Two days before the first baseball game of the spring, Jace Armstrong placed his name on a national letter of intent to play at Cloud County Community College. Armstrong says he had offer to play college baseball at a few different places. It was the Cloud County coaches that caught his ear though. He not only liked what he heard about becoming a better player on the field, but also the way the coaches want to develop a better person off the field as well. Armstrong says he also glad to have this decision made before games begin this spring, taking the pressure off to perform not only for the team but any scouts in attendance as well.
Jace Armstrong
It also helps that Armstrong can play any number of positions on the diamond. He said the Cloud County coaches will get him on campus before finalizing a position for him. Indian’s head coach Frank Leo says that Armstrong will have plenty of positions to play this spring too. Leo says Armstrong will play shortstop, second base, outfield and time pitching. Leo compliments Armstrong’s athleticism and ability to play multiple positions as two top reasons for his opportunity to play college baseball.
Frank Leo
Armstrong is among a senior group that looks to lead an inexperienced team into the 2017 spring season.
With the basketball season complete, the All Western Athletic Conference teams were released. The Hays High Indians place two on each the boys and girls roster.
Girls
First Team
Jada Mickens, Sr. – Liberal (Player of the Year)
Tia Bradshaw, Sr. – Dodge City
Carley Brack, Jr. – Great Bend
Carly Dreiling, Sr. – Great Bend Talyn Kleweno, Sr. – Hays
Second Team
Ali Lucero, Jr. – Liberal
Jose Calzonetti, Jr. – Garden City Savannah Schneider, So. – Hays
Machia Mullens, Fr. – Liberal
Camryn Dunekack, Jr. Great Bend
Carter Kruger – Liberal (Coach of the Year)
Boys
First Team
Cade Hinkle, Sr. – Liberal (Player of the Year)
Deladris Green, Sr. – Liberal
Kody Crosby, Sr. – Great Bend
Garrett Doll, Jr. – Garden City Shane Berens, Sr. – Hays
Second Team
Claiborne Kyles, Sr. – Hays
Kylan Thomas, Sr. – Liberal
Griff Brunson, Sr. – Garden City
Hunter Heath, Jr. – Dodge City
Konner Ireland, Sr. – Great Bend
The Hays High girls played in their first sub-state title game since 2012. Saturday night’s game was played in Buhler with the Indians facing one of the top teams in 4A-D1, McPherson. The Bullpups entered the game ranked 3rd in the classification and had only lost three games on the year.
Mcpherson burst out of the gate with a 16-2 run to put little doubt as to the outcome of the game. Hays would get no closer that six rest of the night, when they scored their first basket at 8-2. Hays trailed by 20 entering the second quarter at 26-6. McPherson out scored Hays by two in the second quarter 13-11 and lead the Indians 39-17 at half time.
Highlights
After trailing 26-6 after the first quarter, McPherson outscored Hays 41-31 the remainder of the game. Hays trailed 59-30 entering the fourth quarter and falls 67-37.
Taylor Robertson scored 28 points to lead all players who move to 19-3 and head to the state tournament in Salina next week. Hays ends their season at 12-10.
Hays and Ulysses met in semi-final round of the girls sub-state tournament in Buhler on Friday night. For both teams it was a season of improvement. Both entered at 11-9 after single digit wins the prior season. Hays won seven last year and Ulysses won just three.
Ulysses scored the first four points of the game to take their only first and only lead of the game at 4-0. Hays responded in an eight minute 18-2 run that sandwiched a 8-0 run and 10-0 run around a two point field goal from Ulysses. That stretch pushed Hays High to a double digit lead at 18-6. The Indians would push that lead up to fifteen two different times, the last at 25-10. Ulysses scored the final five points of the second quarter including a three pointer at the buzzer from over 25 feet away to trim the Indian lead down to 25-15.
Highlights
Hays pushed the lead back to 13 at 30-17 when Ulysses started 7-0 run that would cut the Indian lead down to six with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Maddie Keller and Tasaiah Nunner combined to outscore Ulysses 7-3 on the remainder of quarter to rebuild the Hays lead to 10. Ulysses again trimmed the lead down to single figures getting the difference down to seven 37-30. The lead never dwindled below that. Hays pushed the lead as high as 16 and won 51-38.
