By DUSTIN ARMBRUSTER
Hays Post Sports
SALINA - The Hays High Lady Indians advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 1995 with a 49-46 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel in the 5A state quarterfinals at the Tony's Pizza Events Center.
The biggest lead of the first half happened at halftime when Hays (24-1) took a four point advantage at 27-23. The prior 15:30 was all played with neither team leading by more than three points.
The teams traded the lead seven times in the first quarter. The Indians had the biggest first quarter lead at 10-7 on Jenna Schmeidler's first field goal. Kapaun answered back with a 7-2 run to close out the final 1:50 of the quarter and take a 14-12 lead to the second quarter.
Zoe Winter opened the second quarter with a traditional three point play to give Hays a 15-14 edge. Kapaun (19-7) went on a 6-2 spurt that gave the Crusaders their first of two three point leads. The first at 20-17 and then again at 23-20 ninety seconds later.
Kapaun's last points of the half came with 3:50 remaining before halftime. The Indians ended the half on a 7-0 run. Kinslee Newell got a layup one possession before taking a charge to give Hays the ball back with 1:35 left in the half. Schmeidler scored the final two points of the half for a 27-23 halftime advantage.
Highlights
Hays never trailed in the second half. After not hitting a single three pointer in the first half, the Indians made three in the third quarter to help build a 12 point lead. Schmeidler made the first three pointer 45 seconds in the quarter and followed that up wit a pair of free throws at 32-25.
Morgan Armbruster, Winter and Ramiyah Turner each scored a field goal on an 8-1 run that gave the Indians the first of two 12 point leads at 40-28. Kapaun held the Indians scoreless for the final three minutes of the third quarter. The Crusaders managed just five points in that stretch to close the gap down to 40-33 at the end of three quarters.
Hays once again built their lead to 12 in the first ninety seconds of the four quarter. Newell scored a second field goal for a 45-33 lead with 6:30 remaining. The Indians though went cold for the rest of the game. Through the remainder of the game Hays made just one of five field goals and turned the ball over four times.
Kapaun was able to cut the lead down to one point at 47-46 with 1:05 remaining. Hays missed a shot near the end of the shot clock but the miss was grabbed by Newell. Two fouls later Schmeidler nailed a pair of free throws with 13.5 left on the clock for a 49-46 lead.
Kapaun got a clean look at a three but missed. The rebound went out-of-bounds and with 0.2 seconds left the Crusaders could do nothing with the remaining time.
Coach Len Melvin
The victory is just the fifth state tournament win for Hays in program history. It is the first since 1995.
Hays will face Shawnee Heights in the semifinals at 3:30 on Friday. The game will played at Koch Arena on the campus of Wichita State University. The Hertz Pregame Show starts at 3:10 on 96.9 KFIX. The game will be streamed on Hays Post.
The other half of the bracket will play at 1:30 when the top seeded Andover Trojans face off with St. James Academy.
Rupp 2, Schmeidler 18, Humphrey 0, LaBarge 2, Cunningham 0, Armbruster 3, Turner 3, Newell 4, Buckles 7, Winter 10.