By Brad Hallier
For KSHSAA Covered
HUTCHINSON -- As the Halstead girls basketball team was making a comeback Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, the Dragons weren’t jumping up and down. They weren’t hyping each other up, getting in each others’ faces or screaming in excitement.
Silver Lake junior Kailyn Hanni scored a game-high 19 points in Saturday's 48-45 loss to Halstead in the state final. [Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Special to KSHSAA Covered]
Halstead looked right at home for a program playing in its first state championship game.
That’s because, in some ways, the Dragons were used to this environment. During the fall, many basketball players helped Halstead win the school’s first volleyball state championship, which was also won at the Sports Arena.
Heck, even last year’s sub-state basketball tournament was closer to a state tournament with the number of great teams in it.
The lights weren’t too bright and the pressure wasn’t overwhelming for Halstead, as the Dragons came from 13 points down in the third quarter to beat reigning Class 3A champion Silver Lake, 48-45.
“We were used to all the fans and playing in this environment,” said sophomore Jordy Schroeder, who was a part of that volleyball team. “The community always shows up big time.”
The Dragons showed up when it mattered most. Although they trailed the seven-time champions for more than 23 minutes, they never looked uncomfortable.
Silver Lake led 31-23 at half, and soon led by 15 points.
Were the Dragons nervous? Worried? Not even close.
“We don’t get too worked up,” senior guard Kaci Young said. “We just had to get some stops, and I thought we did a good job defending them.”
Silver Lake would score just nine points over the final 11 minutes, 33 seconds.
“They continued to play help defense, and we had a hard time getting to the rim,” Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter said. “They just played better than we did in the fourth quarter.”
Halstead closed the deficit to 39-33 after three quarters. Then the defense dominated for Halstead, as its swarming defense started to make the Eagles uncomfortable..
Addisen Wills was the catalyst of that improved Halstead defense. The junior guard caused problems for the Eagles, and she finished with five steals, including two during the fourth quarter.
With 2:05 left in the game, and Silver Lake leading 45-44, Wills' thievery at midcourt led to a transition opportunity, and Young’s layup sent the Dragon fans into a frenzy as the Dragons took the lead for good..
“We played in a lot of close games these past few years,” Halstead coach Derek Schutte said. “We’ve been on the wrong end of some of them, the losing end, but we didn’t quit.
“(Wills) is awesome. I don’t know if there’s a better defensive guard in 3A than Addie Wills.”
The Dragons needed one more defense stop at the end to ensure the title. Silver Lake executed a set that helped junior guard Kailyn Hanni have a good look at a game-tying 3-pointer in the right corner. But Hanni, who had a game-high 19 points, just missed.
Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter talks to his team during Saturday's state final. [Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Special to KSHSAA Covered]
It ended what was another strong season for Silver Lake. A year after winning a championship with arguably the best 3A girls team in history, and graduating most of the production from that squad, the Eagles still played for the state championship again.
“It hurts a lot and it should,” Porter said. “But once we give it some time, we should be really proud of what this team has accomplished.”
Halstead can say the same. A program without much history until this decade, the Dragons have played in three state tournaments. The first two came during COVID times, one of which had the Dragons a part of the Forever Four in 2020 when COVID canceled the state tournament after everyone played a first-round game, which Halstead won..
“It’s all kind of a blur right now,” Schutte said with a smile. “I didn’t even look at the score for about five minutes in the fourth quarter, and then I looked up and we were down two. We went from playing defense to playing with a lead pretty quick, and that’s not easy to do.”
Now, the Dragons can call themselves state champions.
Schroeder already could from volleyball, but Young didn’t play volleyball.
“How many people can say they won a state championship in their last game?” Young said.
HALSTEAD GIRLS 48, SILVER LAKE 45
Halstead 9 14 10 15 - 48
Silver Lake 12 19 8 6 - 45
Halstead (25-1): Wills 2-8 4-4 9, Young 4-9 0-2 8, Schroeder 5-8 5-6 16, Bernal 2-7 1-2 5, Schutte 2-8 1-2 6, Nedich 1-5 2-2 4, Farmer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 13-18 48
Silver Lake (23-3): Hanni 6-11 7-8 19, Zordel 1-4 0-0 3, Heiman 1-1 1-2 3, Bolan 0-3 2-2 2, Deiter 4-10 3-4 13, Whitehead 0-0 1-2 1, Wende 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 14-36 14-18 45
3-point goals -- Halstead 3-19 (Schroeder 1-2, Wills 1-3, Schutte 1-6, Bernal 0-2, Nedich 0-2, Young 0-4). Silver Lake 3-15 (Deiter 2-3, Zordel 1-3, Hanni 0-2, Bolan 0-3, Wende 0-4). Rebounds -- Halstead 22 (Wills 6), Silver Lake 27 (Hanni 7). Assists -- Halstead 11 (Wills 5), Silver Lake 7 (Hanni 4). Turnovers: Halstead 6, Silver Lake 13. Total fouls -- Halstead 18, Silver Lake 17. Fouled out -- Wills, Deiter.
Silver Lake junior Dayne Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Saturday's 63-51 win over Galena. [Photo by Andrew Carpenter/Special to KSHSAA Covered]
Silver Lake boys 63, Galena 51
Junior Dayne Johnson had another monster game for Silver Lake, scoring a game-high 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, leading the Eagles to a third-place finish.
Silver Lake never trailed and led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter.
The Eagles shot well all game, going 13 for 21 in the first half and finishing at 51.1%. Galena shot well from 3-point range, knocking in 8 of 16, with Kinken Kimberling hitting 4 of 8 and Thatcher Botkin making all three of his attempts.
Jack Perry led Galena with 15 points and six rebounds.
SILVER LAKE 63, GALENA 51
Silver Lake 16 15 17 15 - 63
Galena 14 8 16 13 - 51
Silver Lake (20-6) -- D. Johnson 5-10 6-9 16, Razzano 6-8 1-3 13, Deiter 3-7 2-2 8, Whitehead 1-2 0-0 3, J. Johnson 3-9 3-4 11, Miller 2-2 0-0 6, Coffman 2-5 0-1 4, Bergmann 0-1 0-0 0, Kruger 0-0 0-0 0, Rooks 1-1 0-0 2, Hilliday 0-0 0-0 0, Womack 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 12-19 63.
Galena (23-2) -- Perry 7-23 0-0 15, Botkin 3-5 0-0 9, Adams 1-3 0-0 2, Kimberling 5-8 0-0 14, Cox 3-6 3-6 9, Whittenmyer 0-0 0-2 0, Laturner 1-1 0-0 2, Gilbert 0-0 0-0 0, Scarrow 0-0 0-0 0, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Buckaloo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 3-8 51.
3-point goals -- Silver Lake 5-13 (Miller 2-2, J. Johnson 2-6, Whitehead 1-2, Razzano 0-1, Deiter 0-1, Coffman 0-1). Galena 8-16 (Kimberling 4-5, Botkin 3-3, Perry 1-6, Adams 0-2). Rebounds -- Silver Lake 29 (D. Johnson 14), Galena 27 (Perry 6). Assists -- Silver Lake 18 (Deiter 7), Galena 14 (Botkin 8). Turnovers -- Silver Lake 7, Galena 9. Total fouls -- Silver Lake 15, Galena 20.
