Girard impresses as they topple Southeast

Girard sophomore Darian Kelly shoots over Southeast's Loverl Johnson during Wednesday's game at Nevada Middle School. Kelly scored 19 points in the win and is considered one of the top guard prospects in the country in his age group.

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Girard (Kan.) Trojans put on a show Wednesday as they topped the Southeast Knights of Kansas City, 58-47.

With highly touted sophomores Darian Kelly and Tanner Poppe, and high-flying senior Drew Cook, the Trojans simply outmanned the Knights.

Kelly and Poppe each scored 19 points, and Cook had 10, with two coming on an alley-oop off a fast break on a dish from Kelly that wowed the crowd at Nevada Middle School.

The Trojans were in the midst of an 11-2 run in the third period when Kelly got the ball off a steal and Girard had a 3-on-1 break. Kelly pressed the issue, at the last minute lobbing with his left hand to Cook, who came flying in from the baseline behind the Southeast defender for the stuff.

The dunk gave the Trojans a 39-22 lead, and from then on the outcome of the game was never in doubt.

Southeast did keep fighting, clawing their way to within 11 at the end, but only by closing the game with a 5-0 run of their own.

Girard is ranked fourth in Kansas' class 4A, and is unbeaten this season (9-0).

Southeast dropped to 8-5 overall.

The Knights were led in scoring by Darwin Beane and Tyrone Tanner, who each scored 11. Jeffrey White and Daniel Martin each added nine.

It was the first game of pool play for the Trojans, who take on Carthage at 8:30 p.m. today at the middle school.

Carthage beat Southeast in pool play Monday, dropping the Knights into the fifth-place game Saturday against El Dorado Springs.

The winner of tonight's Girard-Carthage game will be in the tournament championship game Saturday. They will play the winner of Friday's Nevada-Renaissance Academy game.

The Trojans, were a late addition to the tournament field, only adding the Classic to their schedule when they lost three games because of inclement weather.

Replacing the Nevada junior varsity in the field, Girard should be considered the tournament favorites, as they feature the talented sophomores, who were both Kansas All-State honorable mention selections as freshmen a year ago.

Kelly, a 6-2 point guard who is considered one of the top players in the country in his age group, is being recruited by schools such as Kansas and Florida.

While Poppe, a 6-6 post with agility, has college prospect written all over him.