Hayden Heartache Again
Wildcats complete EHS sweep with one point win
By Jeremy Shapiro
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Once again the outcome of the Emporia and Topeka Hayden came down to the last possible second and once again it was the Wildcats that emerged celebrating — this time without the controversy.
Garin Vandiver missed a potential game-winning shot from underneath the basket with two seconds left. Collin Strobel grabbed the rebound and Hayden walked off with a 54-53 win.
In a game that was close from tip to buzzer, Strobel scored inside with 22 seconds left to put Hayden up by one point. EHS called timeout with 17 seconds left to set up the last play. The Wildcats denied Jackson Perez the ball for eight of those seconds. When he finally got the ball it was a long way from the basket so EHS coach Beau Welch called the Spartans last timeout with 6.2 seconds left.
This time Perez easily got the ball. He began to drive and then lofted a pass to Vandiver. He caught the ball too far under the basket so he had to come out a tad to take the shot. The miss ended a frustrating 2 for 12 night for Vandiver.
“We ran a three stack high looking for Garin on the post,” Welch said. “We thought with our three guys high, we could get it to Jackson, who could penetrate. With the three guys being high, they could float with Jackson and we could get a penetrate kick, penetrate shot or penetrate dump to Garin. To be honest, Jackson’s pass was pretty good. The kid from Hayden did a good job with the ball in the air of getting Garin under the basket.”
Ironically it was a Vandiver shot that didn’t count that ended a 56-54 Hayden win over Emporia in Topeka Jan. 6. Vandiver’s made a putback that could have tied the game but it was waived off by the referees as they ruled it occurred after the final buzzer.
Welch said just like the first game, Hayden was extremely physical.
“We didn’t do a good job finishing down low,” he said. “It was exactly like the first game with them. In the second half because we had to go away from pounding the ball inside, we didn’t get to the free throw line like we wanted to. We relied more on dribble penetration and put a heavy burden on Jackson in the second half.”
The loss cripples the Spartans chances to win the league and gives the team consecutive losses for the first time this season. EHS is now 9-4, 3-3 in the Centennial League. Hayden improved to 10-3, 5-1.
Hayden jumped out in front 6-0 on two early scores from Strobel and one from Matt Hutchinson. Emporia missed its first seven shots from the field and didn’t get on the board until 3:54 to go in the first quarter on an Austin Knight layup.
Perez and Jerel Morrow did not start, but they provided instant offense when they entered the game at the 3:32 mark. They scored the next 20 points for the Spartans. No one else scored until the third quarter.
All of Morrow’s scores came on fast breaks. Perez meanwhile got to the line eight times in the first half, knocking down seven of them.
“We were good enough to win offensively,” Welch said. “We didn’t win because we didn’t get stops defensively. We continue to break down in crucial moments.”
The second quarter featured three ties and seven lead changes. Thanks to solid defense neither team was to get into a flow offensively. EHS led 22-19 at half.
Hayden scored seven straight to start the third quarter, but EHS was able to tie it back up at 29 on a Perez layup. Neither team could build more than a four point lead the rest of the way.
With the game tied at 47, Andy Otting scored inside and was fouled by Perez with 2:23 left. The referee called it an intentional foul so the shot counted, Otting got two free throws and the Wildcats got the ball for a potential six or seven point possession.
Otting hit one of two and Hayden didn’t convert so the lead was only 50-47. Knight made two free throws on the other end and then Morrow made two from the line to give Emporia the lead with 1:41 left.
Strobel rebounded a Hutchinson miss and was fouled. His two free throws made it 52-51 Hayden. Emporia got the ball inside to Ryan Huth, who passed it to an open J.L. Savage. His 3 attempt missed, but the ball went out of bounds off Hayden. Vandiver got the ball inside and scored to give Emporia a 53-52 lead with 41 seconds left.
The Wildcats called a timeout and patiently waited for a chance to feed it in down low. Strobel caught it and went up for what turned out to be the game winner.
“They made us guard for extended periods of times,” Welch said. “We talk about this all time. When teams do that, we break down. We don’t rotate to help. We don’t box out.”
Strobel led Hayden with 14 points and six rebounds. Perez had 22 to top Emporia. Morrow added 14 points on five of six shooting.
EHS will host Washburn Rural at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Tuesday at Emporia High School
Hayden 8 11 15 20 — 54
Emporia 6 16 16 15 — 53
HAY: Strobel 14, Otting 13, Hutchinson 12, Triggs 9, Glennon 6.
EMP: Perez 22, Morrow 14, Vandiver 6, Knight 6, Savage 5.