18U Summary

The Thesa Boys Basketball returned from a very successful showing at the National Christian Homeschool Championship in Oklahoma City last week (March 10-15).

The 18U Boys team went 4-1 for the tournament, capping their week with a 54-37 win over the Wichita Defenders to claim the Division II-C Championship.  Statistically, the championship game was highlighted by a season high 20 points from senior Mike Kossuth, while senior Jordan Greene came thru with 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.  On the defensive side the Riders were facing a Wichita team which had scored 153 points in their previous two games.  However, seniors Eric Liggett and Tyler Ramos combined to limit the Defenders usually strong inside game while juniors Caleb Durant and Stephen Singleton harassed on the outside as Thesa held Wichita to only 37 points.

The only loss for the Boys was in their tournament opener.  Facing the Wisconsin SWCHA Saints, and despite 19 points from sophomore Greg Buckingham, the Riders fell 56-52 in the tightly contested game .  From there the Boys defeated Team USA Silver 66-27, the Tulsa CHEF Arrows 59-53, and the TCA Warriors 65-49 to set the stage for the championship game.

All-Tournament selections for the Riders were Singleton, Buckingham, Durant and Mike Kossuth..

16U Summary

Not to be outdone by their older teammates, the 16U squad captured the 5A championship by defeating the Lake Houston Conquerors in the championship game.  The only loss for the 16U group was a tough 66-59 game with the eventual 6A champion HCYA.

 Throughout the tournament the Riders were sparked by the backcourt combination of junior Daniel Pressnell and freshman Nathan Pressnell as the brothers combined solid outside shooting with a harassing defensive style.  In the frontcourt Thesa sophomore Ben Bloom was dominant on the boards averaging almost 10 rebounds per game.  He was aided on the inside by junior Scott Kossuth who used his leaping ability and soft shooting touch to lead the team in scoring during the tourney.  Rounding out the group was the steady play of junior point guard Daniel Grove.

All-Tournament selections for the 16U group were the Pressnell brothers, Bloom, and Scott Kossuth.