By Dustin Armbruster
Hays Post Sports
Hays High opened Western Athletic Conference play by hosting Liberal on Tuesday evening.
Girls
#6 Hays 66 - #4-6A Liberal 34
Hays High hit their first eight field goals on their way to a 66-34 victory over Liberal.
Hays (4-0, 1-0) took a 4-0 lead over the first two minutes of the game with Liberal cut the deficit in half with a pair of free throws. The Indians rattled of the next 14 points of the game for an 18-2 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. The teams exchanged free throws in the final minute of the frame leaving Hays with a 19-4 lead.
Liberal's (3-1, 0-1) first made field goal didn't occur until the 6:20 mark of the second quarter. Prior to that three pointer Hays build their lead to 26-4. The swelled to 24 in the first before settling at 34-11 at halftime.
Highlights
Liberal outscored Hays 21-16 in the third. Hays saw their lead go from 22 down to 14 on a 11-3 run by Liberal with less than three minutes left in the quarter. The Indians responded with a 8-4 spurt to end the quarter with a 50-32 advantage.
The fourth quarter belonged to Hays. The Indians outscored Liberal 16-2 over the eight minutes. The last 2:33 with a continuous clock for the final of 66-34.
Coach Len Melvin
Hays forced 34 turnovers, the same total of points for Liberal. The Indians allowed just ten total field goals. Hays has won 20 consecutive WAC games.
Rupp 3, Schmeidler 26, Humphrey 9, LaBarge 0, Koerner 0, Cunningham 2, Armbruster 0, Turner 2, Newell 0, Buckles 12, Winter 11.
Boys
Hays 64 - Liberal 44
Hays (3-1, 1-0) outscored Liberal (0-4, 0-1) in each of the first three quarters to build a big lead and win 64-44 to open conference play.
The two teams were tied four times through the first four minutes of the game. Hays took the lead for good on an 8-0 run grab the lead for good. The Indians took an eight point lead into the second quarter when Liberal would make one more run at the lead.
The Redskins started the quarter on a 7-2 spurt that closed the gap down to 24-21. Hays responded with a 14-3 run that four different players contributed to. Leading 38-24, Hays saw Liberal hit a three pointer in the final thirty seconds for a 38-27 halftime lead.
Highlights
The Indians used an 18-5 third quarter to put the game away for good. Hays didn't allow Liberal to score on back-to-back possession for the entire quarter building their lead to 56-32 at the end of three.
Thirteen players saw time for Hays as the fourth quarter closed with a 64-44 victory for the Indians.
Coach Sean Dreiling
Dawson Ruder scored 24 points in a second consecutive game. Izaac Fox recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Hays heads to Junction City on Friday for their first road test of the season.
Pfeifer 2, Burkholder 0, Owens 0, Oakley 10, Harmoney 3, Schmidtberger 0, Fox 12, Smalley 0, Day 4, Otte 2, Ruder 24, Loving 2.