Coach Kirk Maska
Savannah Schneider scored a game high 16 while Maddie Keller scored 11. Hays improves to 12-9 on the year and moves to the sub-state championship to face the winner of McPherson and Buhler. It will be the first sub-state title game for the Indians since 2012. Ulysses ends their season at 11-10. Hays held Ulysses to just 26% shooting while hitting 43% themselves.
For a third straight season, Hays and Buhler matched up in the first round of sub-state play. Hays won the previous two meetings first in Hays then in Ulysses. Thursdays game took place on Buhler’s home floor. As in the previous two years both teams entered with double digit wins.
Hays doubled up Buhler in the first quarter. However that amounted to just a 4-2 lead after the first eight minutes. There weren’t many more points scored in the second quarter. Buhler outscored Hays 10-2 to build their biggest first half lead at 12-8. Hays scored the final five points of the second quarter. The final three points came as time expired when Xander Swayne scored a put-back basket and was fouled as the horn sounded. Swayne knocked down the free throw to give the Indians a 13-12 halftime lead. That Swayne field goal was the only one of the quarter for Hays, but they hit all seven of their free throws.
Highlights
Buhler hit a three pointer to open up the second half to take a brief lead, when Hays went on a 8-0 run to build their biggest lead of the game at 21-15. From the end of second quarter and midway through the third quarter, the Indians outscored 13-3 to build that six point lead. Buhler answered back with a 11-2 run that ended third quarter lasted midway through the fourth quarter. The Crusaders built their lead up to six at 33-27 with two minutes remaining. Hays outscored Buhler 7-1 in the final ninety seconds on two baskets from Tyrese Hill and a conventional three point play by Claiborne Kyles. Buhler missed an alley-oop attempt at the buzzer, leaving the score at 34 a piece.
Hays and Buhler swapped the lead back and forth in the early stages of overtime, with Hays taking the lead at 38-36 with 2:25 remaining. Hays would not score rest of the way. Buhler knocked down five of six free throws, mixed in with a three point basket for the final difference of 44-38.
Coach Rick Keltner
Tyrese Hill led Hays with 12, Claiborne Kyles added 10. Hays finishes the season at 13-8. Buhler improves to 15-6 and plays McPherson for the sub-state title on Saturday.
Hays High’s Shane Berens collected five rebounds in the game, which ties him for 10th all time with 401 boards. He ties 1951 graduate Gene McCurdy.
The Hays High Indians already knew what sub-state they were going to be a part of. In fact, the teams already knew who they would be playing before the brackets were announced on Saturday.
The boys side of the tournament will start first on Thursday. Hays (12-7) will be the three seed in the bracket and play host school and seconded seeded Buhler (13-6) in the first round at 7:30. McPherson (16-4) is the top seed of the four schools and will play Ulysses (10-10) at 6:00.
This is the third consecutive year that these four schools have been in the same sub-state. All three years have featured the same first round match-ups with the Hays beating Buhler in each of the last two seasons.
The Hays High girls will take the floor on Friday at 6:00 to play Ulysses. Hays and Ulysses each ended the year at 11-9. Ulysses will be the number two seeds and be the home team. Hays will play as the three seed. McPherson (17-3) is the top seed and will play Buhler (3-17), who is the four seed.
Winners in each of the first two days of the tournament will move to the championship round on Saturday. The girls championship will be played at 6:00 with the boys to follow.
Games can be heard on 96.9 KFIX and watched at hayspost.com.
Hays finished out the regular season playing Great Bend on Friday night. The game marked just the fourth home game for the Indians since the calendar turned to 2017. The evening also featured all the seniors as they wore a jersey on the home floor for a final time.
It was a busy night at Hays High School. Along with honoring all the seniors, Shane Berens was presented his Shrine Bowl nomination and golf coach Mark Watts was recognized as the 2016 Midwest Sectional Boys Golf Coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Association after his team won the 2016 4A State Boys Golf Championship.
