By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Over the course of a long basketball season, even the most successful teams are likely to have nights where they're not at their best and have to find a way, and a will, to win.
Friday was one of those nights for the Centennial League-leading Washburn Rural boys, who stared defeat in the face, particularly at the end of regulation, to escape with a 43-39 overtime league win over Hayden at Rural.
Washburn Rural senior Jack Bachelor celebrates Friday's 43-39 overtime Centennial League win over Hayden at Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior JC Heim (25) attempts to block a shot from Hayden's Joe Otting in the Junior Blues' 43-39 overtime win over the Wildcats. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"That's what we said in the locker room afterwards, that sometimes you've got to win ugly,'' Rural coach Alex Hutchins said. "Sometimes there's nights where easy shots aren't falling and you've got to find a way to get it done.
"We were proud of the way they kind of locked down and found a way.''
Washburn Rural, which improved to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in the league, led by a slight margin for most of the night, but missed opportunities to put the Wildcats away until opening the extra session with a 7-0 run and getting four free throws from senior Jack Bachelor over the final 33.5 seconds to clinch the Junior Blues' sixth straight victory.
Hutchins said he wasn't surprised at all that Hayden battled the Junior Blues all the way to the end.
"We told our guys before the game, it didn't really matter how the first three minutes went that it was going to be 32 minutes, and it turned into 36,'' Hutchins said. "(Hayden's) scrappy, they're tough, they're in every game they've played.
"It doesn't matter who they're playing, it's always tight at the end.''
Hayden (7-8, 2-5) led 9-6 at the end of the opening quarter and by five points early in the second quarter before Washburn Rural rallied to go in front 19-14 with 1:16 left in the half on a Wyatt Conklin basket before Cooper Colboch hit a 3-pointer to get Hayden within two at the break.
Washburn Rural never trailed the rest of the night but Hayden refused to go away, fighing back from a seven-point deficit to tie the game at 27-27 on a Jake Muller 3-pointer with 3:37 left in the third.
Rural sophomore Kaden Ballard converted a follow shot to put the Junior Blues in front 31-27 at the start of the fourth quarter but Hayden fought back to tie the game with 51.1 seconds left in regulation on a Joe Otting free throw and freshman Ayden McGibboney tied the game again with 9.9 seconds remaining. McGibboney was fouled on the play but missed the free throw, setting the stage for the extra session.
Senior Jacob Hirschi canned a 3-pointer at the 2:58 mark of OT to put Washburn Rural ahead to stay.
And on a night where made free throws were hard to come by for both teams, Bachelor hit four straight to put Rural up 43-36 late before Hayden's Jacob Padilla canned a 3-pointer to account for the final margin.
Bachelor, who was seven of eight from the line on the night, led all scorers with 14 points while Ballard added seven points.
Otting had a double-double for Hayden, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
For Hayden, Friday's loss was a second straight heartbreaker, coming on the heels of a 39-38 loss to Emporia on Tuesday.
While proud of his team for its effort, Hayden coach Dwayne Paul said the Wildcats need to find a way to start winning their close games, with Friday's loss Hayden's fifth by four or fewer points.
"I told the guys I was proud of their fight, I was proud of how they battled,'' Paul said. "I told the guys to come out and have fun and embrace the moment. This is why you're playing high school basketball right here, for games like this. But we have to be able to have composure in your most intense moments.
"When you start talking about basketball, everyone says the little things are important, but when you thinking about the little things, you realize there are no little things in basketball. Everything's magnified.''
Washburn Rural will be at home Tuesday against Topeka High while Hayden will travel to Tonganoxie for a non-league game on Monday before hosting Junction City on Tuesday.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 43, HAYDEN 39 (OT)
Hayden 9 8 10 9 3 -- 39
Washburn Rural 6 13 12 5 7-- 43
Hayden (7-8, 2-5) -- Padilla 2-6 0-0 6, Muller 2-7 2-4 7, Cameron 2-3 2-2 6, Ham 0-0 0-0 9, Otting 5-12 1-5 11, Colboch 1-1 0-0 3, McGibboney3-7 0-2 6, Charvat 0-0 0-0 0, Ridley 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-38 5-13 39.
Washburn Rural (13-4, 6-1) -- Jones 2-5 1-4 5, Hirschi 1-4 2-3 5, Bachelor 3-8 7-8 14, Conklin 1-6 1-2 3, Heim 1-4 1-2 3, Ballard 3-6 0-1 7, Morris 0-0 0-0 0, Durst 1-3 0-0 2, Bettis 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 14-40 12-20 43.
3-point goals -- Hayden 4 (Padilla 2, Colboch, Muller), Washburn Rural 3 (Ballard, Hirshi, Bachelor). Total fouls -- Hayden 13, Washburn Rural 13. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none.
