HAYS - Hays High continued their four game home stand with a match up against Abilene on Tuesday night.
Girls: Abilene 25 - #10 Hays 41
The Hays High girls entered the game after learning they had been ranked tenth in the Class 5A rankings earlier in the day. It was the first state ranking for the girls program since January of 2018.
Hays hit their first shot of the game and three of the first four field goal attempts to take a 9-2 lead. Abilene scored just a single point over a span of 9:45, but Hays Hays pushed their advantage to just 13-3.
The Cowgirls broke their cold streak by making six of seven field goals and three of four free throws that netted a 16-4 run and a lead of 19-17. The Indians scored on an offense rebound to close the first half to tie the game at 19.
Highlights
The second half was more of the same, with Hays pulling out to a near double digit lead and Abilene reeling them back in. The Cowgirls' final push closed the game down to a 28-24 contest with Hays leading.
Carly Lang knocked down a three pointer that sent the Indians on a 13-1 run for the remainder of the game and a 41-25 victory.
Coach Len Melvin
Hays improves to 11-6. Abilene drops to 3-15. Jillyan Sheldon led the Indians with 10 points.
Boys: Abilene 46 - #3 Hays 70
Hays never trailed Abilene and never led by less than two points at 7-5 as the Indians beat the Cowboys 70-46. The defense from Hays didn't allow Abilene to score on back-to-back possessions until three minutes into the third quarter.
Hays took a two possession lead with five minutes to go in the first quarter and led 19-14 after the first eight minutes. The Indians built their first double digit lead on back-to-back three pointers to open the second quarter and led by at least 10 points for rest of the game.
Highlights
Hays led by 12 in the third quarter before a 8-0 run gave the Indians their first 20 point lead at 50-30. The Indians outscored Abilene 20-13 in the fourth quarter for the 70-46 victory.
Coach Alex Hutchins
Jace Linenberger led the Indians with 20 points and a career high 14 rebounds. Carson Kieffer added 13 while Noah Weimer and Jordan Dale each scored 12. Linenberger moved up to tenth in all-time rebounding at 413, passing Eddie Schumacher (1971), Gene McCurdy (1955) and Shane Berens (2017.)
Hays improves to 16-1. Abilene falls to 12-6.
Hays resumes Western Athletic Conference play on Friday when they host Garden City.