By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Hayden's rally from a 13-point deficit came up just short Thursday night, with Lansing taking a 48-45 victory in the opening round of the Topeka Invitational Tournament at the Bueltel Activity Center.
Senior Jacob Padilla, coming off an injury, led Hayden with 15 points in Thursday's 48-45 Topeka Invitational loss to Lansing. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But even though the Wildcats suffered their fourth straight loss to fall to 4-5 on the season, Hayden coach Trey Brown saw plenty of positives that his team can build on moving forward.
"We got a small taste of it and we've got to figure out what it's like to win again,'' Brown said. "We were right there and I think when we get healthy that will make a big difference but I thought the guys played hard and executed for the most part down the stretch.
'We got a great look with a great player at the end so we told them we've just got to keep hammering away, got to keep bulding. We're getting so much experience right now, playing all these big schools and good teams, so at the end of the year this is going to pan out for us.''
Lansing led 27-17 at the half and the Lions maintained their double-digit advantage through much of the third quarter before the Wildcats rallied late in the period to cut their deficit to 36-33 at the start of the fourth stanza.
Hayden pulled even at 44-44 on a Jacob Padilla 3-pointer with 1:25 remaining but Lansing (2-6) answered right back to take a 46-44 lead.
The Wildcats their deficit to a point with 51.3 seconds remaining on a Padilla free throw and Hayden had a chance to take the lead after a Lansing miss with 16.7 seconds left but Hayden turned the ball over itself, leading to two Cooper Crawford free throws with four seconds left.
Hayden got a 3-point attempt from Padilla at the buzzer but the shot missed and the Lions held on for the win.
Padilla, returning from a hamstring injury, led Hayden with 15 points.
"He did a great job all night and he's one of those special guys where he doesn't have to shoot the ball 15, 20 times,'' Brown said. "He can impact the game by defense and he got a couple of huge rebounds for us tonight and he made great plays. He was penetrating the lane all night and it's huge to have him back.''
Sophomore Connor Hanika (15) scored eight points in Hayden's 48-45 loss to Lansing Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
enior Cooper Colboch scored eight points with two 3-pointers in Hayden's 48-45 loss to Lansing Thursday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Cooper Colboch and sophomore Connor Hanika both added eight points for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats played without injured senior Dom Ridley.
Senior Bret Graeber led Lansing with a game-high 19 points while junior Carson Zimmerman added 10 points.
Hayden will play Topeka High, a 60-34 first-round loser to Wichita Northwest, in a 3:45 consolation game on Friday.
Hayden will be facing High for the second time in a week, with the Trojans taking a 63-49 win over the Wildcats last Friday.
LANSING 48, HAYDEN 45
Lansing 15 12 9 12 -- 48
Hayden 8 9 16 12 -- 45
Lansing (2-6) -- B. Stephens 0 0-0 0, Zimmerman 4 1-2 10, Crawford 2 4-6 8, Graeber 7 3-4 19, M. Stephens 1 3-4 6, Mendez 0 0-0 0, Butler 1 3-4 5, Atchison 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-20 48.
Hayden (4-5)-- Padilla 5 3-4 15, Colboch 3 0-0 8, Charvat 0 2-2 2, Becker 2 0-0 5, Grace 1 0-2 2, Deister 1 0-0 2, Mitchell 1 1-2 3, Hanika 3 2-3 8, Kuta 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-13 45.
3-point goals -- Lansing 4 (Graber 2, Zimmerman, M. Stephens), Hayden 5 (Padilla 2, Colboch 2, Becker). Total fouls -- Lansing 14, Hayden 22. Fouled out -- Hanika. Technical foul -- Mitchell.
RESULTS THURSDAY
Highland Park 75, Lawrence 44
Shawnee Mission North 49, Topeka West 47
Wichita Northwest 60, Topeka High 34
Lansing 48, Hayden 45
GAMES FRIDAY
2 p.m. -- Lawrence vs. Topeka West.
3:45 -- Topeka High vs. Hayden.
5:30 -- Highland Park vs. Shawnee Mission North.
7:15 -- Wichita Northwest vs. Lansing
