The St. John's/Tipton Catholic Blujays had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 29.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They put the hurt on Phillipsburg with a sharp 65-45 win. For St. John's/Tipton Catholic, this counts as revenge for the 63-49 loss Phillipsburg walked away with the last time they faced one another back in December of 2022.
Leading St. John's/Tipton Catholic to victory were Edward Horinek and Jacob Winkler. Horinek scored 24 points, while Winkler scored 19 points along with nine rebounds. Horinek is absolutely dominating the steal category: he's posted at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Tyson Gates, who scored five points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Rhett Shelton, who scored ten points along with three steals. The matchup was Shelton's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Caden Seems, who scored nine points along with seven rebounds.
St. John's/Tipton Catholic's win bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Phillipsburg, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-1.
St. John's/Tipton Catholic is on the road again on Saturday and play against Ellsworth at 7:00 p.m. on December 9th. Ellsworth presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than St. John's/Tipton Catholic in Kansas (Ellsworth is ranked tenth, while St. John's/Tipton Catholic is ranked 49th). Phillipsburg won't have much time to rest: their next game is against Russell at 3:45 p.m. on December 9th.
