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Hayden girls ride balanced attack to 38-35 Centennial League win at Washburn Rural
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
When Hayden’s usually high-scoring Hailey Schmidtlein was slowed in the second half Friday at Washburn Rural, the Wildcats got a burst of production from the rest of the team to gain a 38-35 Centennial League victory over the Junior Blues.
Hayden sophomore Hailey Schmidtlein (center) led Hayden with a game-high 17 points in Friday's 38-35 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Schmidtlein scored 14 of Hayden’s 17 points in the first half, and it looked like the Wildcats might ride the sophomore to the win. But Washburn Rural held Schmidtlein to just three points on five shot attempts in the second half. Points had to come from the rest of the Wildcats if they were to get the win.
Hayden senior Ella Foster capped the group effort with a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to extend Hayden’s 1-point lead. The Junior Blues got a couple of chances at the buzzer but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
“(Coach Carvel) Reynoldson always tells me to shoot the ball,'' Foster said. "I pass up a lot of shots I probably should shoot. But I saw the shot clock was at one and I knew it had to go up and it was just amazing to see it go in.”
Hayden got 18 second-half points from Foster and company, just the lift the Wildcats needed with Schmidtlein focusing on rebounding, defending, and distributing the ball.
“(Schmidtlein) can really put up big numbers and she was on her way to doing that,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said. “I don’t know if (Washburn Rural) changed too much of what they were doing to her. But she just trusted her teammates a little bit more. She made some tough shots in the first half, and she got other people involved in the second half for easier shots, and it worked out for us.”
Washburn Rural gets off to quick start in 79-62 Centennial League win over Hayden
By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Washburn Rural boys blasted out of the gate Friday versus Hayden, compiling an early lead that led to a 79-62 win, the Junior Blues’ second in Centennial League play.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard drilled a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help give Washburn Rural a 22-9 advantage in the opening period.
Sophomore Brooks Ballard scored a game-high 24 points with six 3-pointers in Washburn Rural's 79-62 Centennial League win over Hayden Friday night at Rural. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
“I thought we did a really good job early,” said Washburn Rural coach Alex Hutchins. “Hayden has had some games where they’ve struggled early. So, we thought it was really important to get off to a good start and try to take control of the game. So, I was pleased with that.”
Washburn Rural senior Draden Chooncharoen scored 10 points in Friday's 79-62 Centennial League win over Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Senior John Hoytal scored 16 points in Friday's 79-62 Washburn Rural win over Hayden. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Ballard went on to tally 24 points to lead the home team. John Hoytal, Simon Rowley and Draden Chooncharoen each broke double figures, and eight Junior Blues got in the scoring column on a very efficient offensive night. Washburn Rural hit 28 of 49 shots from the field.
“This feels like a good team win,” said Chooncharoen. “Our coach says we can really play 12 guys. That’s how deep we are. So, it just feels good getting a good win for our team with everyone contributing.”
The Junior Blues picked up their sixth victory in a row to improve to 7-2
“We just want to keep our momentum going,” Chooncharoen said. “Every day at practice, just keep working hard. Just keep going game by game. I feel like our senior class is really keeping everyone composed. We got a lot of young guys contributing and our team chemistry is pretty good. We all get along pretty well. We have fun at practice, but also get stuff done. So, it’s a lot of fun.”
Stifling defense powers T-Bird boys to 60-24 UKC win over Pioneers
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Shawnee Heights was just fine offensively in Friday's United Kansas Conference home boys game against Leavenworth, with three T-Birds scoring at least 13 points and seven cracking the scoring column.
Shawnee Heights freshman Quincy Dixon (22) scored a game-high 19 points in Friday's 60-24 UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Junior Cam Ross scored 18 points in Shawnee Heights' 60-24 UKC win over Leavenworth Friday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But make no mistake about it, defense was the story for Heights in its 60-24 romp past the Pioneers on King and Queen of Courts night.
Shawnee Heights, now 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the UKC, limited Leavenworth (2-5, 1-4) to just five points in a dominating 35-5 first half and never looked back, forcing a running clock throughout the fourth quarter.
"We're not deceived, that's not the Los Angeles Lakers, but they got five points,'' Darting said about the first half. "They're a high school team of really good athletes, so it was great and we were playing so hard.
"We're shooting as a team 52 percent for the year, but you see why, it's coming from the defensive end. They've bought in and they believe it. I've sold from Day 1 that if we're going to get anything better than average you've got to be really good defensively.''
Heights led 11-3 at the end of the opening quarter and then hit Leavenworth with a 24-2 second quarter to take command. The T-Birds held the Pioneers scoreless until the 2:15 mark of the quarter.
The pace slowed drastically in the second half as Darting emptied his bench, but the T-Birds still outscored the Pioneers, 25-19, while forcing 29 Leavenworth turnovers on the night.
Freshman Quincy Dixon scored a game-high 19 points for Shawnee Heights with a pair of 3-pointers and a 7 of 10 performance at the free throw line while junior Cam Ross had 18 points (7 of 9 at the line) and senior Ja'Veon Alston 13.
Junior Adrian Brantley led Leavenworth with 7 points.
Shawnee Heights will be back in action Tuesday, hosting Piper in a UKC game.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS BOYS 60, LEAVENWORTH 24
Leavenworth 3 2 12 7 -- 24
Shawnee Heights 11 24 14 11 -- 60
Leavenworth (2-5, 1-4) – Cheatham 2-4 2-6 6, King 1-3 0-0 2, Clark 1-3 0-0 2, Brantley 2-7 1-2 7, Alonzon 1-5 2-2 4, Jefferson 0-4 0-0 0, Aizaiah Rookwood 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 3-4 3, Tolbert 0-1 0-0 0, Lobina 0-0 0-0 0, Flanders 0-0 0-0 0, Butter 0-1 0-0 0, Ayden Rookwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-29 9-14 24.
Shawnee Heights (4-4, 3-3) – Alston 5-9 2-2 13, Cook 0-8 2-2 2, Ross 5-9 7-9 18, Scott 2-5 0-2 4, Dixon 5-15 7-10 19, Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Becker 1-2 0-0 2, Terrell 1-1 0-0 2, Vega 0-0 0-0 0, Halloran 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 18-25 60.
3-point goals – Leavenworth 2 (Brantley 2), Shawnee Heights 4 (Dixon 2, Alston, Ross). Total fouls – Leavenworth 18, Shawnee Heights 16. Fouled out – Ross. Technical fouls -- none.
