CRC First Round Recap, Quarterfinals Begin Monday

YORK – The 70th Crossroads Conference basketball tournament tipped off on Saturday. The girls played at York University’s Freeman Center, and the boys played at the York City Auditorium. Action continues at the City Auditorium for four quarterfinal matchups. The rest of the quarterfinals are on Tuesday, and the semifinals begin on Thursday. Today’s games are on 104.9 Max Country, and streamed live on Striv TV (striv.tv/crc). All games here on out are played at the York City Auditorium.

3pm Girls Quarterfinal: (1) BDS vs. (9) Nebraska Lutheran

4:30 Boys Quarterfinal: (1) Osceola vs. (9) Shelby-Rising City

5:30 Girls Quarterfinal: (2) Cross County vs. (7) Hampton  

7pm Boys Quarterfinal: (2) Cross County vs. (7) East Butler

How did we get to Monday’s quarterfinals? Here’s a recap of Saturday’s first round action.

CRC Girls First Round:

(9) Nebraska Lutheran 41 vs. (8) Dorchester 37

Jamie Malchow led Nebraska Lutheran with 13 points as the Knights won its first round game over Dorchester 41-37. Dorchester’s Hailey Schweitzer and Amber Kotas both had seven points to lead the way. Nebraska Lutheran moves on to play BDS in Monday’s quarterfinals. .

(4) Meridian 53 vs. (13) Giltner 26

Meridian made last year’s CRC semifinals, and are off to a good start in 2023’s tournament with a 53-26 win over Giltner. Jaslyn Ward led the Mustangs with 12 points. McKenzie Hoffstetter threw in 10, and Jaylee Sobotka added 8. Giltner’s Avery Reeson scored a team high 5 points. Meridian moves on to play in Tuesday’s quarterfinals against High Plains.

(5) High Plains 44 vs. (12) Exeter-Milligan 35

It was close for most of the game until High Plains pulled away late. On the back of Hailey Lindburg’s game-high 17 points. The Storm broke a late-game tie and hit its free throws at the end to win 44-35. Peyton Hofmann chipped in 10 points for the Storm, who move on to the quarterfinals to face Meridian on Tuesday night.

(7) Hampton 44 vs. (10) East Butler 43

Hampton led East Butler after the first quarter 18-6. Then East Butler came roaring back in the second quarter with 19 points to take a 25-22 lead at halftime. From there, the second half went back and forth, with teams trading buckets all the way to the end. Hampton closed it out in the end, backed by Lillian Dose’s 14 points. Neveah Lukassen added 13 points. East Butler’s Madison Dewitt 13 points led the way for the Tigers. Hampton moves on to play Cross County in the quarterfinals on Monday.

(6) Osceola 41 vs. (11) Shelby-Rising City 34

Osceola freshman Emersyn Prososki’s 18 points, and three 3-pointers help propel the Osceola Bulldogs past the Shelby Rising-City Huskies in Saturday’s final first round game. Prososki had two points and halftime and finished the second half with 17 points to give her team the momentum. Osceola moves on to play in Tuesday’s quarterfinals against McCool Junction.

CRC Boys First Round:

(8) Giltner 30 vs. (9) Shelby Rising City 40

Shelby-Rising City advanced past the first round behind Dalton Pokorney’s 21 points. Isaac Whitmore scored 9 points for the Huskies, and Gabe Dutton-Mofford added 8. Giltner’s Phillip Kruete chipped in a double-figure effort with 17 points. Shelby-Rising City moves on to face the top-seed Osceola in Monday’s quarterfinals.

(5) BDS 53 vs. (12) High Plains 40

The BDS Eagles advance in the first round of the CRC tournament after a 53-40 win over the High Plains Storm. The Storm kept the Eagles at arms length for much of the game until BDS pulled away late. Eli Weber scored a team-high 17 points for the Eagles, and Carter Urkoski for High Plains had 14 to lead his team. BDS moves on to Tuesday’s quarterfinals to face McCool Junction.

(4) McCool Junction 72 vs. (13) Dorchester 23

Mapieu Kouchinin’s 20 points helped the McCool Junction Mustangs cruise past the Dorchester Longhorns in the first round. The Mustangs had a 37-19 lead at the halftime and held Dorchester to just four points in the second half. Mustangs freshman Carson McDonald added 13 points in the win, and McCool Junction moves on to play BDS in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Chase Tachovsky led Dorchester with 8 points.

(6) Exeter-Milligan 42 vs. (11) Meridian 41

Exeter Milligan withstood a late Meridian charge and eked out a 42-41 win to advance to a Tuesday quarterfinal matchup against Nebraska Lutheran. The Timberwolves, now 8-9 on the year, led for all but a few seconds late in the game. They opened up a 25-17 lead by halftime, and appeared to be on the way to an easy win, but Meridian had a strong 16-point 4th quarter, holding Exeter-Milligan to just eight points, and took a brief 41-40 lead in the final minute of the contest. The Timberwolves answered right away to regain the lead, and the Mustangs then failed to get off a final shot at the buzzer. Aidan Vavra led Exeter-Milligan in scoring with 13 points, while Meridian was led by Kolton Kumpf who scored 14.

(7) East Butler 57 vs. (10) Hampton 33

East Butler Tigers easily grounded Hampton 57-33. It was close early, as the Tigers led 10-7 after a quarter, but the lead grew to 25-17 by halftime and was extended to 37-16 after three periods. In the contest, East Butler senior Alex Pierce, who led all scorers with 22 points, reached the 1,000 career points milestone. East Butler advances to quarterfinal action on Monday to face #2 seed Cross County. Hampton was led in scoring by Grant Ferguson’s 15 points.