By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
El Dorado -- In the first round of the 32nd annual Lady Cat Classic, the top-seeded and Class 4A No. 1 Hayden Wildcats went up against the host El Dorado, rolling to the tournament semifinals with a 64-15 win Thursday.
Freshman Hailey Schmidtlein scored a game-high 21 points in Hayden's 64-15 win over El Dorado on Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden started the game on a 13-0 run before El Dorado would answer with a floater to make it 13-2.
The Lady Cats would go on to out-score El Dorado 51-13 over the final three quarters of play to take a 64-15 decision and advance to play in the 7:45 p.m. semifinal Friday against (6-4) Gardner-Edgerton, which beat Goddard, 48-46.
The Wildcats had a near perfect night from there 6-foot freshman, Hailey Schmidtlein, who went 10-12 from the field to lead all scorers with 21 points.
“She went all out tonight, got some points off our defense and did a really nice job finishing,” Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldon said.
“I can’t thank my teammates enough,'' Schmidtlein said. "They were finding me when I was out ahead, seeing me, giving me those great passes. I didn’t do much but run up the court and get the ball and score.”
The Wildcats got big nights again from there 6-foot seniors, Amelia Ramsey and Brylee Meier, who each had 13 points.
“It was a great team win tonight and now it is time to get ready for the next on,'' Reynoldson said. "(The No. 1 ranking) is something that we are proud of because up to this point we have taken care of business, but that is all it means is that we have done a good job up to this point and we have to keep hammering away.”
Reynoldson on Hayden's upcoming matchup with Gardner-Edgerton: “They will be a tremendous challenge as they've got some shooters around a really really good player. I believe we match up pretty well with them.”
HAYDEN GIRLS 64, EL DORADO 15
Hayden 13 25 14 12 -- 64
El Dorado 2 9 4 0 -- 15
Hayden (11-0) -- Schmidtlein 10-12 0-1 21, Ramsey 4-10 3-4 13, Meier 4-12 1-2 13, Greco 1-4 0-0 2, Reid 0-1 0-0 0, Walter 3-6 0-0 8, Watts 1-1 0-2 2, Connell 1-5 0-0 2, Wrench 1-1 0-0 2, Wichman 0-2 1-2 1, Huescher 0-0 0-2 0, Foster 0-2 0-0 0, Borjon 0-4 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 5-13 64.
El Dorado (1-8) -- Bressler 2-5 0-1 4, Kemboi 1-3 0-0 2, Scott 1-3 0-0 2, Hull 1-5 0-0 2, Hadley 1-9 0-0 2, Young 1-2 0-0 3, Parker 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 7-30 0-1 15.
3-point goals -- Hayden 7 (Meier 4, Walter 2, Schmidtlein), El Dorado 1 (Young.) Total Fouls -- Hayden 5, El Dorado 8. Fouled out -- None.
