Hays began the final week of the regular season by hosting Dodge City on Senior Night.  The Lady Indians honored two seniors, Chaylee Lix and Tara Hertel.  The boys recognized Cole Murphy, Ethan Nunnery, Peyton Kieffer, Nick Fisher, and Kyler Koenke.

Girls

#8 Hays 48 – Dodge City 38

Neither team played a clean first quarter with Dodge City committing nine turnovers and Hays making just three of twelve shots.  The result was a tie game after the first eight minutes with each team scoring six points.  Hays took their only first half lead at 8-6 with a basket at the 6:30 mark of the second quarter.  The Lady Indians would score just three more points for the remainder of the quarter.  The Lady Demons took a 20-11 half time lead following a 14-3 run to close the half.

Highlights

Dodge City pushed their lead to ten points on three different occasions.  The final one came with 5:30 to go in third quarter at 24-14.  The Lady Indians finally found their offense.  A 14-2 run gave Hays their first lead of the game at 28-26.  The run lasted 2:49 and the fourteen points totaled the Lady Indians scoring from the first nineteen minutes of the game.

Dodge City answered with five free throws to take the lead back at 31-28, but four points from Brooke Denning in the final thirty seconds of the quarter put the Lady Indians up 32-31 headed to the fourth quarter.  A free throw from Dodge City tied the game at 32 early in the fourth quarter.  Hays quickly started a 12-0 run to take the lead for good and finished with a 48-38 victory.

Brooke Denning led the team with 13 points.  Savannah Schneider scored 12 and Isabel Robben added 10.  The #8 Lady Indians are 12-7 on the year and remain in second place in the Western Athletic Conference at 5-2.  Dodge City falls to 10-9 and 4-3.  The Lady Demons were led by Chidera Okoro with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Boys

Hays 92 – Dodge City 80

Hays seemed to do no wrong in the first half.  After tailing 9-5 the Indians went on a 19-3 run.  That run gave Hays their first double digit lead at 24-12 and would lead 24-18 at the end of the first quarter.  Dodge City pulled the Hays lead down to three before the Indians went on another massive run.  This time an 18-3 run built the Indians to eighteen three times including the 50-32 half time score.

Highlights

Hays had their lead up to 22 in the third quarter, the latest with 1:30 to go in the third quarter.  Dodge City wouldn’t let the Indians claim their title easily.  The Red Demons went on a 15-3 run get within ten at 74-64.  The Indians didn’t allow the score to get any closer as they win 92-80.

The victory secures the Western Athletic Conference crown for Hays High.  The Indians are 7-0 in conference play and 13-6 overall.  Dodge City drops to 9-10 and 2-5.

Coach Rick Keltner

Cole Murphy scored 21 points including five three pointers.  Ethan Nunnery added 18, Peyton Kieffer 14, Cade Swayne 11 and Tradgon McCrae 10.  Dodge City was led by John Johnson with 21 points.

Hays travels to Great Bend on Friday to close out the regular season.

The Spring Sports Parent Meeting will be on Monday, February 19th at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria at Hays High School.

The Hays High swim team will compete in three races at the KSHSAA State Swimming and Diving Meet on Thursday and Friday in Topeka.  Isaac Smith will compete in the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly.  Smith enters the meet seeded 14th in the freestyle race and 11th in the butterfly.

The Indians also send their 200 yard freestyle relay.  The relay consists of Blade Goering, Brett Bowels, Scout Perryman and Isaac Smith.

The 5-1A prelims will begin at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning.  Final will start Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday night’s games between Hays and Abilene featured all four teams with double digit wins.  The Hays boys entered ranked 8th in 4A-1 and the Abilene girls at #7 in 4A-1.

Girls

Hays 57 – #7 Abilene 31

The Hays High Lady Indians hit shots early and often against the state ranked Cowgirls during the first four minutes of the game.  Coupled with great defense, Hays ran out to a 15-0 lead after the first four minutes.  The Lady Indians hit four three pointers during the games opening run.  Hays led 19-2 after one quarter and 29-11 at halftime.  Abilene managed just two first half field goals.  Ten of their eleven first half points came from leading scorer Sydney Burton.

Highlights

Hays continued to stifle the Cowgirls through the third quarter.  The Lady Indians increased their lead to 27 on two occasions and entered the fourth quarter leading 46-22.  Hays led by less than 20 points in the second half just one time on their way to a 57-37 win.  The Lady Indians shot 42% from the field while allowing just 23% from Abilene.

