By Dustin Armbruster

The last time Hays High and Wichita East met up in the Dodge City Tournament of Champions was the championship game of 2014. Like most teams the Indians and the Blue Aces appear in the tournament every other year. The Indians won the last match-up to claim the tournament crown.

Hays trailed early 8-3 getting only an Isaiah Nunnery three pointer in the first three plus minutes of the game. That is when Shane Berens took over. The junior scored the next 13 points for Hays, leading them to a 16-14 lead after one quarter.

Highlights

Berens picked up his second foul in the first quarter and did not play the second. The Indians though had their next four baskets scored by four different players, twice building a seven point lead. East cut the lead down to one but never took the lead and Hays led at half time 30-28.

The Indians pushed their lead to eleven points on four different occasions in the second half. Twice in the third quarter Hays pulled ahead by eleven before East trimmed the lead to 48-40 at the end of the third quarter.

Hays led by eleven two more times in the fourth quarter. The last a 61-50 lead with 1:30 remaining in the game. The Blue Aces finished the game with a 13-0 run over those final 90 seconds to take the win 63-61.

Coach Rick Keltner

Hays was led by Shane Berens with a season high 19 and Keith Dryden with 15. The #3-4A-1 Indians drop to 8-2 on the season and play Hutchinson in the consolation semi-finals at 2:00 Friday. #10-6A Wichita East is 7-3 and will play #2-6A Manhattan at 7:00.