Hays High hit the road for the first time in the basketball season. Their first trip was the longest trip of the season with a destination ending in Liberal.
Girls
Hays 39 - Liberal 62
Turnovers doomed Hays in the first half for Friday night's matchup. The Indians trailed 6-0 before getting a basket with 4:25 left in the quarter. Hays trailed 8-4 and had the ball but turned it over and then couldn't rebound a free throw miss that led to a Redskin three pointer for an 11-4 score.
Liberal went on a 25-8 run building a 21 point lead at 33-12. Freshman Katie Linenberger scored the last five points of the half to close the gap down to 33-17 at halftime.
Highlights
Hays cut their 23 first half turnovers down to 10 in the second half but could not draw much closer than 16. Liberal outscored Hays 29-22 in the second half for a 62-39 win.
Coach Len Melvin
Hays was led by Carly Lang's 10 points. The Indians fall to 2-3 and 0-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. Liberal improves to 4-1 and opens the conference standings at 1-0.
Hays is off until January 4th when they travel to Pratt.
Boys
#9 Hays 73 - Liberal 33
Hays trailed 2-1 in the first minute of the game. It would be the only time they trailed the entire night. Jordan Dale gave the Indians a 3-2 lead and Carson Kieffer scored 12 first quarter points to push Hays to a 22-4 lead by quarter break.
Jace Linenberger took over in the second quarter scoring 10 of his 14 points. Linenberger had a double-double by halftime with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Indians' advantage swelled to 45-12 at halftime.
Highlights
Hays led by 40 at the end of three quarter and won by the same margin 73-33. Eleven players saw the floor and ten scored.
Kieffer scored a game high 16, all in the first half. Linenberger posted 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Coach Alex Hutchins
Hays improves to 4-1 and starts WAC play at 1-0. Liberal drops to 2-3 and 0-1. The Indians are off until January 4th when they travel to Pratt.