By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Friday was Winter Royalty at the Bueltel Activity Center and would be the third meeting of the season between the top-ranked Hayden girls and Centennial League rival Emporia.
Senior Brylee Meier shared game-high scoring honors with 15 points in Hayden's 66-25 win Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Freshman Hailey Schmidtlein tied for game-high honors with 15 points in Hayden's 66-25 Centennial League win over Emporia Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
And much like the earlier two matchups, Hayden took control early on the way to a 66-25 victory.
The Wildcats are led by experience and start four seniors while the Lady Spartans are led by newcomers and start three freshman, have zero returners from the varsity team a year ago and a new head coach.
Friday's game would be all Wildcats early as Hayden would get off to a 22-3 first-quarter lead and go into halftime up, 43-9.
The Wildcats would allow the Spartans to score 16 points over the final two quarters, with the Wildcats benching the starters after the third quarter. The Hayden role players would come out and shine for the Wildcats, led by junior Ella Foster, who would hit three 3-pointers to score nine points on the night.
“I was shooting good all day, so I was ready to get on the court and when I did and hit the first one, I knew to keep shooting,” Foster said.
Foster has seen a uptick in her minutes on varsity this season.
“Coach has done a really good job at helping us get confident with our thoughts and with just how we play, so its been really helpful to play more varsity, so I know how to play,” Foster said.
“She is a good shooter,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said of Foster. "She does great in shooting drills every day, so I am not surprised.”
“Even though we have played them twice and we have won by a lot you can never overlook teams,'' Hayden senior Norma Greco said. "Its a good lesson to keep going even when up that much, it takes discipline to keep going and working hard on the court.”
The Wildcats got double-digit scoring nights from there standouts in the paint, with senior Amelia Ramsey scoring 12 points and senior Brylee Meier sharing game-high honors with freshman Hailey Schmidtlein with 15 points each.
“Those four girls are the core of this team and we need them to be themselves and keep doing what they have been doing all year, for us to stay strong,” Reynoldson said.
Wins have been hard to find for an Emporia team that features eight freshman and four sophomore’s and a first-year head coach in Taylor Scott.
“Obviously losing 12 seniors means we returned no experience, and like you said over half of the team is freshman,'' Scott said. "Seeing them gain confidence as the season goes is truly a rewarding experience. They’re a fun group to be around.”
The Spartans got seven points from freshman guard Jayde Aguirre.
The Lady Wildcats have two huge road games coming up next week, with games at Manhattan and Washburn Rural.
HAYDEN GIRLS 66, EMPORIA GIRLS 25
Emporia 3 6 10 6 -- 25
Hayden 22 21 15 8 -- 66
Emporia (3-13 1-5) -- Aguirre 2-4 1-4 7, Davis 2-6 0-0 4, Heffner 1-2 2-2 4, Wiltz 0-2 2-4 2, B’Hymer 0-0 0-0 0, Moreno 2-3 0-0 4, Howe 1-2 0-0 2, Farrell 1-5 0-0 2, Cunningham 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 9-27 5-10 25.
Hayden (15-1 7-0) -- Meier 5-10 3-4 15, Schmidtlein 5-8 5-7 15, Ramsey 5-7 2-2 12, Greco 3-4 0-0 6, Reid 1-1 0-0 2, Foster 3-5 0-0 9, Borjon 1-2 0-0 3, Huscher 1-2 0-1 2, Walter 0-2 2-2 2, Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 24-44 12-16 66.
3-point goals -- Emporia 2 (Aguirre 2), Hayden 6 (Foster 3, Meier 2, Borjon). Total fouls -- Emporia 12, Hayden 13.
