By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Hayden's boys basketball team is still in the process of knocking off some rust after three of its five starters are just 10 days removed from the end of the Wildcats' football season.
But Hayden took a big step in that direction Tuesday, taking a 62-47 victory over Wichita Trinity in the first round of the Paul Terry Classic at Emporia High School while giving the Wildcats' Dwayne Anthony his first win as a head coach.
Hayden's Dwayne Anthony picked up his first win as a head coach in Thursday's 62-47 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats were coming off a 15-point season-opening loss at Class 6A Shawnee Mission West last Friday but went wire to wire for Tuesday's win after scoring the first seven points of the game.
"These kids do their best to go as hard as they can as well as listen, so we just tried to tighten up some of the things that we saw happen on Friday,'' Anthony said. "Unfortunately, Friday the basket was closed to us but they fixed that today and just so many other things, so I'm really pleased with their progress.''
Balance was the key for the Wildcats, with six players scoring between 8 and 14 points against the Knights.
Junior Connor Hanika (5) led Hayden with 14 points in the Wildcats' 62-47 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Connor Hanika, a 6-foot-4 junior, paced the Wildcats with 14 points while seniors James Kuta and Jacob Deister scored 11 points apiece, junior Kade Mitchell and sophomore Mason Becker had 8 each and senior Cooper Zwiesler scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
Senior James Kuta (3) finishes off a basket in Tuesday's 62-47 Hayden win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden senior Jacob Deister (4) is congratulated after being fouled in Tuesday's 62-47 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"I believe that we've got kids who can do that every night and it could change who might have the 14 or who has the 8, but I liked the way they shared the ball and we're going to get better doing that,'' Anthony said. "I think that's a testament to the kids that I'm blessed to coach.''
Both Kuta and Zwiesler grabbed seven rebounds apiece while Hanika grabbed six boards.
Hayden led 12-8 at the end of the first quarter but then hit the Knights with a 20-9 second quarter to take a 32-17 advantage at the half.
The Wildcats led 51-35 at the start of the fourth quarter and Trinity got no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Junior Gabe Koster scored a game-high 16 points for the Knights while sophomore Jessee Eklund added 12 points.
Hayden will be back in action at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the second round of the Paul Terry Classic, taking on Spring Hill.
HAYDEN 62, WICHITA TRINITY 47
Trinity 8 9 18 12 -- 47
Hayden 12 20 19 11 -- 62
Wichita Trinity (0-1) -- Shaffer 0-4 6-6 6, Wertenberger 2-4 0-0 5, Zimmerman 1-1 1-2 3, Adkison 0-1 1-2 0, Moore 1-3 0-0 3, Garrison 1-3 0-0 2, Eklund 4-10 2-3 12, Kaufman 0-0 0-0 0, Koster 7-13 0-0 16, Rodriguez 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 16-42 9-11 47.
Hayden (1-1) -- Kuta 5-7 0-1 11, Deister 4-8 2-2 11, Hanika 5-7 4-5 14, Mitchell 3-7 0-0 8, Becker 3-9 0-1 8, Banks 0-2 0-0 0, Heinen 0-1 0-0 0, Power 0-0 0-0 0, Tourtillot 0-2 0-0 0, Wolff 2-3 0-0 4, Zwiesler 2-4 0-0 6, Compton 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 6-9 62.
3-point goals -- Wichita Trinity 6 (Koster 2, Eklund 2, Moore, Wertenberger), Hayden 8 (Mitchell 2, Becker 2, Zwiesler 2, Kuta, Deister). Total fouls -- Wichita Trinity 12, Hayden 13. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
