By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden's girls basketball team rode a fast start and a big night from seniors Carly Stuke and Macy Smith to a 58-38 first-round victory over Baldwin Tuesday in Wellsville's Top Gun Invitational.
Carly Stuke
Macy Smith
The Wildcats, who improved to 6-3 on the season, jumped out to a 23-8 first-quarter lead over the Bulldogs and led by a commanding 40-19 advantage at the half.
Hayden pushed its lead to 51-25 by the end of the third quarter and cruised the rest of the way.
Stuke and Smith combined for 31 points to pace the Wildcats, with Stuke scoring 19 points and Smith adding 12. Two other Hayden players scored at least six points.
With Tuesday's win Hayden advanced to a 6:45 p.m. semifinal game on Thursday to face the winner of the first-round game between Nemaha Central and Louisburg.
The tournament championship game will be played on Saturday.
SILVER LAKE BOYS 60, SANTA FE TRAIL 43 -- Silver Lake's boys snapped a four-game losing streak in decisive fashion, improving to 5-6 with a 60-43 home victory over Santa Fe Trail.
Silver Lake got the night off to a good start with a 22-12 first quarter.
Then, after the Chargers cut the Eagles' halftime lead to 30-28, Silver Lake answered with a 7-1 third quarter to take a 37-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles finished off the win with a 23-14 scoring edge over the final eight minutes.
"Good team win tonight,'' Silver Lake coach Johnny Roberts said in a text.
Kamryn Kaniper led a balanced Eagles offensive attack with 18 points while Luke Womack added 12 points, Troy Heiman 11 and Carson Johnson eight points.
The Eagles will try to make it two wins in a row when they travel to Sabetha on Friday for a non-league game.
