By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
Hays residents Jeremy and Tonya Schmeidler are accustomed to splitting up for road basketball games when two of their children play on the same night.
But Wednesday was an exception – one they will never forget.
Because of this year’s new format for scheduling state high school tournaments in Kansas, the Schmeidlers were able to watch their son Ty and daughter Jenna both play at Tony’s Pizza Events Center (TPEC) in Salina on the same day.
While that might not sound all that unusual at first, consider this: The Schmeidler siblings attend different schools of different sizes in different classifications in Hays. Ty is a junior at Class 2A Thomas More Prep-Marian, while Jenna is a sophomore at 5A Hays High.
In the past, each classification had its own separate site for state tourney action. But with the new format, the Schmeidlers were delighted when they learned that TMP-Marian’s boys would be playing its 2 p.m. quarterfinal game at TPEC, with the Hays High girls to follow later that evening in the same location.
“This is the pinnacle of high school basketball,” Jeremy said. “After all those years of driving them to club ball, having both your kids playing at the state high school tournament, representing their schools – and on the same day in the same place – is awesome.”
While Ty’s Monarchs suffered a disappointing loss in their game with St. Marys, Jenna and the Indians pulled off an exciting, 49-46 victory over Wichita’s Kapaun-Mt. Carmel in the last game of the day.
That marked the first win at state in more than 30 years for the HHS girls’ program, back when Indians’ Head Coach Len Melvin was still in high school in Colby.
The victory propelled them into today’s 3:30 p.m. state semifinals at Wichita State University’s Koch Arena. Saturday’s third-place game is set for 9:30 a.m., with the championship game at 4:30 p.m.
The Indians hope to be playing in Saturday’s late afternoon game. But win or lose, Jeremy is confident there will be a strong following for the Indians in the final four.
“The support is phenomenal,” he said. “I think it’s a community thing. Everyone just wants the hometown kids to do well.”
Other family ties
Two families that do get to watch their two favorite players at the same site every game are those of Hays High seniors Kinslee Newell and Annie Humphrey. Kinslee and Annie happen to be first cousins, and both are starters for the Indians.
That makes it easy for their grandparents, Stan and Joyce Newell from Hays, to attend every home game as well as a lot of the road games.
“We watch their games on TV if we can’t get to them in person,” Joyce said. “But it’s definitely not like sitting there in person watching them play.”
Junior Morgan Armbruster’s dad never misses a game, either. Dustin Armbruster, Voice of the Indians for Eagle Radio, broadcasts all HHS games – home and away.
The Newells are planning on joining their granddaughters’ parents (Clint and Becky Newell and Mike and Sara Humphrey) and their families this weekend for a couple of days of basketball in Wichita.
Anyone unable to make the trip in person can tune into KFIX FM Radio 96.9 to listen to the Indians’ games or video stream them through Hays Post.
“It’s so exciting. This hasn’t happened in a long time,” Joyce Newell said in reference to the Indians making the final four. “I wouldn’t want to miss it.”
HHS had also qualified for state last year but fell in the quarterfinal round in a three-point heartbreaker.
Not this year. The Indians held off a late rally by Kapaun-Mt. Carmel, and when the final buzzer sounded, this time Hays High was on the winning end of a three-point score. The stands erupted, and students from both Hays schools joined the Indians on the floor.
Multiple local connections
Coincidentally, there were connections to Hays in some way or another at all five of Wednesday’s games at TPEC.
Here are just a few of those connections:
• Game 1, Centralia girls vs. Quinter.
In the crowd was Hays native Teresa (Herman) Selensky, who now lives in Gove County, and her sons attend school in Quinter. Selensky is a 1985 graduate of TMP-Marian.
• Game 2, TMP-M boys vs. St. Marys.
Loyal Hays High fans showed up early in the day to also support the Monarchs. Some stayed to watch more games throughout the day. Others left to grab a bite to eat or to do a little shopping before returning in time for the finale.
One Hays High student, Alex Loving, even sat in the crowd dressed in a TMP-M shirt, because “my best friend is number 20 (Grant Nehls).”
• Game 3, Little River girls vs. Central Plains.
Any Hays fans watching this game got to see a preview of what to expect the next few years from one of Fort Hays State University’s signees as Little River standout Arika Feldman helped the Redskins dominate rival Central Plains in a 30-point victory.
• Game 4, Rock Creek boys vs. Eudora.
The principal at Rock Creek High School is Sam Pahls, a former girls’ assistant basketball coach at TMP-M. Representing Eudora at that game were former Ellis County residents Bill DeWitt and Stu Moeckel. Pahls' wife Madison played basketball at Fort Hays State University.
DeWitt, a TMP-M graduate who served as principal at his alma mater from 2009-13, is now the principal at Eudora. Moeckel, who grew up in Victoria and later coached there, is superintendent of Eudora USD 491. His wife, Summer, is the daughter of former long-time Hays High Athletic Director Mike Karl.
• Game 5, Hays High girls vs. Kapaun-Mt. Carmel.
The Indians saved the best for last, closing out the long day with a bang.
Fans rooting for Hays High dwarfed Kapaun’s crowd. Some of the loudest were Ty Schmeidler and his TMP-M teammates, who stayed around to support his little sister.
As Jeremy Schmeidler said earlier in this article, something that bears repeating, “I think it’s a community thing. Everyone just wants the hometown kids to do well.”