Girls
Hays 45 – Great Bend 51
Hays built a five point lead at 9-4 with a 9-2 run over the first four minutes of the game. Great Bend answered with a 7-2 to tie the game at 11 with less than two minutes remaining in the quarter. Hays ended the first quarter and began the second quarter on a 8-0 run to build their lead to a first half high at 19-11. Great Bend though had answer once again as they later outscore Hays 8-1 to tie the game at 27. Maddie Keller knocked down one of two free throws with ten second left in the half to give Hays a 28-27 lead at halftime.
Highlights
Great Bend took just their second lead of the game ninety seconds into the second half and used a 12-5 run to build up their lead up to 39-33. Hays closed the third quarter and began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run that included two Brooke Denning three pointers and a Savannah Schneider steal and layup that put Hays up 41-39. The lead for Hays came with 6:00 remaining in the game. The Indian’s offense went cold, scoring just one free throw and missing twelve shots over the next 5:58 before Denning nailed her fourth three of the game. By that time Great had outscored Hays 12-1 to build a nine point lead. Great Bend ran out the final seconds of the game for the 51-45 win.
Coach Kirk Maska
Carly Dreiling scored a career high 27 points for Great Bend which included making 12 of 13 free throws. Great Bend as a team made 23 of 31 free throws. Brooke Denning hit four three pointers and a traditional three point play to lead Hays with a career high 15.
Both teams end the regular season at 11-9. Great Bend finishes conference play in second at 6-2. Hays ends the year in third at 4-4. Liberal took the girls title at 7-1.
The Hays girls will play in the Buhler sub-state next Friday as they will play Ulysses.
Boys
Hays 61 – Great Bend 66
Hays missed all eleven of their three pointers in the first half as they trailed 26-15 at half time against Great Bend. The two teams swapped the lead six times in the first quarter with Hays never leading by more than a single point. Great Bend took the final lead change of the first half scoring six straight points, going up 13-8 with thirty seconds left in the quarter. Hays got three of those points back on a Xander Swayne three point play in the final seconds of the quarter to pull Hays back with in two at 13-11.
Hays scored only four points in the second quarter. Those four points tied the game at 15 with six minutes left before half time. Hays missed their next eleven shots and only free throw attempt over as Great Bend score 11 straight, taking a 26-15 lead at half.
Highlights
Great Bend continued to control the game through the first five minutes of the third quarter, building a game high 16 point lead at 40-24. The Hays offense started to find a rhythm at that point scoring the final ten points of the third quarter to pull within six at 40-34.
Great Bend built the lead back to ten with three and a half minutes remaining. Hays went on a 8-1 run over the next fifty seconds to tighten the game to one possession at 57-54. Hays would miss two three pointers to tie but eventually get within two points at 61-59 with under thirty seconds remaining. The Panthers made five of their final six free throws to hold on for a 66-61 win.
Coach Rick Keltner
Kody Crosby led all scoring with 31 which included 16 of 20 free throw shooting. As a team Great Bend out shot Hays 39-9 at the free throw stripe. Hays was 7-9. Great Bend was 26 of 39. The Panthers also got a season high 16 from Jacob Murray. Hays put four in double figures with Tradgon McCrae and Claiborne Kyles each scoring 11. Collyn Kreutzer and Tyrese Hill added ten a piece.
Hays falls to 13-7 for the season and finishes in a tie with Garden City for second in the WAC at 5-3. Great Bend improves to 6-14 and 2-6. Hays will be in Buhler for sub-state where they will face the hometown Crusaders.
Hays High continued the second half of Western Athletic Conference play as they traveled to Dodge City on Tuesday night. It was senior night for the Red Demons as they played their final home game of the season. Both the Hays girls and boys teams needed a pair of wins in the final week to keep chances of top two finish in the WAC possible and both teams were also battling for the second seed in next week’s sub-state tournament.
Girls Hays 42 – Dodge City 38
Hays turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter and found themselves down 10-3 six minutes into the game. The Indians though scored the only five points of the final two minutes of the quarter to get back within two at 10-8.