Coach Haley Wolf

Brooke Denning established a new career high with 18 points.  Jaycee Dale added a season high 14.  Hays improves to 11-6 on the year.  #7 Abilene falls to 12-6.

 

Boys

Abilene 66 – #8 Hays 62

Hays and Abilene play contrasting styles of basketball.  Through the first eight minutes the slower pace of the Cowboys won out with Abilene taking a 15-8 lead after a 10-0 run.  Hays didn’t score for the final 3:45 of quarter after lead 8-5.  Hays sped the pace of the game to the tune of a 12-2 run that gave the Indians the lead back at 20-17.  Hays hit eight three pointers in the first half but trailed at halftime 28-26.

Highlights

After Abilene scored the first two points of the second half the Indians hit three consecutive three pointers to take a 35-30 lead.  During that stretch Hays established a new school record for made three pointers in a season.  A record that was at 189.  Hays would still lead 37-33 with 5:19 left in the third quarter following an Ethan Nunnery basket.  The Indians though went on their second long scoring drought of the game as they did not score for the remainder of the quarter.  Abilene took advantage on a 15-2 run taking a 45-37 lead to the fourth quarter.

Abilene pushed lead to ten twice before Hays clawed back to 56-52 with 1:16 remaining but would get no closer.  The Cowboys made eight of their final twelve free throws over the final two minutes to win 66-62.

Coach Rick Keltner

Ethan Nunnery scored 18 in the loss.  Cole Murphy added 15.  The Indians established a new record in made three point field goals, breaking the record of 189 set by the 1995-1996 team.  Hays now has made 193 three pointers on the season.

#8 Hays falls to 11-6.  Abilene improves to 12-6.

Hays is at home Friday to resume Western Athletic Conference play versus Garden City.

Girls

#3-5A Liberal 46 – Hays 38

The Hays High Lady Indians entered Friday’s nights game in Liberal as the leaders in the Western Athletic Conference at 4-0.  The one game lead that Hays held onto in the league race was because of a victory over Liberal.  That loss was still the only loss for Liberal on the season entering Friday night.

All of the Lady Indians’ first quarter points came off the bench after neither team scored for the first three and a half minutes.  Brooke Denning hit three three pointers to trigger an 11-2 run.  Hays led by seven at 11-4 at the end of the run.  Liberal’s first four points came from the free throw line and they didn’t make their first field goal until the first quarter buzzer sounded on an offensive put back.

The basket pulled Liberal back to a 11-6 deficit and started a 12-2 run to take a 16-13 lead.  Hays tied the game at three on a Madyson Flax three point play that included the Lady Indians only free throw attempt of the first half.  Liberal made 9 of 11 attempts including two in the final thirty seconds to take a 20-18 lead at half time.

Highlights

Hays outscored Liberal 12-5 in the third quarter that allowed a the Lady Indians to take a 30-25 lead to the fourth quarter.  After scoring just 25 points through three quarter, the Lady Red got in a groove from the free throw line.  After a 6-0 run by Liberal to take a lead at 34-32, Savannah Schneider would convert on a three point play to tie the game at 36.  The Lady Indians would only score two points in the final 3:24 and lose 46-38.  Liberal made 7 of 9 free throws over the decisive stretch of the game.

Liberal made 24 of 33 free throw attempts while Hays made 11 of 14.  Neither team shot above 25% for the game from the field.

Coach Haley Wolf

Hays was led by the 16 of Brooke Denning and Savannah Schneider scored 11.

Hays falls to 10-6 on the year and 4-1 in the WAC.  Liberal is now 15-1 and 4-1 in conference.  Liberal is ranked #3 in 5A.

Boys

Hays 68 – Liberal 57

The first half featured runs from each team that led to a 32-30 lead for Hays at half time.  Liberal opened the game on a 10-4 run that was followed by an Indian 10-3 run.  Liberal took a 18-17 lead after the first quarter following a Cole Murphy three pointer that cut the Hays deficit down to one.

Liberal gained a five point lead in the second quarter after a 9-3 run with two minutes left in the half.  The Indians responded with a 7-0 run to close that half and take a 32-30 lead.  The Indians started the game just two of their first fourteen shots from the field and then made eight of their next fourteen shots.

Highlights

 

After hitting six three pointers in the first half but made just two of twelve in the second half.  Hays never did trail in the second half and took a six point lead early in third quarter.  Liberal did tie the game at once at 42 and then had the ball three times down to the Indians 43-42.  The Indians though held on defense and scored points in the final ninety seconds to take a lead to the fourth quarter 48-42.

