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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Hayden's boys faced long odds of posting a Senior Night win Friday night after spotting Washburn Rural a 17-point advantage midway through the second quarter and falling behind by 16 points early in the second half.

Hayden senior Connor Hanika (3) had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 53-49 overtime win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

But eventually the Wildcats began to flash the form that has now produced eight wins over their last nine games, forcing overtime before doubling up the Junior Blues in the extra session to take a 53-49 Centennial League win at the Bueltel Activities Center.

"We regrouped and got back to the things that we wrote up -- start executing, start looking for each other and don't be so panicked when you don't get that first option,'' Hayden coach Dwayne Anthony said. "They did a good job of just staying the course.''

Now 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the league, the Wildcats were able to avenge a 17-point loss (79-62) at Rural earlier in the season.

After trailing 3-2 and 5-4 early, Washburn Rural (11-9, 4-4) took a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and hit the Wildcats with an 18-7 second quarter, leading 26-9 midway through the period, to take a 28-14 advantage into halftime.

The Junior Blues, who played without injured senior guard Simon Rowley, scored the first basket of the second half to go up 30-14 and still led by double-digits midway through the third quarter before the Wildcats began to peck away at the Rural advantage.

Hayden cut its deficit to 37-34 by the end of the third quarter and took its first lead since the opening three minutes on a Mason Becker 3-pointer with 6:28 left in regulation.

Three ties and a couple of lead changes followed and both teams had opportunities to end things in regulation over the final minute before the game went to OT.

Hayden drew first blood in overtime on a 3-pointer from junior Carter Compton and never trailed in the extra session while leading by five points twice as the Wildcat seniors were able to celebrate their first career wins over Washburn Rural.

Senior Connor Hanika scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half to lead four double-figure scorers for the Wildcats while grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double.

"We struggled in the first half, everybody,'' Hanika said. "We couldn't get anything to fall but the main thing at halftime was our shots are going to fall and we've just got to wait for the opportunity and then attack it.''

Becker added 13 points with three 3-pointers while senior Kade Mitchell scored 11 points and Compton 10 for the Wildcats.

"That's what we've been stressing,'' Anthony said of the Wildcats' balance. "This is a team game and so easily it can feel like it's not at times, but it is and they've embraced the 'We over me' philosophy and that's been blessing us in these last games.''

Senior John Hoytal (10) scored a game-high 17 points in Friday's 53-49 Washburn Rural overtime loss at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN] 

Senior John Hoytal led Washburn Rural with a game-high 17 points and also grabbed nine rebounds while senior Kieffer O'Connor came off the bench to add 10 points with a pair of treys.

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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The final minutes of Friday's Centennial League basketball game at Hayden got a lot tighter than Washburn Rural girls coach Kevin Bordewick would have preferred.

Washburn Rural's girls celebrate Friday's 40-38 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

But after seeing Hayden rally from a 13-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to have an opportunity to send the game to overtime, Bordewick was relieved to get out of the Bueltel Activities Center with a 40-38 win.

"It was ugly and we've got to take care of the ball better, we have to understand situations,'' Bordewick said. "We got a couple of five-second counts, but we fought through a lot of adversity and I told them if we can persevere and be that resilient than that's really a good sign to come in here and get a win like that.'' 

Rural's win avenged an earlier 38-35 home league loss to the Wildcats as the Junior Blues improved to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in the league with their second one-possession win in as many nights.

After trailing 6-5 at the end of the first quarter, Washburn Rural took a slim 18-16 halftime advantage over the Wildcats before opening up a 29-21 cushion at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Junior Blues extended their lead to a game's biggest 36-23 midway through the final stanza on a basket from freshman Brynn Anderson, but Hayden (15-6, 6-3) stepped up the defensive pressure and went on a 14-3 run to cut its deficit to just two points (39-37) with 14.7 seconds remaining.

Anderson hit one of two free throws to push Rural's lead back to three, but the officials ruled that Hayden senior Lauren Borjon was fouled on a desperation 3-point attempt as time ran out. Three-10ths of a second were put back on the court and Borjon went to the free throw line for three shots with a chance to force OT.

After missing the first charity Borjon hit the second free throw before being called for a line violation as she purposely missed the third shot to try to give the Wildcats a chance at a game-tying bucket.

Washburn Rural freshman Brynn Anderson led all scorers with 19 points in Friday's 40-38 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Washburn Rural junior Maddie Vickery had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 40-38 win at Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]

Anderson led Washburn Rural with a game-high 19 points with three 3-pointers while junior Maddie Vickery had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in her second game back from ACL surgery.

I feel like our whole team was doing a good job of moving the ball and getting each other open,'' Anderson said. "We gave up a couple (baskets) towards the end but I feel like we did a pretty good job of getting stops on defense and staying physical. 

"It's good to have (Maddie) back as another option on offense and she moves the ball well, so our offense is moving a little bit better.''

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yBy TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

The Topeka High girls shook off a sluggish start Friday to defeat Emporia 58-40 and remain in the Centennial League race with two games remaining in the regular season.

Junior Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton led Topeka High with 20 points in Friday's 58-40 Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Emporia, with just one league win to its credit, led the Trojans three minutes into the second period, 15-14. Topeka High responded with a 10-0 run and went to the locker room leading 27-21 at the half. But when the Trojans returned for the second half, their faces showed the effect of a Ron Slaymaker halftime lecture.

“I get pretty fired up. I try to be positive, but I wasn’t real positive about halftime. And they deserved it,” Slaymaker said. “But we played really well for seven games in a row. And hey, somewhere down the line in sports, you take a little dip. You know you don’t want to. Don’t plan on it. But you do. And we did.

“They got gnawed on a little bit a halftime. As a coach, you can’t do that very often. And I hope I don’t have to again.”

Ahsieyrhuajh Rayton, the city’s leading scorer at about 23 points per game, scored just three points in the first half. But the junior went to work, racking up 14 points in the third period. The Trojans blitzed the Spartans 22-9 in the third quarter and ran away with their eighth straight win.

Topeka High senior Trish Short scored 13 points Friday, helping the Trojans take a 58-40 Centennial League win over Emporia. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

“I feel like we started out slow because we didn’t know Emporia would run as much as they did,” senior Trish Short said. “The first game we played against them (a 63-38 win at Emporia), they weren’t running as much. In the past few games, we’ve been winning. So, this game we’re thinking ‘Ok, we’re gonna go in, win easily.’ But no, Emporia came out with a good fight. We had to really step it up in the second half.”

Rayton finished with 20 points, followed by Short’s 13 and Sasha Gotru’s 11.

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