By Dustin Armbruster
Hays High was back on the basketball court 72 hours following the Hays City Shootout, to take on Pratt Tuesday night. The Hays High girls were coming off a third place showing to take on the #10 4A-D2 Lady Greenbacks. Both the boys teams entered the night ranked in their respective classes, Hays at #4 in 4A-D1 and Pratt at #2 in 4A-D2.
Girls
Hays 53 – Pratt 33
Hays trailed only once on their way to an easy win on Tuesday night. Pratt scored two points on the first possession of the game, which was followed up by a 16-3 Hays High run. The Indians made their first six shots and all eight of their first half free throws to grab a 31-13 lead. Savannah Schneider scored the first 11 points for the Indians and tied a career high 19 with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. Hays High also turned up the pressure on the defensive side, forcing 22 first half turnovers.
Highlights
The Indians pushed their lead as high as 25 on two occasions in the third quarter outscoring Pratt 13-7 for a second consecutive quarter. Hays led by as many as 28 in the fourth quarter and won 53-33. The Indians forced 38 turnovers in the game. The Indians played 15 in the game with 11 scoring.
Coach Kirk Maska
Savannah Schneider was the only player in double figures, scoring a career high 23. The Lady Indians improve to 3-1 and play Junction City next Tuesday. Pratt falls to 0-2.
Boys
Hays 79 – Pratt 71 OT
Hays and Pratt battled to a two point game at half time with the Greenbacks leading 28-26. Hays led by six at two different points of the first quarter and 15-11 after eight minutes. Pratt took their first lead at 16-5, but Hays answered back with a 9-2 run to build the lead back up to six. Pratt got on their best run of the first half outscoring Hays 10-0 leading their lead up 28-24. Shane Berens hit a put back shot at the buzzer to get Hays with in two at 28-26 at half time.
Highlights
Hays and Pratt remained close in the third quarter switching the lead seven times and having the scored tied three times. Hays trailed 40-39 after three quarters. Hays fell behind by seven at 53-46 with 4:20 remaining in the game. Hays cut into the lead with six straight points and then took the lead at 56-55 when Shane Berens made the first of two free throws, but Claiborne Kyles rebounded a miss on the second attempt and sank a three pointer with 2:20 remaining. The two teams swapped the lead three more times with Pratt building their lead to five with eighteen seconds remaining at 63-58. Collyn Kreutzer banked in a three pointer with six seconds left. After a Hays time out and foul, Pratt hit one of two free throws to leave the window open for the Indians. Kreuzter was fouled on a three point attempt with nine-hundredths of a second left. Kreuzter hit the first free throw, Pratt took a full timeout, and then he sank the final two attempts to tie the game at 64. Pratt did get off a desperation heave that rimmed out from three quarters court.
Pratt took the only lead in overtime at 67-64, but Hays answered with fourteen straight points swapping the lead for a fifteenth and final time. Hays outscored the Greenbacks 15-7 in overtime taking the 79-71 win.
Coach Rick Keltner
Noah Meyers for Pratt led all scoring with 25 and Samson Kohman added 18. Hays was led by Claiborne Kyles with 22, Collyn Kreutzer with 15, Tyrese Hill scored 11 and Shane Berens collected a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Hays is 4-0 on the season and returns to action in one week to take on Junction City. Pratt drops to 1-1.