just consistent Tanner. I keep saying that, but he is just so disruptive on the defensive side and so explosive on the offensive end. Dawson (Mannebach) and Zach (Martisko) were great in the post tonight. We have a huge task ahead against Moundridge. Kids are excited about playing them again, it should be a great atmosphere.”

SCORING:     1          2          3          4          FINAL

Berean           8          6          4          7          25

TEUTONS      4          19       24       8          55

No Team Stats Available.

INMAN TEUTONS SCORING LEADERS: Scoring (55 total points): Eli Brunk – 19; Jace Doerksen – 13; Tanner Heckel – 11; Kendyn Blank – 4; Harrison Brunk – 2; Dawson Mannebach – 2; Brody Froese – 2; Zach Martisko – 2. 3-Pointers Made (4): E. Brunk, Doerksen – 2.