Plainsmen fall to Ponca in Lincoln

 For the first time in 10 years, the Perkins County Plainsmen boys basketball team made the trip to the state tournament. 

 With a 16-7 record, Shawn Cole and the PC boys headed to Lincoln and took on the Ponca Indians, who held a 27-1 record. 

The Indians came in confident and stole the game from the beginning, and went on to win the C-2 State Championship after defeating the Plainsmen, then Bancroft 50-33, and then St. Cecilia Saturday, 50-40.  

Five PC seniors ended their high school basketball careers with a great season and a character building, cherished experience to show. 

“I was and still am, very proud of our team. What they accomplished this season has not been done by any other team in 10 years. We had a good team and earned our right to play at the state tournament.  I thought our guys handled the game in a very positive way, we played hard and gave effort the entire game,” Coach Cole said.

Ponca

Josh Johnston, a senior and top scorer of the game, was the first to make a basket in Thursday’s game, but Ponca answered with a 3-pointer just seconds later. 

PHS proceeded to add four to their side of the board before PC’s Tanner Burge hit the net and drew a foul, adding the good extra point. 

Ponca took off on a 14-point run, ending when senior Charles Johnson drew a foul and hit two from the free throw line. In the final 40 seconds of the first, the Indians hit a trey and a bucket for another five, giving them a 26-7 lead. 

The second period saw Ponca continue to dominate and add 17 points, while the Perkins County offense saw a bucket from Johnson, and a disappointing score at halftime, with the Plainsmen down by 34, 43-9. 

The third quarter proved to be the most productive for the Plainsmen, Johnston nailed two triple-pointers and a bucket. 

Johnson hit two from the free-throw line and Senior Tyson Patrick found the net for two. Ponca was able to get in 15 points and kept a strong lead going into the fourth, 58-21.

A basket early on in the final quarter from Johnston took PC to 23, but the Indians continued to run the game and added 10 before Alex Patrick broke the streak with one in the PC bucket. Ponca added their final basket, and one in by Spencer Ross and two good free throws by Burge took PC to 29. 

The 72-29 win over the Plainsmen was the first in their ultimate quest for the state title, which they took on Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena for the second year in a row, completing their near perfect 30-1 season. 

“Ponca is a really good team and they showed just how good they were at the state tournament. I would say that we looked a little shocked at certain times of the game. The game was a lot faster than we’re used to, at both ends of the floor. We don’t play teams like that during the season and we can’t simulate that type of play during practice,” Cole said.

Season in review

The Plainsmen end their season with a 16-8 record, the best yet for Coach Cole, who celebrated his 10th year as head coach, his 100th career win and his first trip to state this 2017-18 season. 

Seniors made up a big portion of this team.

Johnston was a huge contributor, making an average of 13.3 points per game with a 47 percent effective field goal rate.

Johnson, the tallest member of the team made an average of 11 points per game and shot with 54 percent accuracy.

Michael Beck was one of the team’s biggest three-point shots and also added value from the free-throw line, where he shot at 75 percent. Beck averaged 7.9 points per game in his final basketball season.

Tyson Patrick leaves his high school basketball career averaging 5.7 points per game and with a 64 percent accuracy rate from the free throw line. 

Also a top contributor to the PC boys team was junior Spencer Ross who made 5.1 points on average per game and hit 68 percent of his free throws.

Juniors Tanner Burge and Aaron Fay were also consistent value to their team, averaging 4.8 and 3.3 points respectively. 

Sophomore Alex Patrick played in 22 games and shot an average of 2.9 points each game. 

“I am proud to be the coach of this team. I will always remember this team. The leadership we had from the seniors and the drive to get better from the underclassmen was unbelievable. What these guys have done for Perkins County Basketball is amazing and we need  to keep this going. We need to have more participation from our boys at the high school. 

“We have students walking the hallways during the winter months who could keep this going,” Cole said.

 He added “I would like to thank the fans who have supported us this season, parents, grandparents, staff and administration at Perkins County, thanks for all you have done.  Thank you to the community for always being behind us and supporting the team in a positive way.”