By Staff

            BURRTON – In a weather makeup game on Wednesday, the Inman boys held on through overtime to beat Little River by eight, 42-34, to win the championship trophy of the 2023 Burrton Invitational.

            Inman bounced out to an early 10-2 lead by the end of the first quarter only to have Little River power back and outscore the Teutons 18-7 in the second quarter to give the Redskins a slim three-point, 20-17, advantage at the halftime break.

            After the Teutons were able to tie the game at 30-30 by the end of the third quarter, both teams used defense in the fourth to put the game into overtime with a score of 34-34. Inman’s defense put up a brick wall in the overtime and outscored Little River 8-0 in the overtime to claim the final eight-point victory and the tournament championship.

            Three Teutons, Tanner Heckel, Zach Martisko, and Eli Brunk all made the all-tournament team while Heckel was named tournament MVP. Not only was this Heckel second straight tournament MVP award, but it was also Inman’s second straight tournament championship.

            “Tough game tonight but we pulled it out,” noted Teuton head coach Brett Froese. “Hats off too Little River as they were ready to play. I was a little nervous going into the game just because of the schedule leading up to it. We had not been in a close game for a while.”

            As for Little River, head coach Erik Base said, “I was very proud of the ways our guys battled. Especially on a night that we failed to shoot the ball well. Our guys did a great job of executing tonight and working on things we’ve emphasized in practice. It was a fun game to be a part of.”

            Heckel led the scoring for the Teutons with 14 while Eli Brunk had 11 and Martisko chipped in with eight.

            For Little River, they were led by Braxton Lafferty with 12 points and Rylan Konen with 11 as Lafferty also recorded a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds.

            Coach Froese concluded his reflections on the game by adding, “Really proud of our effort in the second half. We kind of gutted it out. We needed a game like that tonight and obviously it was nice to come out on the right side of it. Be nice now to get some practices in and looking forward to the back side of the schedule which will be super tough.”

             Inman, now sitting at 11-2 for the season and ranked number five in Class 2A, will be off until Tuesday when they play host to Berean Academy.

            Little River falls to 11-3 on the year as they are also off until Tuesday when they return to the competitive hardwood with a home matchup against Solomon.

LITTLE RIVER REDSKINS vs. INMAN TEUTONS at Burrton Invitational

SCORING: LITTLE RIVER > 2-18-10-4-0 = 34; INMAN > 10-7-13-4-8 = 42.

LITTLE RIVER TEAM STATS > 2-FGs – 10/25; 3-PTs – 4/25; FTs – 2/3; AST – 6; REBs – 24; TO – 12; STLs – 8; BLKs – 1; FLs – 12.

INMAN TEAM STATS > Not Available

LITTLE RIVER INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring > Braxton Lafferty – 12; Rylan Konen – 11; Andrew Smith – 6; Treyton Olander – 3; Dalton Mantz – 2. 3-Pointers Made > Lafferty – 2; Olander, Konen – 1.  Assists > Mantz – 3.  Rebounds > Lafferty – 10; Konen, Smith – 4; Kayston Cox, Mantz – 2.  Steals > Mantz – 2.  Blocked Shots > Smith – 1.

INMAN INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS > Tanner Heckel – 14; Eli Brunk – 11; Zach Martisko – 8; Josiah Buller – 5; Harrison Brunk – 4.  3-Pointers Made > Buller, H. Brunk – 1.

(Photo taken by Inman student Sidney Brooks)

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)