Hays High turned those two points into a 13-0 run that lasted over half way through the second quarter. The run built the Indian’s lead up to six at 16-10. Dodge City answered back with their second run of the half outscoring Hays 8-3 over the final three and a half minutes of the second quarter to make it 19-18 at half time.
Highlights
Each team took turns building three point leads in the third quarter before the Red Demons scored the final three points of the quarter to go up 29-27.
Hays held Dodge City to two made field goals in sixteen fourth quarter attempts, helping the Hays offense take the lead. Brooke Denning made three three pointers in the second half, each giving the Indians the lead. The second three point basket put Hays up 33-32 and the third gave the Indians the lead for good at 38-35 with 1:45 left in the game. Hays made four of their final six free throws to seal the 42-38 victory. Dodge City cut a five point Hays lead down to two on a Tia Bradshaw three pointer, but Savannah Schneider answered with a pair of free throws for the game’s final points.
Coach Kirk Maska
Hays was led by the 11 of Schneider and career high 10 of Brooke Denning. The two combined for all five of the Indian’s three point field goals. Tia Bradshaw scored a game high 20 for Dodge City. Hays improves to 11-8 overall and 4-3 in the conference. Dodge City falls to 6-13 and 2-5. It is the third time that Hays has beaten Dodge City this year.
Boys Hays 48 – Dodge City 39
Dodge City’s zone gave Hays plenty of chances to shoot three pointers in the first quarter and the Indians obliged by taking 10 and making three. Hays took the lead for the first time a the third three pointer to lead 12-9 after the first quarter.
The Indians held the lead for the entire second quarter and built it up to seven at 19-12 with just under two minutes left in the half. After Hays built the lead to seven Dodge City hit back to back field goals that included their first made three pointer of the game and cut the lead down to 19-17 in favor of Hays at halftime.
Highlights
Hays pushed their lead to five on two occasions in the third quarter. Dodge City answered with their best run of the second half scoring seven straight points with back to back three pointers to take the lead at 28-26. After a scoreless first half Shane Berens scored five points in the third quarter, which included a buzzer beating three pointer to put Hays back up 29-28 heading to the fourth quarter.
Claiborne Kyles threw down a right handed dunk that put Hays up by five early in the fourth quarter. Dodge City got the game down to a single possession three times with the final coming at 35-33, midway through the fourth quarter. Berens went on his own personal 7-2 run to provide the Indians with a five point lead at 42-35. Dodge City put Hays at the line eight times in the final ninety seconds, where the Indians made six free throws and win 48-39.
Coach Rick Keltner
Shane Berens led the Indians with a double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds. Claiborne Kyles scored 11. Hays improves to 13-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play. Dodge City falls to 3-16 and 1-6. The Red Demons were led by Hunter Heath with 11.
Hays returns home on Friday for Senior Night as they close out the regular season versus Great Bend.
The Hays High Indians boys team finished off a busy week with their third road trip in five days. The Hays bus had taken the team to Abilene on Tuesday, Garden City on Friday and the Colby on Saturday. The game was originally supposed to be played in December, but was postponed due to weather and travel concerns.
Hays nailed four of their first five three point shots on their way to a nine point lead 16-7 just inside of three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Hays did not score for the remainder of the quarter but held Colby to just a free throw over the same time period, leaving Hays High with a 27-22 lead after the first quarter.
Hays hit a three pointer to open the second quarter to build their to a first half high 11 at 19-8. Colby responded with a 7-3 run and eventually trimmed the Hays lead down to five at 25-20 and had two chances to get the game back to a single possession contest. Hays led one more time by seven but Colby trimmed the lead down to five by halftime 27-22.
Highlights
Colby scored the first six points of second half to take their only lead of the game at 28-27. Peyton Kieffer answered back with a three pointer just ten second later to spark an 11-0 Hays run that built the lead up to ten, 38-28. The eventually grew to a game high twelve before Colby scored the final four points of the third quarter to get within six at 44-36.
