Caston relies on strong start, eliminates West Central

Zeider scored 18, Stinson 17 for Comets

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Talon Zeider

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