By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the second time this season, Hayden's boys basketball team took Emporia down to the wire on the road with a chance to win.
But for the second straight time, Emporia found a way to fight off the Wildcats, with the Spartans claiming a 59-52 decision Tuesday night in the Centennial League opener for both schools. Emporia took a 57-53 win over Hayden earlier in the season in the Paul Terry Classic.
Hayden senior Jake Muller (3) looks for room to maneuver against Emporia's zone defense in Tuesday's 59-52 Wildcat loss to the Spartans. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden, which fell to 3-2 overall, 0-1 in the league, only led once on the night, at 3-2, but the third-ranked (Class 4A) Wildcats never lost contact.
Emporia (6-1, 1-0) led 18-13 at the end of the first quarter and 34-27 at the half, but Hayden pulled within a point (42-41) with 1:46 left in the third quarter after sophomore Jacob Deister's third straight 3-pointer.
The Spartans stretched their lead back to six points (49-43) at the start of the fourth quarter, but Hayden pulled within two points (54-52) with 3:34 remaining on two Joe Otting free throws before Emporia ran off the final five points of the game, all from the free throw line.
"That's a credit to (the Spartans),'' Hayden coach Dwayne Paul said. "They play hard, they play fast, they make you shoot shots that you have to make. That's what the 1-3-1 (defense) does. Last time we played they had about a two and a half minute stretch where they out-toughed us and in my opinion they out-toughed us from the start to the finish today.
"We came back and we made it (close) but when it's time for your toughness and your team and your togetherness to shine through the most, we folded at that time.''
Emporia senior guard Jalyn King scored his team's first nine points of the night on the way to a game-high 20 points and junior Cooper Rech added 10 while the Spartans had five players with seven on more points.
Hayden connected on 11 3-pointers on the night, including six treys from Deister, who led the Wildcats with 18 points.
Otting, a senior, finished with 14 points and nine rebounds while junior Jacob Padilla added 12 points on four 3-pointers.
"We'll see (Emporia) again,'' Paul said. "That's a great team over there. I still think we have a chance to be a good team, but we've got to get tougher.''
Hayden will be back at home Friday to host a Centennial League game against 4-2 Washburn Rural, a 54-48 winner over Junction City Tuesday night.
EMPORIA BOYS 59, HAYDEN 52
Hayden 13 14 16 9 -- 52
Emporia 18 16 15 10 -- 59
Hayden (3-2, 0-1) -- Padilla 4-7 0-0 12, Colboch 0-2 0-0 0, Muller 1-6 0-0 3, Ham 0-2 0-0 0, Otting 5-7 4-4 14, Cameron 1-2 0-0 2, Foster 0-0 0-0 0, McGibboney 1-4 1-2 3, Deister 6-9 0-0 18, Charvat 0-0 0-0 0, Ridley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-39 5-6 52.
Emporia (6-1, 1-0) -- Leeds 2-7 3-4 8, King 8-9 1-2 20, Jackon 0-1 0-0 0, Rech 4-6 0-1 10, Seeley 0-0 1-2 1, Peters 4-9 1-2 9, Hess 3-4 1-1 7, Stewart 1-3 2-4 4. Totals 22-39 9-16 59.
3-point goals -- Hayden 11 (Deister 6, Padilla 4, Muller), Emporia 6 (King 3, Rech 2, Leeds). Total fouls -- Hayden 15, Emporia 12. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