Colby used those six points to start an 11-1 run pull within two at 45-43. Colby missed their one shot at a tie in the fourth quarter and Hays took back a two possession lead following a Tyrese Hill stick back bucket at 47-43. Hays scored just one point in the final two minutes of the game and four during the entire quarter, but it was enough to hang on for a 48-44 victory over Colby.
Coach Rick Keltner
Cole Murphy hit four three pointers, scoring 12 points and Claiborne Kyles also scored 12 and made three three pointers. The two have combined for 13 three pointers in the last two games. Colby got 16 points from Jordan Schippers and 10 from Brooks Curry. Hays improves to 12-6 on the year. Colby falls to 3-15.
Hays heads head to Dodge City on Tuesday and hosts Great Bend on Friday to close out the regular season.
Freshman Isaac Smith set a school record while representing Hays High swimming in two individual events at the 5-1A State swim meet in Topeka. Smith broke the school record in the 100 meter butterfly on Friday with a 54.84 second swim. He made the “A” final with the swim after entering state with a 57.27 second seed time which was seeded sixteenth. Smith ended up in eighth place in the final with a 55.13 second swim.
Smith qualified for the “B” final in the 200 meter individual medley after swimming nearly six seconds faster than his seed time. He swam a 2:09.95 in the prelims after entering with a seed time of 2:15.48. Smith finished in sixteenth overall after the “B” final with a time of 2:12.10.
The Hays High 200 meter freestyle relay also competed at state but did not make either final. The relay was comprised of Smith, Brett Bowels, Tanner Callis, and Scout Perryman.
The Hays High Indian wrestling team qualified two for the 4A state tournament in Salina next week. Trey VanPelt finished in fourth place at 220 pounds. He made the championship semifinals with a pair of victories before losing to the eventual regional champion and being sent to the back side of the bracket. VanPelt qualified for the state tournament with a 10-2 major decision which sent him into the the third place match where he fell in double overtime 4-2.
Conrad Vajnar had already locked up his state qualifying spot by the time that the Friday session came to a close. Vajnar was the number two seed for the tournament in Buhler and received a bye in the first round. He won by technical fall and a 5-3 decision to make the finals of 152 pounds. Vajnar fell in the championship round, finishing in second.
Hays had six other wrestlers that came within one match of making the state tournament but lost their matches that would have gotten them to the third place pairing.
The 4A state tournament will be held in Salina at the Bicentennial Center on February 24th and 25th.
Hays traveled to Garden City on Friday night to resume Western Athletic Conference play with the Buffaloes. It was the third match-up of the season between the two teams. Both the Hays girls and boys teams had previously beaten Garden City in the first game of the season at the Hays City Shootout and in their Western Athletic Conference showdown in Hays during the month January.
Girls Hays 51 – Garden City 42
Hays used a 12-0 first quarter run to grab control of the game, getting seven of those points from Tasaiah Nunnery. That run allowed Hays to push their lead up to 18-7 with a minute to go in the first quarter. Hays lead by nine after the first quarter and more than midway through the second quarter when Garden City made three straight baskets to pull within one at 24-23. Hays answered with six straight points building a seven point lead. Garden City scored just before half time leaving the Indian lead at 30-25.
Highlights
Hays never let their lead slip below four points in the second half. Hays had the ball up by seven in the third quarter, but turned it over on four straight possessions. The Indians defense though held allowing Hays to push their lead back to nine right before Garden City beat the buzzer with a basket at 41-33. Hays built their lead to a game high 12 before Garden scored six straight points with two minutes left in the game. Hays made four of their final eight free throws and one field goal to keep Garden City behind them, winning 51-42.
Coach Kirk Maska
Savannah Schneider led the Indians in scoring with a game high 12. Mattie Hutchison added 10 and came within a rebound of a double-double. The Indians had six players score five more points in the game. Hays improves to 10-8 on the season, breaking a four game losing streak, and are now 3-3 in the WAC. Garden City is now 5-14 and 1-6.