Liberal got within three thirty seconds into the fourth quarter before the Indians made three straight three pointers to grab their first double digit lead of the night.  The separation provided on those three shots allowed Hays to keep the Redskins at arms length for a 68-57 win.

Coach Rick Keltner

Hays was led by Ethan Nunnery with 16.  Cole Murphy added 14, Kyler Koenke 13 and Tradon McCrae 12.  Peyton Kieffer scored eight and grabbed a career high 13 rebounds.

Hays improves to 11-5 on the year and is 5-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.  Liberal falls to 6-10 and 0-5.

The Hays High Indian football team didn’t feature many seniors in 2017.  However four of them made the most of it after signing to play football at Fort Hays State University.  Wednesday morning Dylan Schmidtberger, Kyler Koenke, Trey VanPelt and Hunter Brown held their signing at the same table in the Hays High School Cafeteria.

Coach Randall Rath

 

Hunter Brown played on the varsity level each of his four years in high school.  He was the starting quarterback for the last 20 games of his career for the Indians.  Brown played in the defensive secondary for all four years on varsity.  Brown will join the Tigers where his father is the head coach.

Hunter Brown

 

Trey VanPelt spent the last two seasons as the starting center and spent time on the defensive line.

Trey VanPelt

 

Dylan Schmidtberger played several different positions and battled several injuries his senior year.  He started at defensive end, linebacker and fullback over his time with the Indians.

Dylan Schmidtberger

 

Kyler Koenke started on the offensive and defensive lines over the past two seasons fighting through a couple of injuries along the way.

Kyler Koenke

 

On the FHSU Athletics list of signings, Brown is listed as a defensive back, Koenke at defensive end, Schmidtberger at linebacker, and VanPelt as a long snapper.

Girls

Hays 50 – Dodge City 47 OT

Hays High resumed Western Athletic Conference play on Friday night as the leaders in the standings at 3-0.  The Lady Indians and Lady Demons of Dodge City traded the lead nine times in the first half.  Hays trailed by six with a minute to go in the first quarter when the Lady Indian defense clamped down.  Dodge City scored just six points for the remainder of the half.  The defense allowed Hays to go on a 14-5 run to take a 22-19 lead.  Hays only scored two more points in the final three and a half minutes of the first half, but allowed just one point in the final five and a half minutes.  The Lady Indians took a 24-20 lead into the locker room at half time.

Highlights

Hays took two early six points lead in the third quarter but then hit a scoring drought.  Dodge City though responded by taking advantage of a scoring drought by the Lady Indians.  A 13-2 run by the Lady Demons that lasted a minute into the fourth quarter put Hays down 36-31.  Insert, Brooke Denning.  Denning scored the games next ten points that included a pair of three pointers.  The lead for Hays grew to 43-36 with 1:27 left, but Hays could not hang on.  Hays turned the ball over twice and missed a free throw on their three possessions.  Dodge City scored two field goals in the final minute.  The final coming from Kisa Unruh on a twenty-five foot bank shot with two seconds left to send the game to over time at 43.

Hays took the first lead of overtime on a Tasiah Nunnery three pointer that was answered by the Lady Demon’s Unruh.  Isabel Robben scored the game’s last field goal to give Hays a 48-46 lead with 1:30 left.  The Lady Indians did hang onto the lead this time making two free throws with seven seconds remaining and then intercepting a deep pass for a 50-47 win.

Coach Kirk Maska

Brooke Denning tied a career high with 17 and Tasiah Nunnery added 14.  The game featured five ties and eleven lead changes.  Hays improves to 10-5 and 4-0 in the WAC.  Dodge City falls to 8-6 and 2-2.

Boys

Hays 83 – Dodge City 63

As the girls did, Hays High entered the night’s game as the conference leaders at 3-0.  Hays trailed twice in the first quarter at 2-0 and 8-4.  Hays High then caught fire and went on an 18-0 run over a four and a half minute time frame.  The run pushed the Hays lead to 22-8 over Dodge City.  Hays seven on nine shots during the stretch including four three pointers.  Ethan Nunnery buried a three at the first quarter buzzer for a 30-12 Hays lead.

The Indians continued to push their lead higher through the third quarter, twice leading by 26.  By halftime Hays led 48-24.

Highlights

Dodge City did make a couple of second pushes but never got closer than 14 rest of the game.  A 11-2 run in the third closed the gap down to 62-44, but Hays increased the lead to 67-44 after three quarters.  A 17-8 run in the fourth quarter pulled the game down to a 14 point differential with a little under two minutes remaining.  Following a technical foul on the Dodge City bench, heated emotions boiled over with two more technical fouls on a hard foul on a loose ball.  Hays made their final eight free throws over the final ninety seconds to secure a 83-63 victory.

