Hays High jumped back into Western Athletic Conference play by hosting Liberal on Friday evening. It was the second time in three games Hays had played Liberal, for Liberal it was back to back games to play the Indians.
Girls
#10-6A Liberal 62 - Hays 50
Liberal's points came in spurts during the first half on their way to a double digit lead heading into the locker room. The Redskins scored on runs of 7-0, 12-1 and 8-0 totaling a 30-13 advantage over Hays at halftime.
Hays had opportunities to pull closer down 10-7 and 22-13 but couldn't get any closer.
Highlights
Liberal continued to expand their lead in the third quarter and pushed it to twenty at 48-28 at the end of the third. The Indians played their best stretch of basketball of the game in the fourth quarter and pulled with in ten at 55-45, but would get no closer losing 62-50.
Coach Len Melvin
Molly Martin set a career high in points for a second straight game, with a team high 15. Bree Horyna scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Liberal, while Ashley Carrillo scored 11 before leaving with an injury.
Hays falls to 3-4 and is 0-2 in the WAC. #10-6A Liberal is 5-1 and 2-0 in the conference.
Boys
Liberal 30 - #8 Hays 75
Hays hit a three pointer fifteen seconds into the game and Liberal was never closer than that for the remainder of the game. The Indians opened up on a 9-0 run which was part of a bigger 19-3 run over the first 5:40 of the game.
Hays scored 26 in the first quarter and 25 in the second quarter on their way to a 51-18 lead at halftime. Jace Linenberger, Garrett Wellbrock, and Noah Weimer all scored in double figures by the mid-game break.
Highlights
Hays outscored Liberal 24-12 in the second half which included a continuous running clock in the fourth quarter ahead of a 75-30 win.
Linenberger finished with a game and season high 25, Wellbrock a career high 12 and Weimer added 10. Ten different players scored and twelve total played for for the Indians. The 75 points marks a season high for Hays and their 30 field goals was a season high as well.
Linenberger moved from 21st to 17th in all-time scoring during the game.
Coach Alex Hutchins
#8 Hays improves to 6-1 on the year and 2-0 in conference play. Liberal falls to 2-4 and 0-2.
The Indians are back at home on Tuesday, hosting the Great Bend Panthers.