Boys Hays 63 – Garden City 57
Hays trailed just once in the first quarter after taking a 14-9 lead on a Peyton Kieffer three pointer, Garden City scored the games next six points to lead 15-14. Tyrese Hill scored the final four points of the first quarter to give the Indians a 18-15 lead. Garden city again scored six consecutive points in the second quarter to retake the lead at 23-21. The Indians responded with a 8-2 run to close out the first half on a pair of Shane Berens field goals and the second three pointer of the quarter from Claiborne Kyles. Hays took a 29-25 lead into the locker room at half time.
Highlights
The Indians opened the second half with a 15-4 run jumped started by back to back three pointers in the first fifty seconds of the quarter. Hays built their lead to 12 after three quarter at 44-32. The Indian lead surged to 20 at 57-37 with 4:10 remaining in the game. Garden City caught fire in the final three minutes hitting five three pointers and making eight of eleven shots to pull the final score back to single digits in the end at 63-57 in favor of Hays High.
Coach Rick Keltner
Four Indians scored in double figures, led by the 17 of Shane Berens. Claiborne Kyles scored 13, Tyrese Hill and Cole Murphy each scored 10. Hays shot 57% in the game and made ten three pointers. Garden City shot 48% from the field and put three in double figures, led by the 16 of Garret Doll, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter. Hays improves to 11-6 and 4-2 in the WAC. Garden City drops to 9-10 and 5-2 in conference play.
The Hays High boys will be in Colby Saturday for a make-up game. The girls are off until Tuesday.
Hays High took back to the road in Abilene on Tuesday night to play one of the few fellow 4A opponents they see all season long. For the girls it was only the second 4A opponent they had played for the boys it was the third of four. The Abilene boys entered the night #7 in 4A-I and Hays boys at #9 in 4A-I.
Girls
Hays 52 – Abilene 56
Hays hit five of their first seven shots and their only three pointer of the quarter to build up an 18-10 lead after the first quarter. The Indians shot 53% in the first half and built their lead to a high of 13 points at 29-16 with 4:32 left in second quarter. The Indians only scored two free throws in the remaining time of the quarter and were outscored by Abilene 11-2, cutting the Hays lead down to 31-27 at halftime.
Highlights
Abilene continued their long run through the third quarter outscoring Hays 12-6. The Indians made just one of six shots in the quarter and turned the ball over seven times. Abilene entered the fourth quarter leading 39-37. The Indians scoring drought continued until the final six minutes of the game. Trailing by nine on three occasions, Hays found a 11-4 run to get back with two at 54-52 with 1:13 remaining. Hays would never get closer, but did have a chance with the ball down by three but turned it over. Abilene made just 12 of their final six free throws, but hold on to win 56-52.
Coach Kirk Maska
Savannah Schneider led the Indians with 16, Jaycee Dale scored a career high 15 and Mattie Hutchison added 11. McKenzie Funston led all scoring with 21 for Abilene. Hays falls to 9-8 and have dropped four straight. Abilene is now 12-6.
Boys
Hays 44 – Abilene 48
Each team used a first quarter run to end in a 12-11 score in favor of Hays after the first eight minutes. Abilene opened with a 7-2 run, then Hays answered with a 9-4 run. Neither team gained much traction in the second quarter. Hays led a majority of the quarter with the biggest lead at 16-13. Abilene took a two point lead at 18-16 before Hays scored the final four points of the quarter capped by two Xander Swayne free throws with one and a half seconds left for 20-18 halftime lead.
Highlights
Hays opened the second half on a 9-2 run to build their lead to it’s highest at 29-20. Abilene cut the lead down two four twice before the Indians went back up by seven at 35-28. Abilene closed the third quarter and began the fourth on a 15-2 run, taking the lead for good at 43-37. Hays had three shots in the final minute to tie or take the lead, but missed and Abilene made their final four free throws to hold on 48-44.
Coach Rick Keltner
Hays falls to 10-6 on the season and has dropped three games in a row, all against state ranked opponents. Claiborne Kyles led the Indians with 17. Abilene improves to 15-3, led by the 14 of Parker Base.