Coach Rick Keltner

Cole Murphy scored a career high 27 including seven three pointers.  Ethan Nunnery scored 22 and Tradgon McCrae added 17 for the Indians who are now 10-5 on the year and 4-0 in the WAC.  Dodge City falls to 7-7 and 2-2.

The Indians have a week off and will travel to Liberal on February 9th.

Girls

Hays 55 – Salina South 50

Neither Hays or Salina South could find separation from each other in the first half.  Tied four times and two lead changes, it was the Lady Cougars who found their way to a lead by halftime 23-22.  Hays used a 11-3 run that gave the Lady Indians the first of three different six point leads.  The last came at 20-14 with 4:10 left in the half.  South though ended the half on a 9-2 run in the last three minutes of the half for their half time lead.

Highlights

Salina South pushed their lead to six on back to back three pointers two minutes into the third quarter.  Hays continued to trail by five when Isabel Robben scored eight straight the Lady Indians to take a 35-34 lead.  South hit a pair of free throws to regain the lead 36-35 heading to the fourth quarter.

The game featured eleven ties and five lead changes.  The final lead change game when Brooke Denning hit her second three pointer of the game for a 44-42 lead.  South tied the game one final time at 44 with 1:41 left.  Tasiah Nunnery scored four straight, two from the free throw line and two off a Kallie Leiker steal, to start a 11-4 run that secured the Hays victory.

Coach Kirk Maska

The Lady Indians shot 17 of 20 from the free throw line and made seven of their final eight in the last 1:11 of the game.  Hays moves to 9-5 on the year, snapping a four game skid.  South falls to 4-9.  Isabel Robben led the Lady Indians in scoring with 15.  Tasiah Nunnery put in 12 and three more players scored eight or nine points.

Boys

Hays 66 – Salina South 56

Salina South took an early 2-0 lead on an offensive rebound put back.  Hays answered with a three pointer twenty seconds later to take a lead they held for the remainder of the first half.  Tradgon McCrae scored 12 points in the first half to help Hays to a 31-24 lead.  Hays led 8-7 during first quarter play before the Indians went on a 12-3 run over a 8:50 span to build their biggest first half lead at 11.

Highlights

Hays opened the second half with two quick three pointers and then a third two minutes later to build their biggest lead of the game at 40-26.  Salina South though would never let the Indians get comfortable with the lead.  The Cougars closed the gap down to six in the third quarter, before Hays scored four points in the final minute of the third quarter to lead 47-37.

The Indians pushed their lead up to 12 early in the fourth quarter, but South continued to fight back.  After going up 52-40 with six minutes left in the game, the Indians had their lead trimmed down to four following at Cougar 10-2 run.  The Indians never let South get any closer outscoring the Cougars 12-6 over the final three minutes.

Coach Rick Keltner

Hays improves to 9-5 on the season behind a game high 20 points from Tradgon McCrae.  Cole Murphy scored 15 on five three pointers and Ethan Nunnery added 10.  South falls to 2-11.

The Hays High girls and boys head to Dodge City on Friday as the leaders in the Western Athletic Conference at 3-0.

The Hays High Lady Indians wrapped up their appearance in the Mid-America Classic in McPherson with a 7th place game against Shawnee Mission South on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Indian’s fourth game in five days started at a slow pace.  The Indians hit just two of nine field goals in the first quarter and trailed 8-5 after the first eight minutes.  The Lady Indians opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 12-10.  The two teams swapped the lead before South went on a 11-2 run.  That run established an eight point lead for the Raiders at 24-16.  Isabel Robben and Kallie Leiker combined for eight straight points to tie the game with under two minutes left before halftime.  South took a 27-26 lead into halftime after hitting three of four free throws and Robben scored her 10th point of the second quarter.

Highlights

Hays never did regain the lead in the second half.  The Indians did tie the game one time at 37 with 1:20 left in third quarter.  South scored the final four points of the quarter and never relinquished the lead.  The Lady Indians fell behind by as many as eight in the fourth quarter at 47-39.  Hays did cut the lead down to two with just over a minute remaining.  South hit five of their final six free throws to defeat Hays 53-49.

Coach Kirk Maska

Hays falls to 8-5 after their fourth straight loss in five days.  Shawnee Mission South improves to 5-7.  Isabel Robben led the team with 20 points, seven rebounds and took seven charges.  Mattie Hutchison added ten points.

