Heights headed back to state basketball tournament

The Jackson Heights Cobras boys basketball team is headed to the Kansas Class 2A State Tournament, at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, for the second straight year!

The Cobras qualified for the state tournament for the second year in the row by winning the Horton 2A Sub-State Tourney over the weekend.

Of Friday, the Cobras took care of business defeating KC Christian, 78-36.

On Saturday, in the title game, the Cobras beat Jefferson County North, 68-46.

The Cobras, now 21-2, and seeded fifth in the state tournament, will play at 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, March 10, Manhattan against Elbing-Berean Academy, 22-1, the fourth seed.

Other teams competing in the Class 2A boys state tournament at Manhattan, and their first-round opponents are as follows:

No. 1 seed Sedan (23-0) will play No. 8 seed Hill City (17-6) at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

No. 2 seed Claflin-Central Plains (23-0) will play No. 7 seed Law.-Bishop Seabury (18-3) at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

No. 3 seed Salina-Sacred Heart (23-0) will play No. 6 seed Montezuma-South Gray (20-3) at 8:15 p.m. Thursday.

If Jackson Heights wins its first game, it would play the winner of the Sedan-Hill City game at 4:45 p.m. on Friday.

The next and final round of the tournament will be played Saturday. The third place game is scheduled for 2 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

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The Cobras are playing some of their best basketball of the season at this time, and if you didn’t know better you might think the Horton basketball court (the site of the 2A Sub-State) was the home court for the Cobras.

On Friday, March 4, the Cobras took on KC Christian. In the first half, JHHS outscored KC, 45-15.

Cobra Zane Richter led the way, by hitting three, three-point shots in the first quarter and one three-point shot in the second quarter. 

In the second half, JHHS outscored KC, 33-21. Jackson Heights Cobras Wyatt Olberding and Auston Sauvage both hit very long range, three-point shots in the second half to help extend the lead. 

JHHS 78, KC Christian 36

KC Christian…….11-4-12-9—36

Jackson Hts…...29-16-23-10—78

KC Christian – Paul 5 (1) 0-0 11, Gunnigle 4 2-3 10, Palmer 2 2-5 6, Engel 2 0-0 4, Trujillo 1 (1) 0-0 3, Coleman 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 (2) 4-8 36.

Jackson Heights – Jacobsen 9 4-4 22, Thomas 5 (4) 0-0 14, Richter 4 (4) 1-2 13, Olbering 4 (2) 0-0 10, Hamilton 1 2-2 4, Dohl 2 0-0 4, Sauvage 1 (1) 0-0 3, Holliday 1 (1) 0-0 3, Keehn 1 0-0 2, Holliday 1 0-0 2, Thomas 0 1-2 1. Totals 29 (12) 8-10 78.

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On Saturday, March 5, the Jackson Heights Cobras played JCN for the 2A Sub-State Title in Horton.

The Cobras started the game with a full-court pressure defense, which has been part of a winning formula for the team all season.

Always a tough opponent in the Northeast Kansas League, JCN trailed the Cobras by just a 17-12 score after the first quarter.

JCN continued to stay close to the Cobras in the second quarter, pulling to within one point of the team at the 5:16 mark – 18-17.

With just 38 seconds left in the first half, Cobra Wyatt Olberding it a long three-pointer that helped allow the Cobras to take a 37-22 halftime lead.

In the first half, the Cobras outscore JCN 37-22. Richter and Olberding combind to hit six three point shots and three of them were from far beyond the three-point  arc. 

JCN had trouble guarding the Cobras throughout the entire game. Close to the end of the third quarter,  JCN put on their own full-court press, but the end result was sending the Cobras to the free throw line more often.

By the end of the quarter quarter, the Cobras had a comfortable, 46-32 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Cobras outscored JCN, 22-14.

Zane Richter, who had 30 points in this big win for the Cobras, led Jackson Heights in scoring. Wyatt Olberding also came up big in scoring with 20 points in this game as well. 

This game was a very physical game with fouls being called on both teams on almost every possession.

“JCN made us work heard and earn every point we had in this game,’’ said coach Chris Brown afterwards.

Coach Brown said he also like the way Cobras are playing at this important time of the year.

JHHS 68, JCN 46

JCN…………...12-10-10-14—46

JHHS…………...17-20-9-22—68

Jefferson North – Funk 4 (2) 7-8 17, Schneider 2 4-5 8, Lane 2 4-5 8, Noll 2 (1) 0-6 5, Meyer 2 1-5 5, Summers 1 1-1 3. Totals 13 (3) 17-30 46.

Jackson Heights Richter 10 (4) 6-8 30, Olberding 6 (3) 5-7 20, Jacobsen 3 6-11 12, Holliday 1 2-2 4, Dohl 1 0-2 2. Totals 21 (7) 19-30 68.