By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Following a heartbreaking overtime loss to Highland Park on Tuesday, Hayden bounced back to defeat Manhattan 50-48 at home Friday, giving Dwayne Paul his first win as the Wildcats' coach.
The Indians and Wildcats defenses were tough to score on in the beginning with Manhattan holding a 15-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Following the quarter break, Indians guard Tate Brown hit two tough contested 3-point shots to spark the Indian offense, which outscored Hayden 14-5 in the second quarter to take a 29-15 halftime lead.
“We are a talented team, but that first half we didn’t show any toughness. It was uncharacteristic of us,” Paul said.
Hayden had offensive struggles throughout the entirety of the first half. Hayden shot 27 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line.
“I told the guys during halftime, at the end of the day it’s going to come down to heart and fight,” Paul said.
Hayden rallied from a 16-point deficit to give Dwayne Paul his first win as the Wildcats' coach Friday, 50-48 over Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Hayden seemed to be a bit gun-shy in the first half, but was the complete opposite in the second half. Trent Duffey, Jake Muller, and Patrick Gorman took chances with the 3-point shots right out of the gate. That created some momentum, even down by 16 at one point.
“We settled down. We took the adversity head on,” said Paul.
Better shot selection and solid defense decreased the deficit for the Wildcats to nine (40-31) at the end of the third quarter and Hayden fed off the enthusiasm of its home crowd the rest of the way.
“This crowd! Do you hear that? This place was insane and it really gave us life going into the fourth,” said Paul.
With 4:32 to go in the game, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run and would only trail by three points.
The game was back and forth down to the wire.
Hayden and Manhattan were playing tough, physical defense and each free throw was critical. With 1:17 left in the game, Dylan Foster hit a clutch free throw which would end up giving the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 47-46.
Up 50-48 with 1.5 seconds to go, Manhattan had the inbound and a last-second shot attempt ended in a miss.
Jake Muller (3) led Hayden with 16 points in Friday's 50-48 win over Manhattan. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Muller, a junior, led Hayden with 16 points while junior Joe Otting added 11 points and senior Duffey 10.
Hayden (1-1) will host Washburn Rural (1-2) on Tuesday night.
HAYDEN BOYS 50, MANHATTAN 48
Manhattan (1-2, 1-2) 15 14 11 8 – 48
Hayden (1-1, 1-1) 10 5 16 19 – 50
Hayden (1-1, 1-1) – Muller 5 3-5 16, Otting 4 3-6 11, Duffey 4 0-0 10, Padilla 0 6-8 6, Gorman 1 0-0 3, Bartlett 0 3-4 3, Foster 0 1-2 1. Total 14 16-25 50.
Manhattan (1-2, 1-2) – Wilson 4 3-4 11, Perkins 3 4-4 11, Holloway 3 2-2 8, Brown 3 0-0 8, Delort 2 2-4 6, Schartz 1 0-0 2. Total 17-34 11-16 48.
3-point goals – Hayden 6 (Muller 3, Duffey 2, Gorman), Manhattan 3 (Brown 2, Perkins 1). Total Fouls – Hayden 20, Manhattan 21. Fouled out – Padilla.
