Wilson Boys Fall to Stafford in Sub-State Semis

RANSOM-Colson Minks scored a game-high 24 points as the #1 seed Stafford Trojans eliminated #4 seed Wilson 62-33 from the semifinals of the Class 1A Division 2 Boys Sub-State Basketball Tournament Friday evening at Western Plains High School.

Wilson's only lead of the game was 2-0 at the very start of the contest on a basket by Brayden Nelson before Stafford scored five unanswered points.  The Dragons pulled to within 5-4 but the Trojans closed the period on a 14-0 run to lead 19-4.  Minks knocked down six three-pointers, three in each quarter to help swell the Stafford advantage to 41-10 at the break, with the Trojans outscoring Wilson 22-6.  Stafford maintained control with an 18-13 edge in the third quarter for a 59-23 lead while the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

Joining Minks in double figures were Dakota Rodriguez with 12 points while Brody Kerschenske and Josh Hilderbrand added 10 points apiece.  Noah Crawford led Wilson (8-14) with 11 points while Connor Charvat chipped in with 10 points.

Stafford (16-5) advances to the Sub-State Championship game on Saturday, March 4 at 7 p.m. when they face Pawnee Heights which was a 68-45 winner over Otis-Bison in Friday's other semifinal.  That game will be preceded by the Girls Championship contest at 5:30 p.m. between Wilson and Pawnee Heights.

Crawford and Memphis Eberhart are the only two seniors on the Wilson squad who played the final games of their High School Basketball careers Friday evening.  With the Junior-Senior High School in Wilson set to close at the end of the 2022-23 academic year, at least several of the returning players will likely be playing for other area schools next season.