By JEREMY McGUIRE
Hays Post
Girls: TMP 62, Norton 38
Boys: TMP 55, Norton 49
HAYS, Kan-TMP and Norton traded first quarter runs in what turned out to be an entertaining first half of play at Al Billinger Fieldhouse in Hays. TMP started the game on a 5-0 run and Norton answered with an 8-2 march. The Lady Monarchs would take a 9-8 lead after the first quarter.
Norton opened the second quarter with a bucket and it happened to be their last lead of the game. TMP would extend the lead to five a couple of times and that included their 22-17 halftime lead. The Lady Monarchs struggled on offense in the first half with 10 turnovers.
TMP turned their offense up a notch in the second half and quickly pulled away in the third quarter with an 11-0 run that put the game away. The Lady Monarchs would extend their lead to as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter and picked up the 62-38 victory.
Baylee Miller paced Norton with 13 points and Taryn Kuhn added 11 for the Lady Jays who dropped to 9-6 on the season and 4-2 in the Mid Continent League. Madyson Koerner led TMP with 20, all of them in the second half. The Lady Monarchs improved to 14-1 and 6-0 in the MCL. They are off until next Friday when they face Phillipsburg.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
A game that has turned into a rather intense rivalry ensued when the TMP and Norton boys took the floor. Norton led 9-3 early but TMP was not to be intimidated on their home floor. The Monarchs went on a 20-3 run spanning into the second quarter.
The Bluejays were able to stem the tide and the two teams settled into a solid second quarter. Norton cut the Monarch lead to 7 at 25-18 but the TMP finished the quarter with a 6-3 push to lead 31-21 at halftime. Michael Lager led TMP with 10 points at the break. Tyus Henson led Norton with 12 while leading scorer Landon Porter was limited to only three made free throws in the the first 16 minutes.
Norton came out in the third quarter with determination behind Porter who scored 7 points in the first two minutes. The Bluejay’s flurry cut the Monarch’ lead to 34-30 but TMP would have an answer as Lager and Kaleb Hagens would hit back to back buckets to extend the lead back to 8 points. The Monarchs led 42-34 going to the final period.
The fourth quarter was full of ups, downs and runs for both teams. TMP used an 8-0 run to take their largest lead, 54-41. Norton would immediately answer with an 8-0 run of their own to close the gap to 54-49 late in the game. Both teams would have a couple of empty possessions as TMP pulled out the 55-49 upset over the #3 ranked (3A) team in the state.
Porter led Norton with 24 points and Henson finished with 17 as the Bluejays drop to 13-2 overall and 5-1 in the Mid Continent League. Lager led TMP with 18 points and McFarland finished with 14. The win ends a three game losing streak for the Monarchs who improve to 8-7 overall and 5-1 in the MCL. TMP will play next Friday at home against Phillipsburg.
JOE HERTEL INTERVIEW
GAME HIGHLIGHTS