By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 8 seed Hayden dominated the second half Thursday against No. 1 Eudora, pulling away for a 64-53 victory in a first round Class 4A state tournament game at Salina's Tony's Pizza Events Center.
Hayden, which improved to 10-13, trailed 21-13 at halftime after Eudora led by as much as 10 points, but the Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 51-32 after the break to take control.
With the victory Hayden advanced to Friday's 8 p.m. semifinal to face No. 5 Bishop Miege (16-6), the defending state champion. The Stags advanced with a 70-40 win over Abilene.
Junior Joe Otting scored a game-high 23 points as Hayden knocked off No. 1 seed Eudora Thursday in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament at Salina. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Trent Duffey scored 16 points in Hayden's 64-53 win over top seed Eudora in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament at Salina. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden opened the second half with five straight points from 6-foot-5 junior standout Joe Otting and took a 27-24 lead midway through the quarter after a 3-pointer from senior Trent Duffey and a traditional three-point play from junior Jake Muller.
The Wildcats started the fourth quarter with a 33-31 advantage after Muller scored to end the quarter.
Eudora, which ended its season 18-4, took a one-point advantage on a Kale Hammerschmidt 3-pointer and Hammerschmidt tied the game at 43-43 with 4:50 remaining but the Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 21-10 the rest of the way despite struggling at the free throw line, including six straight misses at one stretch.
Duffey canned two huge charities with 1:30 left to give Hayden a 56-49 lead and Otting gave the Wildcats an eight-point advantage with two free throw makes with a minute left.
Otting led Hayden with 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Duffey added 16 points and Muller nine, Dominic Ridley seven and Peyton Bartlett six.
Sophomore Logan Sullivan led Eudora with 17 points while Jaden Hamm added 12 points and Hammerschmidt 11.
Hayden became the second Topeka team to knock off a top seed, following the lead of Seaman's boys, who beat Kapaun Mt. Carmel in Class 5A on Wednesday.
Shawnee County has a total of four teams in the state semifinals, with Silver Lake's girls advancing in 3A and Washburn Rural's girls advancing in 6A.
HAYDEN BOYS 64, EUDORA 53
Hayden 6 7 20 31 -- 64
Eudora 9 12 10 22 -- 53
Hayden (10-13) -- Bartlett 2-6 0-2 6, Muller 4-9 1-5 9, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Duffey 3-9 8-10 16, Otting 7-10 6-12 23, Foster 0-1 0-0 0, Ridley 1-4 5-7 7, Ham 1-1 0-0 3, Charvat 0-0 0-0 0, Alfonsi 0-0 0-0 0, Gorman 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 20-36 64.
Eudora (18-4) -- Hamm 3-9 6-8 12, Hammerschmidt 3-5 2-2 11, Rader 3-4 0-2 7, Parker 1-4 0-0 3, Sullivan 7-21 2-3 17, Hoobler 0-0 0-0 0, Giffin 0-0 0-0 0, Arnold 0-0 0-0 0, Siemon 0-0 0-0 0, Dunback 1-2 0-0 2, Votaw 0-1 0-0 0, Barron 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 18-46 11-17 53.
3-point shots -- Hayden 8-18 (Otting 3-3, Duffey 2-5, Bartlett 2-4 Ham 1-1, Muller 0-2, Ridley 0-3), Eudora 6-16 (Hammerschmidt 3-3, Rader 1-1, Parker 1-2, Sullivan 1-9, Votaw 0-1). Total fouls -- Hayden 18, Eudora 28. Fouled out -- Hammerschmidt, Dunback. Technical fouls -- none.
