By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
EMPORIA -- Hayden's girls basketball coach Carvel Reynoldson knows his Wildcats still have plenty to work on moving forward, particularly on the offensive end and free throw line.
But Hayden appeared to be in midseason defensive form in Tuesday afternoon's season-opener against Wichita Trinity, with the Wildcats rolling to a 55-24 win in the opening round of the Paul Terry Classic at Emporia High.
Hailey Schmidtlein scored 17 points in her high school basketball debut Thursday, leading Hayden to a 55-24 season-opening win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Wildcats, who finished third in Class 3A last season before moving back to 4A, scored the first 16 points of Tuesday's game and opened up a commanding 21-2 first-quarter lead while forcing 12 Trinity turnovers over the first eight minutes.
Hayden went on to lead 32-8 at halftime while forcing 21 turnovers in the first half and 35 for the game while harrassing the Knights into 26 percent shooting from the field.
"I thought we really came out with great energy and that was nice to see,'' Reynoldson said.
The Wildcats were just 8 of 27 performance at the free throw line and went 3 of 15 from 3-point range, but those struggles were little more than an annoyance as Hayden rolled to the victory, forcing a running clock (30-point lead in the fourth quarter) with 1:40 left on a hoop by freshman Blakely Walters.
"We've been shooting a lot of free throws and been doing really well, so I don't know where the free throw shooting came from,'' Reynoldson said. "That was really bad, but we'll work on it and we'll get better at it.
"And not only were we not hitting free throws, but we weren't hitting 3s either and I think this is a pretty good shooting team.''
Hailey Schmidtlein, a 5-foot-11 freshman, got her high school career off to an impressive start for Hayden, scoring 10 points in the first quarter on the way to a game-high 17 points.
"She comes to practice every day with tremendous energy and she's a leader the way she communicates,'' Reynoldson said. "We knew that she's going to be a difference maker.''
Hayden senior Millie Ramsey registered a double-double in Thursday's 55-24 win over Wichita Trinity. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Millie Ramsey added a double-double for the Wildcats, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Brylee Meier had eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Wichita Trinity did not have a player with more than six points.
Hayden will return to action on Friday, playing a 3 p.m. against Spring Hill in the second round of the Paul Terry Classic, before winding up the tournament with a 1 p.m. Saturday game against Emporia.
HAYDEN GIRLS 55, WICHITA TRINITY 24
Trinity 2 6 7 9 -- 24
Hayden 21 11 10 13 -- 55
Wichita Trinity (0-1) -- Allen 1-2 0-0 3, Balzer 1-8 0-0 2, Shepherd 1-2 1-3 4, Green 0-2 0-0 0, Linder 2-4 0-0 4, Cross 1-1 0-0 3, Wilmeth 3-7 0-0 6, Tofteland 0-7 0-0 0, Rolph 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-38 1-3 24.
Hayden (1-0) -- Schmidtlein 8-14 0-2 17, Ramsey 4-9 4-7 12, Fulton 2-5 0-4 4, Meier 3-10 0-0 8, Greco 2-8 1-2 5, Walters 2-3 0-0 4, Foster 0-0 0-0 0, Mitchell 1-1 0-2 2, Reid 0-2 0-0 0, Huscher 0-1 2-8 2, Connell 0-1 0-0 0, Watts 0-0 1-2 1, Borjon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 8-27 55.
3-point goals -- Wichita Trinity 3 (Allen, Shepherd, Cross), Hayden 3 (Meier 2, Schmidtlein). Total fouls -- Wichita Trinity 15, Hayden 15. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- none.
