By DELBERT PETERS

Sports writer

Twenty-three turnovers doomed the Bluebird’s chances of a win Saturday in the championship game of the Bluebird Classic. The offensive performance of Burrton’s Alex Santiago did not come as a big surprise to the Goessel team, but his 30 points propelled Burrton to a 13-point win.

Goessel’s only lead came when Isaac Fast hit the first basket of the game. The Chargers would build leads of six and eight points, but Goessel would get as close as 17-15 with 3:13 left in the second quarter. 

Aaron Reimer used his height advantage to score eight points in the middle of the game, but Burrton was always able to answer with points of their own. 

With 2:47 left in the game, two Bryant Miller free throws pulled the Bluebirds to within eight, but the Chargers finished the game with a final score of 57-44.

Weston Hiebert led the Bluebirds with 16 rebounds and 10 points. Reimer had 8, Corey Buller 7, Fast 6, Braden Unruh 4, and Chad Wedel, Bryant Miller and Hayden Goerzen with 3 points each.

Goessel now owns a 3-1 record and will play Friday at home against Argonia.

Goessel 47, Elyria Christian 44

 Neither team could take control of the game Thursday as the lead changed hands seven times in the first 20 minutes. 

The first game of the tournament was scheduled for Tuesday, but because of winter weather, it was postponed to Thursday.

It appeared that Goessel would pull ahead of Elyria when Trey Schmidt hit three free throws at the end of the first quarter, giving the Bluebirds a 13-8 lead. The Eagles kept plugging away and took the lead, 21-20, as the half ended.

Goessel grabbed a six-point lead after Miller hit a field goal and free throw and Wedel sank two free throws. Elyria snatched back the lead with a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter giving them a 39-38 advantage. The Bluebirds then scored eight straight points with Goessel’s post players — Reimer and Hiebert — doing most of the damage. It would be enough to win the game, as the Bluebirds held on to a 47-44 win. Hiebert led the team with 12 points, Wedel and Reimer each scored 9 points, Schmidt hit 6, Miller banked in 5, Goerzen knocked in 3, Fast scored 2 points, and Neal Brubaker made 1 point.

 Goessel 53, Central Christian 22

 Goessel scored 22 consecutive points Friday as the Cougars went cold. The Bluebirds coasted to a 53-22 win. Goessel led by two points at the end of the first quarter, 7-5, as it took a while for both teams to warm up. Hiebert connected on three steals that went the length of the court for layups in the second quarter, the Bluebirds only led 22-15 when the Central Christian offense shut down. 

The visitors were unable to score the entire third period and 11 Goessel players got into the scoring column for the third win of the season.

Hiebert led the team with 11 points, followed by Reimer’s 8, Brubaker and Wedel each had 6, Buller and Jake Smucker each hit 5, Fast and Miller each had 3 points, and Schmidt, Goerzen, and Unruh each had 2 points.