BUFFALO - Altoona-Midway Jets … Milburn G. Apt Memorial Tournament champions.
That was the proclamation here Friday night at Milo Peterson Gymnasium after the Jets defeated Chetopa 69-31 to complete a three-game sweep of the tournament festivities.
Earlier in the evening, the AMHS girls posted a 51-11 win over Chetopa’s Lady Hornets, thus also securing the host school a second-place finish in the girls’ division of the classic.
“To quote Harry Caray, ‘Ho-ly Cow!’ What a week this has been,” exclaimed a pleased AMHS boys’ head coach Dave Vance. “After two very tense games earlier in the week, we were able to capture the tournament championship with a little bit of a breather.
“Obviously we’re honored to be crowned champions of our own tournament, but we also have much bigger goals this season – like improving as players on the court and as individuals off the court, and growing into a true team … a ‘family’ as we like to say,” Vance added. “Tonight, the boys played very unselfishly. We racked up 22 assists and every one of our players who suited up got into the scoring column, so we were very successful in those areas as well.”
In other results Friday, the Tyro Christian Academy Lady Eagles claimed tournament gold with a 47-31 triumph over Liberty Home School Alliance, and in the battle for runner up honors on the boys’ side, Tyro took the measure of the LHSA Arrows 66-59.
The Altoona-Midway teams only have the weekend to rest, as their busy schedule resume next week with two games. The Jets will travel to Cherokee on Tuesday to square off against the Southeast Lancers, and return home Friday (Jan. 26) to host Pleasanton.
AMHS BOYS
The Jets grabbed control early and cruised to a 69-31 triumph over Chetopa, giving AMHS an unblemished tournament record following two intense, rousing victories earlier in the week.
Altoona-Midway (8-4 overall), has now won six of its last seven outings.
“It was great to win the tournament championship and get that under our belt,” Vance said. “Now, for the second half of the season, we need to continue improving. Our kids have been very studious in learning more about the game and trying to discipline their play. If that continues, we’ll have a successful season.”
AMHS roared to a 29-4 lead after just one period of play and used the bench abundantly throughout the contest. The Jets led 40-15 at intermission and 64-20 before a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“We played an extremely shorthanded team from Chetopa, but they had great attitudes, and gave it their full effort,” Vance noted. “Sometimes that is hard to do for young men when they’re only six players on the team. But they gave it all they had. In smaller schools, such as Chetopa and Altoona-Midway, you practically need every student to participate in the activities in order to field a team. But their kids never gave up.”
William Stackhouse led the Jet offense with 24 points, while Jacob Meigs tallied 11, Kieran Foster finished with eight, and Taj Chism netted seven. Rounding out the AMHS scoring were Kage Beck and Joey Lamendola with six points apiece, Blake Nalley with three, while Lane Poeverlein and Blaine Collins each had two.
In addition to having all nine players score, eight of the Jets played a part in the team’s season-high 22 assists, with Meigs dishing out five to lead the way.
Collins and Stackhouse each pulled down eight rebounds while Chism and Meigs had six apiece. Collins was also credited with five steals, while Lamendola had two steals and a pair of blocked shots.
Seldom-used reserve sophomore Blake Nalley also took his opportunity to turn in an impressive performance. Nalley canned a three-pointer, was active on defense, and finished with three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Ethan Lawson scored 16 points for the Hornets.
AMHS GIRLS
Don’t look now, but the Altoona-Midway girls may be starting to put things together as well. The Lady Jets capped off an impressive tournament showing of their own with a 51-11 rout of Chetopa, leaving the hosts with runner-up honors in the girls’ division of the Milburn G. Apt Tournament.
The Lady Jets (3-8 overall), won two of their three tournament games by wide margins, and played eventual champion Tyro tough before falling 48-41.
“We’re getting better and showing improvement,” said AMHS head coach Jessica Porter. “Overall, I was pleased with how we played throughout the tournament. Now we just have to keep working and continue to improve.”
Altoona-Midway actually got off to a bit of a slow start against the Lady Hornets and found themselves deadlocked 7-7 before scoring the final seven points of the first quarter. AMHS continued its run with a 14-2 second-quarter advantage to make it 28-9 at halftime.
In the third period, the Jets tallied another 14 points while holding Chetopa scoreless, and a 9-2 difference in the fourth stanza provided the final 51-11 margin.
“When we first started out, we made some turnovers and Chetopa hit some good shots and thought it may be a game the whole time,” Porter noted. “But then Chetopa got into foul trouble, and we got some good steals off our press and then we were able to take control of the game.”
Kudos must also handed out to the effort of the Chetopa girls, who started the game with just five players and had to finish the contest with just three on the court.
Emmalynn Pupanek found the range for 16 points to lead the Altoona-Midway attack, followed by Ava Hufford with nine points and Summer Raymond with seven.
Chantal Morales and Jasa Pankaskie each finished with six points, while Megan Smith netted four points and Brooklynn Collins chipped in two. Pankaskie, Smith and Collins are all freshmen.
“I was happy with how we played, and I’m glad I got to play my junior varsity quite a bit, because they need the experience,” the coach mentioned. “Almost everyone on the team who played in the game scored a basket too.”
Starting sophomore Ava Tindle did not score but led Altoona-Midway with 10 rebounds. Pupanek had nine boards, Morales and Collins garnered seven apiece, and Raymond and Smith each had five. Pupanek also came up with six steals and Raymond handed out three assists.
Isabella Nash led Chetopa with four points and Marayah Dollins added three.