By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
SALINA -- The Hayden girls rebounded from a disappointing semifinal loss to Class 4A powerhouse Bishop Miege Friday, taking out their frustration on Buhler.
Hayden poses for a team picture Saturday after finishing third in the Class 4A state tournament in Salina. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
The Wildcats claimed the third-place trophy for the second year in a row – having done so in the 3A Classification a year ago – by defeating Buhler 57-23 at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina Saturday afternoon.
“The third-place game is a tough one to play in because you’re so disappointed from the night before,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said, noting the tears shed in the locker room after the loss to Miege.
“Today, in the stands, watching the game before ours, we seemed really loose. And sometimes that can go either way,” Reynoldson said. “I really felt we were going to play well, but you never know.”
Reynoldson’s fears were allayed instantly. Hayden started on 16-2 run and led 19-4 at the end of the first period.
“Millie (Ramsey) got fed a couple of times with easy buckets and she hit a three, and it caused them to call an early timeout, and it just snowballed from there,” the Hayden coach said.
The Wildcats led 30-12 at the half, playing nearly everyone on the team in the first half.
“We all agreed that we didn’t get where we wanted to, but this was still our last game, and we needed to come out and play as hard as we can,” Ramsey said. “We know what we’re capable of and we know what we can.
“It felt really great to end on a win, I’m really glad we didn’t have to end with (the loss to Miege) because that was not it.”
Ramsey led the Wildcats with 20 points and eight rebounds. Norma Greco scored 11.
The Wildcats closed the season with a record of 22-3, with their only losses coming to Class 5A Maize South, 6A Manhattan and Bishop Miege in the tournament.
A couple of career accomplishments came during the tournament -- senior Brylee Meier surpassed the 1,000-point threshold while Ramsey grabbed her 1,000th rebound after reaching 1,000 points earlier in the season.
With the season in the books and another trophy in hand, Reynoldson summed up his feelings for Ramsey, Meier, Greco and fellow senior starter Bella Reid.
“They’re a special group,” Reynoldson said. “They did such a good job of bringing the team together. Like planning team dinners, outings, laughing…there was nobody that felt like they didn’t belong. A coach can preach that all they want, but it’s really up to the seniors. This season was really special because of all the stuff off the court.”
HAYDEN 57, BUHLER 23
Buhler 4 8 9 2 – 23
Hayden 19 11 18 9 – 57
Buhler (19-6) – Krafels 1-9 4-4 6, Brooks 0-2 3-4 3, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Baxter 2-4 2-4 6, Oard 1-6 0-1 2, Horne 0-1 0-0 0, Tustian 0-0 0-0 0, Voss 1-3 0-0 2, Quint 0-0 0-0 0, Lackey 0-0 0-0 0, Sewell 0-2 0-0 0, Gotti 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 7-32 9-13 23.
Hayden (22-3) – Schmidtlein 2-5 4-4 9, Ramsey 7-10 5-5 20, Reid 0-1 0-0 0, Meier 3-8 0-0 8, Greco 3-6 2-2 11, Walter 1-3 3-4 6, Foster 1-3 0-0 3, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Huscher 0-1 0-0 0, Borjon 0-4 0-0 0, Connell 0-0 0-0 0, Watts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 14-15 57. 3-point goals – Buhler 0-8. Hayden 9-26 (Greco 3, Meier 2, Schmidtlein 1, Foster 1, Walter 1, Ramsey 1). Total fouls – Buhler 17, Hayden 12. Fouled out – Brooks, Sewell.
