Hays High hosted Liberal on Friday to end a stretch of four consecutive home games all of them in the Western Athletic Conference.
Girls
#2-6A Liberal 55 – #10-5A Hays 34
The girls game featured a pair of state ranked teams. Liberal entered undefeated at 14-0 and ranked #2 in 6A. Hays spent a second week at #10 in 5A and 11-4 overall. The game also was a key match-up in the Western Athletic Conference with Liberal leading the conference at 3-0 and Hays at 4-1.
Hays had their first five shots blocked and made only one of eleven first quarter shots as Liberal made seven of ten field goals running out to a 17-2 lead after the first quarter. Hays pulled the deficit down to 13 midway through the second quarter but missed three shots on their next two possessions. Liberal pushed the lead up to 28-10 by halftime.
Highlights
The Indians held Liberal scoreless for the first two minutes of the second half but could only muster two points. Liberal never led by less than 16 in the second half and won 55-34.
Savannah Schneider scored a game high 17.
Coach Alex Hutchins
Hays falls to 11-5 on the season and 4-1 in conference play. Liberal remains undefeated at 15-0 and 4-0 in the WAC.
Boys
Hays 59 – Liberal 54
Hays made four consecutive three pointers in the first quarter to jump out to a 13-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game. Liberal made just two first quarter field goals as the Indians led 17-5 after the first eight minutes. Hays pushed their lead up to 16 midway through the second quarter at 23-7 but scored just two points for the remainder of the half. Liberal hit a pair of three pointers during that stretch as Hays led 25-13 at halftime.
Highlights
Liberal opened the second half by scoring eight straight points which were part of a 14-2 run and closed the Indian lead down to 25-21. It took Hays over three minutes to score in the third quarter but went back up by nine after scoring their first two baskets of the the quarter. Liberal again cut the lead down to five but Hays answered with the final four points of the third to lead 34-25.
The fourth quarter featured 38 free throws between the two teams. Hays made 21 of 27 attempts while Liberal knocked down 7 of 11 attempts. Liberal countered the Indians free throws with 6 of 13 three pointers in the fourth quarter. Hays lead was never under six points in the final quarter as they win 59-54.
Coach Rick Keltner
Tradgon McCrae led the Indians with 11 points while five players scored six or more points. Hays improves to 9-7 on the year and 4-2 in conference. Liberal drops to 9-6 and 1-3 in the WAC.