Hays returns to action Tuesday for a girls and boys double header, hosting Salina South.

Less than 48 hours after a state ranked showdown loss to Salina Central, the Hays High Lady Indians were back on the floor to open the Mid-America Classic in McPherson.  As the #2 seed, Hays opened with 5-5 Wichita Northwest who had lost three games in overtime.

Hays had their coldest half shooting of the season making just three of twenty-four shots.  Northwest hit nine of twenty and four of those nine made shots were three pointers.  The combination led to a 22-8 lead for the Grizzlies by half time.

Northwest used a 15-2 run to take a three point lead at 5-2 to a 20-4 advantage threw the first three minutes of the second quarter.

Highlights

Wichita NW pushed their lead up to 22 points in the third quarter before Kallie Leiker scored four straight points in the final minute of to pull the Indians back within 18 at 35-17.  Hays would get with in 13 at 37-24 but never any closer falling 47-27.

The 27 points is a season low for Hays who falls to the consolation semi-finals and will play Shawnee Mission Northwest.  SMNW lost 41-40 in overtime to Manhattan.  The consolation semi-final game will be a meeting of state ranked teams at 3:00.

Coach Kirk Maska

Hays falls to 8-3 on the season.  Wichita Northwest improves to 6-5 on the year and will play Manhattan in the semi-finals.

 

Girls

#6 5A Salina Central 60 – #6 #4A-1 Hays 55

After an 11 day layoff, the Hays High Lady Indians took the court at home Tuesday night versus Salina Central.  The Lady Mustangs were coming off of three games in three days and a runner up finish on Saturday to Liberal in the Salina Invitational Tournament.  Both teams entered ranked.  Hays at #6 in 4A-1 and Salina Central at #6 in 5A.

Like two state ranked teams should, each team took big swings in the first half.  The Lady Indians used a 11-3 run that built a 11-7 lead mid way through the first quarter.  Central responded with a 9-3 run that closed the first quarter and enabled the Lady Mustangs to grab a 16-14 lead.

At one point Hays missed 12 straight shots and Central took advantage to build their biggest lead of the first half at 29-22.  Over the final two minutes though the Lady Indians defense didn’t allow another point and baskets from Tasiah Nunnery, Jaycee Dale and Savannah Schneider tied the game at 29 as the teams hit locker room.

Highlights

Hays and Central were tied four more times in the third quarter and the lead changed hands twice with the Lady Mustangs taking a 43-41 lead into the fourth quarter.  The Hays High Lady took what turned out to be their final lead of the night on five straight points from Nunnery, grabbing a 46-45 lead.

The deciding run came over the next 90 seconds.  Central scored three quick baskets including two three pointers putting the Lady Mustangs up 53-46.  Hays never got closer than five rest of the way.  The Lady Indian’s best chance came down 56-51, where they had three consecutive possessions but could not score.  Central held on for a 60-55 win over Hays.

Coach Haley Wolf

Hays falls 8-2 on the season.  Salina Central is now 10-3.  Savannah Schneider led all scoring with 21.  Tasiah Nunnery scored 10 for a third consecutive game.  The Lady Indians are headed to the McPherson Mid-America Classic on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Hays opens with 5-5 Wichita Northwest.

Boys

#9 5A Salina Central 62 – Hays 48

With both Hays and Salina Central coming off of mid-season tournaments, they showed little fatigue in the first quarter.  The teams traded baskets through the first quarter with Hays taking a 15-14 lead after eight minutes.  The second quarter was trouble for a third straight game for the Indians.  Hays made just two field goals while Salina Central finished the half on a 12-2 run.  The run came as Hays closed a six point gap down to one at 21-20.  The run allowed the Mustangs to take a 33-22 lead at half time.

Highlights

Central turned the 12-2 run at the end of the third quarter into a 22-2 run that built the Mustangs a 21 points lead at 43-22.  Hays scored just two points over a 7:20 span that help lead to the 21 point deficit.  Hays did find a spark in the third quarter.  Hays went on a 13-5 run over four minutes to get back within 13 at 48-35.  The Indians has the ball at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth but missed shots on both possessions.  Salina Central kept the Indians at arms length rest of the night for a 62-48 victory.

Coach Rick Keltner

Hays falls in a third straight game, all to ranked opponents and is 8-5 on the season.  Salina Central is now 10-3.  Tradgon McCrae led the Indians with 13.  Cole Murphy added 12.  The Hays boys are off for a week when they resume play against Salina South.