By Dustin Armbruster
Hays Post Sports
Hays High hosted their second Centennial League opponent of the week on Friday evening as they welcomed Emporia to town.
Girls
#5 Hays 51 - Emporia 25
Hays used big runs in each of the first three quarters to pull away from Emporia in a 51-25 victory.
The Indians scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed in the contest. The Hays (9-1) defense allowed just one of nine shooting in the first quarter and led 10-2. The Indians had multiple first quarter shots rattle around inside the rim but pop out.
Hays shot better rest of the way. Emporia (4-6) trimmed the Indian advantage down to 12-7 with back-to-back field goals in the first two minutes of the second quarter. The Indians responded with a 14-2 run that saw five different players score, leading to a 26-9 lead at halftime.
Highlights
Emporia never got closer than fifteen points in the second half. The Indians took control of the third quarter with a 13-2 run that again saw five different players score.
Hays pushed their lead as high as 30 at 47-17 just thirty seconds into the fourth quarter to enact a continuous clock. Emporia outscored Hays 8-7 in the fourth quarter leaving Hays with a 51-25 victory.
Coach Len Melvin
Twelve players got onto the court for Hays and nine of them scored.
Rupp 2, Schmeidler 12, Humphrey 3, LaBarge 2, Koerner 0, Cunningham 0, Armbruster 8, Turner 2, Newell 4, Harrington 0, Buckles 6, Winter 12.
Boys
#8 Hays 55 - #3 Emporia 54
Hays High overcame cold fourth quarter free throw shooting to win 55-54 over the previously undefeated Emporia Spartans.
Hays and Emporia traded the lead over the first six minutes of the game. Leading 10-9, Hays saw Emporia miss three free throws over two trip to tie or take the lead with just over a minute to go in the first quarter. The Indians scored four straight points to end the first with a 14-9 lead.
Emporia again scored the first points of the quarter and make the game a one possession affair at 14-11. Hays used the next two minutes to score ten consecutive points for their first double-digit lead of the game at 24-11.
The Indians eventually pushed their advantage to a game high 15 at 29-14 with 1:10 left in the first half. Emporia scored the final five points of the second quarter to crawl within ten at halftime 29-19.
Highlights
The lead for Hays hovered around ten points for the majority of the third quarter. With 1:10 left in the third quarter Emporia started their comeback. A 15-3 run by the Spartans that took just over five minutes tied the game at 43.
The teams would be tied one more time at 45 with 2:50 remaining.
Hays took a pair of five point leads at 50-45 and 52-47 in the final two minutes. Emporia scored the game's next six points. A pair of free throws with :29.4 second remaining gave the Spartans their first lead since the score was 7-4 in the first quarter.
The Indians missed a pair of free throws to tie the game with 25.2 seconds left. Emporia managed to make just one of two free throws with 23.5 remaining. Hays was fouled just twelve seconds later. Izaac Fox made the first of two free throws with :11.4 on the clock.
The second free throw was short, but rebounded by Dawson Ruder who scored on the put back to match his career high of 27 points and give the Indians a 55-54 lead.
Emporia elected not to use one of their final two timeouts and missed a shot near the rim. Hays gathered the rebound and was fouled with just .2 second left to secure the one point victory, 55-54.
Coach Sean Dreiling
Fox and Ruder each recorded a double-double for the second consecutive game. Fox had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Ruder added 11 rebounds to his 27 points.
Hays is off until next Friday when they travel to Garden City.
Pfeifer 2, Burkholder 0, Homeier 2, Oakley 5, Harmoney 3, Schmidtberger 3, Fox 13, Smalley 0, Otte 0, Ruder 27, Loving 0.