Girls
Salina South 54 – #10 Hays 49 OT
The first quarter featured four ties and five lead changes between Hays and South on Tuesday night. The tight first quarter saw both teams make four of their first five shot attempts. Hays took a 16-14 lead to the second quarter but that too would be short lived. South opened the quarter on a 11-2 run to take a 25-18 lead. The Indians scored just two points in the first 6:10 of the second quarter but rallied to score seven points in a row to tie the game at 25-25 at halftime.
Highlights
The Indians run continued into the third quarter totaling 13-0 and a 31-25 lead with 4:45 left in the quarter. The six point lead would prove to be the biggest lead for Hays. South answered back with four straight points and closed gap down to 36-33 after three quarter. Hays took a 42-39 lead before South hit just their second three pointer of the game to tie things back up. The Indians again took the lead at 44-42 with 2:10 left in regulation. The Cougars tied the game with :45 left giving Hays a chance to win. The Indians missed three shots and turned the ball over once in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
Coach Alex Hutchins
The lead swapped hands again in overtime. Hays led just once at 46-45 and South took the lead for good with 2:38 left at 47-46. South made 6 of 9 overtime free throws to hold off Hays 54-49. The Indians trailed by seven at 53-46 and made a three to get within four then forced a turnover but missed the ensuing field goal attempt.
Hays turned the ball over 23 times and made just one of seven free throw attempts. Jaycee Dale scored 12, Savannah Schneider added 11 and Brooke Denning put in 10 off the bench. Hays falls to 8-4 while South improves 4-8.
Boys
Salina South 64 – Hays 62 OT
Like the girls’ game before it, the boys’ game ended with a 16-14 score favoring Hays over the Cougars. The teams were tied three times and traded the lead three times before settling the first eight minutes. Hays never relinquished the lead in the second quarter building a 25-21 lead by halftime. Hays led by as many as six in the quarter but could never pull away.
Highlights
South used an 8-0 run to take a 31-28 lead over the first three minutes of the third quarter. Hays responded with their best stretch of basketball over the next eight plus minutes. The Indians went on a 18-0 run to build a 46-31 lead with 5:07 left in the game. Hays held South without a point for 8:23 and without a field goal for 9:02. Once the Cougars broke the drought they were hot. A 19-1 run over 4:30 pushed South back to a 50-47 edge. Hays managed to tie the game with eighteen seconds left and avoided a pair of shots from the Cougars sending the game to overtime.
Coach Rick Keltner
Each team hit a three pointer to open up the extra game time and tie at 55. South grabbed the lead for good at 57-55 and expanded their advantage to seven points at 64-57. South made just one of nine free throws in the overtime to leave the door open but the Indians made just four of twelve field goals and fall 64-62.
Tradgon McCrae scored 35, one point shy of his career high as the Indians fall to 6-6. Salina South is now 6-7.
The Indians return home on Friday and Saturday to take on Dodge City and Garden City.