MAC boys’ girls tournament roundups

Leyton High School’s boys’ basketball team didn’t need much more incentive for its MAC semifinal against Cheyenne County rival Potter-Dix Thursday afternoon.

That was achieved by merely walking into Sidney Middle School’s gymnasium.

The top-seeded Warriors strolled to the dressing room to find that the girls’ No. 1 seed, Potter-Dix, was being upset.

“That’s about all it took,” LHS coach Gary Oltmann said. “We didn’t want to be the second No. 1 seed to get beat.”

Otlmann’s club responded with an easy 66-41 victory against the Coyotes.

Leyton (9-1) lead 15-12 after a period, but consecutive 3-pointers from the left corner by Kyle Gorsuch and Bryant Knigge gave P-D (3-7) its first and only advantage of the contest, 18-15, early in the second quarter.

Leyton then went to work, rolling off 15 consecutive points to take command of the issue.

Chris Melzer scored six points during the Warriors’ run, Brennen Cruise scored twice, and the Coyotes were reeling.

“We were able to get some long rebounds and turnovers, which gets the running game going,” Oltmann said. “The kids did a good job of running the floor.”

By halftime, the Warriors had extended their lead to 34-21, and did so despite having top scorer Sam Schumacher riding the bench with foul trouble.

“Sam picked up two silly fouls in a row there,” Oltmann said, “so we had to get him out of there for a bit.”

Still, the third period was none kinder to P-D: Leyton started the second half with an 11-2 surge to seal the deal.

Despite picking up three first-half personals, Schumacher still found time to lead all scorers with 20 points. Melzer added 16 and Cruise 11. Sophomore Cody McKay just missed double figures with eight points while spelling Schumacher.

Bryant Knigge’s 14 points were tops for P-D, and Jake Johnson came off the bench to contribute 11.

Leyton, seeking a tournament repeat, will face Minatare (9-1) in Saturday night’s championship game, slated to begin at approximately 8 p.m.

P-D takes on Creek Valley in the boys’ third-place game at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.

MAC Boys semifinals

Leyton 66, Potter-Dix 41

POTTER-DIX (3-7)

Gorsuch 2 0-0 5, BryKnigge 5 0-1 14, Gasseling 0 0-2 0, JJohnson 5 1-3 11, LJohnson 3 0-1 6, Hinrichs 1 0-0 2, Harms 1 1-2 3. Totals 17 2-9 41

LEYTON (9-1)

Melzer 7 1-1 16, Reimers 1 1-2 3, Schumacher 9 2-2 20, Schuessler 1 0-0 2, Brenner 3 0-0 6, Cruise 4 3-4 11, McKay 4 0-0 8. Totals 29 7-9 66

P-D 12 9 6 14—41

Leyton 15 19 17 15—66

3-point goals – P-D 5 (BryKnigge 4, Gorsuch), Leyton (Melzer). Team fouls – P-D 9, Leyton 11