Twice is nice: Holcomb boys and girls conference champs

Double league titles for Holcomb

The Holcomb girls’ and boys’ basketball teams swept Hugoton Tuesday night to win undisputed basketball championships in the Great West Activities Conference. Both Longhorn teams finish the year 9-1 in league play.

The Lady Longhorns avenged a 52-48 loss to Hugoton, rolling over the Eagles 69-49. On senior night at Holcomb High School, senior Kylee Amos poured in 6 3-pointers and hit 3 out of 3 free throws to lead the way with 21 points. Senior Haley Heydman and junior Taylor Deniston each added 16 points. Holcomb led 19-7 after one quarter, 37-24 at halftime, and 52-39 after three quarters, before finishing Hugoton off with a 17-10 fourth quarter. Once again, the Eagles were led by a pair of freshmen, with Amy Scott scoring 13 points and Kathy Heger adding 12. With the win, Holcomb finishes one game ahead of Hugoton in the GWAC standings. The Lady Longhorns also earn the top seed in their sub-state, which begins on Monday.

In the nightcap, Coach Chad Novack ensured his four seniors would have a night to remember, starting all four of them for this final regular season home game. Starter Heath Tucker was joined by reserves Ezequial Silva, Joe Jarnigan, who’s been out for several games with injuries, and Corey Roth, who suffered a torn ACL during football season and has missed the entire basketball season. Jarnigan and Silva each hit 3-point buckets and Jarnigan finished with 5 points. But the Longhorns struggled to put the Eagles away, leading by 8 points after one quarter, 10 points after two and still just 10 points after three quarters. A 26-9 fourth quarter stampede put the game out of reach, 66-39. Freshman Conner Van Cleave led the way with a career-high 17 points, followed by Blake Richmeier’s 13, Dalton Gottschalk with 12 and Heath Tucker with 11. The win gave Holcomb its first GWAC title, ousting Scott City for the first time in the four year history of the league. With a 17-3 record, the Longhorns will also take the top seed at sub-state.

The pairings for sub-state will be announced Wednesday afternoon and Holcomb expects to host a girls’ and boys’ doubleheader against eighth-seeded Anthony-Harper-Chaparral on Monday.