Hays finished the regular season on the road in Great Bend. The four teams entered with a combined 55 wins and both girls teams state ranked.
Girls
#10 Hays 42, #9 Great Bend 36
Hays High never trailed in the second half as they pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 42-36 win over Great Bend to finish the WAC schedule undefeated.
Hays scored seven straight points after Great Bend went up 3-0. The Panthers then went on a 7-0 run to take the lead back at 10-7. The Indians knocked in a field goal in the final minute of the first to pull within one point at 10-9.
The game was tied at 12 and 14 in the second quarter. The Panthers were the ones to tie the game at 14 which started another 7-0 run. Hays trailed 19-14 into the final minute before half. Like they have done so many times during their winning streak Hays closed out the quarter strong. A three point play with 40 seconds left and a three pointer as the quarter expired gave the Indians a 20-19 lead.
The three pointer that closed out the second quarter gave the Indians a lead they never let go of. Neither team could score much in the third quarter. The Indians though did hold a 5-2 advantage in the eight minutes for a 25-21 lead.
Great Bend was never closer than two points in the fourth quarter. The Panthers started fouling the Indians over the final two minutes trying to get the ball back. Hays made enough free throws and defense stops to build two 11 points leads. The last at 40-29 with 1:12 left. Hays did miss their final four free throws but Great Bend made just two field goals down 10 points for the final of 42-36 in favor of Hays High.
Hays finishes the regular season at 15-5. Their first 15 win season since 2011-12. They also finish the WAC schedule at 8-0 for the first time since the same season of 2011-12. The Indians will be the 5 seed in 5A West post season.
Great Bend drops to 14-6, 5-3.
Zoe Winter and Molly Martin each scored 12. Great Bend was led by Sadie Spray at 16 points.
Boys
Great Bend 67, Hays 54
Great Bend scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed as they upend Hays 67-54 to end the regular season.
Hays scored their first field goal with 5:50 left in the first quarter to make the game 7-2. It was the closes the Indians got all night. Great Bend scored the next seven points to take a 14-2 lead. The advantage for great Bend was never under 10 points rest of the game.
The Panthers led 16-4 after one quarter. They outscored Hays 10-7 in the second quarter for a 26-11 advantage. The Indians had just four first half field goals and two made free throws.
The offense for Hays picked up in the third quarter scoring 15 points. Great Bend however kept their offense rolling by putting up 19 points of their own for a 45-26 lead.
The Great Bend lead grew to 22 on several occasions in the fourth quarter. Hays was able to go on a 12-2 run in the fourth quarter to pull within 12 points with 45 seconds remaining before losing 67-54.
Hays ends the regular season 13-7, 7-1. Great Bend is 15-5, 6-2.
Jack Weimer scored a game high 18. Trey Oakley added 13. Maddox Spray led four Panthers in double figures with 15.
Both the girls and boys will play Goddard in the first round of 5A sub-state. Hays will host both games on Wednesday with the girls beginning at 6:00.