By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Even though his Hayden boys basketball team had already beaten Topeka High twice by a total of 27 points, Wildcat coach Dwayne Paul reminded his players that they couldn't afford to take the Trojans lightly in Hayden vs. High Part III Friday night.
Hayden senior Joe Otting, driving the baseline against Topeka High, had game-high totals of 23 points and 10 rebounds in a 55-44 Centennial League victory. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
Junior Cooper Colboch came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers in Hayden's 55-44 Centennial League win at Topeka High Friday night. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
And except for a short stretch in the second half, Paul's Wildcats took that advice to heart, turning in a solid performance in a 55-44 Centennial League win on the Trojans' home court.
"That's a good team,'' Paul said of the Trojans. "I tell people all the time and I told the guys, 'Their record is not indicative of the kind of team they are.' Credit to coach (Geo) Lyons and those boys over there, they keep fighting, there's no quit in them.
"They have all my respect in the world.''
The Wildcats, who improved to 10-8 overall and 4-5 in the league, was locked in a 12-12 tie at the end of the first quarter but hit the Trojans (3-16, 0-9) with a 16-4 second quarter to take a 28-16 advantage into halftime.
Hayden boosted its lead to 15 points (35-20) on two Joe Otting free throws with 3:45 left in the third quarter, but Topeka High ended the stanza with a 14-4 run to cut its deficit to 39-34 at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Trojans continued to surge at the start of the final period, eventually getting within two points at 41-39 on two Mason Gomez free throws with 4:14 left.
Hayden righted its ship at that point, however, with senior Jake Muller scoring four straight points and junior Cooper Colboch draining his third 3-pointer of the night to push the Wildcats' lead back to 48-39.
"When you play a good team, a team that shoots the ball like they do, they're bound to make a run,'' Paul said. "You just hope that when they make a run that you can, (No.) 1 be ahead far enough or 2, weather the storm.
"We got back to playing great defense and making them make tough shots and, with the exception of probably that three and a half, four-minute spurt, I thought we played really good basketball.'' .
Muller, who scored all eight of his points over the final four minutes, went six of six from the free throw line over the last 3:31, including two charities with 25.4 seconds left to push Hayden's lead back to 13 points.
Otting was a force inside throughout the game, hitting 10 of 13 shots from the field and three of five free throws to finish with a game-high 23 points. The Notre Dame football signee also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Topeka High junior Isaiah Lyons (1) scored 18 points in the Trojans' 55-44 Centennial League loss to Hayden Friday at High. [Photo by Sarah Carson/Special to TSN]
Junior Isaiah Lyons led Topeka High with 18 points and junior Bryson Thrasher added 11 points but Hayden did a good job of keeping the Trojans' 3-point shooters in check, with High hitting just one trey on the night.
HAYDEN BOYS 55, TOPEKA HIGH 44
Hayden 12 16 11 16 -- 55
Topeka High 12 4 18 10 -- 44
Hayden (10-8, 4-5) -- Padilla 2-7 2-2 7, Muller 1-8 6-6 8, Cameron 1-2 1-2 3, Ham 1-1 1-4 3, Otting 10-13 3-5 23, Colboch 3-6 0-0 9, McGibboney 1-1 0-0 2, Deister 0-0 0-0 0, Charvat 0-0 0-0 0, Ridley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-39 13-19 55.
Topeka High (3-16, 0-9) -- Lyons 6-14 5-6 18, Thrasher 5-8 1-2 11, Hales 3-3 0-0 6, Gomez 0-4 3-4 3, Votaw 1-3 2-2 4, Norman 1-3 0-0 2, Villegas 0-0 0-0 0, Mosqueda 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 11-14 44.
3-point goals -- Hayden 4 (Colboch 3, Padilla), Topeka High 1 (Lyons). Total fouls -- Hayden 15, Topeka High 16. Fouled out – Cameron. Technical fouls -- none.
