Caston relies on strong start, eliminates West Central

Zeider scored 18, Stinson 17 for Comets

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Boys basketball

Caston 58, West Central 37 (Friday): Talon Zeider hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his team-high 18 points in the first quarter, and Caleb Stinson added 17 for the Caston boys basketball team in a wire-to-wire win over West Central in a Class 1A, Sectional 52 semifinal at Caston Friday.

Gavin Mollenkopf and Alex Craig added seven each for the Comets, who improved to 11-12.

Bryce Nannenga scored 18 points for West Central, who finished 4-20. Connor Marlatt added 14, all in the first half.

Five different Caston players scored during their game-opening 22-1 run.

Marlatt hit four first-half 3-pointers and the Trojans closed within 32-20 at halftime. Caston extended the lead to 44-30 after three quarters.

West Central has not won a sectional title since 2005. They have not had a winning season since 2010.

In Friday’s other semifinal, Tri-County routed Frontier 66-37.

Caston lost to Tri-County 65-58 on Jan. 27 in their regular season meeting.

CASTON (58) (11-12)

Talon Zeider 6 2-2 18, Caleb Stinson 7 3-4 17, Alex Craig 3 1-2 7, Lane Hook 0 0-0 0, Grant Yadon 1 0-2 2, Carter Clingler 2 0-0 5, Gavin Mollenkopf 3 1-2 7, Drew McGrew 0 0-0 0, Josh Evans 0 0-0 0, Corbin Smith 1 0-0 2, Reed Sommers 0 0-0 0, Carson Harness 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 23 7-12 58

WEST CENTRAL (37) (4-20)

Miller 0 0-0 0, Grindstaff 1 0-0 2, Marlatt 5 0-0 14, Huber 0 0-0 0, Nannenga 7 2-6 18, Gutwein 0 0-0 0, Wireman 0 0-0 0, St. Clair 0 0-0 0, Endris 0 0-0 0, B. Hughes 1 1-2 3, L. Hughes 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 14 3-8 37

Three-point field goals:

Caston 5 (Zeider 4, Clingler),

West Central 6 (Marlatt 4, Nannenga 2)

Total fouls: Caston 13, West Central 9

Score by quarters

Caston 22 10 12 14 – 58

West Central 4 16 10 7 – 37