The Tournament of Champions lid-lifter Thursday afternoon found Hutchinson High School and Hays playing to a near-offensive standstill.
Suffice to say, points were at a premium.
At the outset of the fourth quarter, with Hutchinson clinging to a 29-27 lead, the Salt Hawks were able to melt the game clock down the stretch, sank some critical free throws and held on for a 41-37 victory at the Dodge City Civic Center.
“It was an ugly basketball game,” Hutchinson head coach Nathan Henry said. “But you have to give credit to Hays. They really played us really hard defensively, and then we did the same to thing to them.
“It turned into an all-out war there, and those points at the end were huge.”
Hutchinson (5-2) advances to tonight’s semifinals at 7 against Wichita Heights (7-2). Hays (8-2) drops into today’s losers’ bracket versus Manhattan (3-5) at 2.
“I told our guys that I thought we could beat Hutch, if we didn’t let them beat us on the boards and beat us in transition,” Hays head coach Rick Keltner said. “They had 22 second-chance points and we had four ... I think that tells a lot right there.
“That stat pretty much jumped out at me.”
After starting spreading out the offense at four-minute mark, Hutch then sank 5 of 8 free throws in the final 57.8 seconds to keep the Indians out of arm’s reach.
Power forward Geneo Grissom had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, as Hutch came away knowing it should have shot at a higher percentage from the floor, making only 14 of 39 (35.9 percent).
Hays, meanwhile, wasn’t any better (15-for-42 for 35.7 percent).
“We just had to fight through and stay physical,” Grissom said. “We didn’t play our best game, and we can’t come out like that.
“We just had to have mental toughness and fight through all of the adversity.”
Salt Hawks perimeter marksman Scott Weber had 10 points, including 4 of 5 free-throw shooting in the final 30 seconds.
“He hit some big free throws late for us,” Henry said.
Hays was led by Tyler Rathke with 13 points, and point guard Dexter Pfeifer added 11 points before fouling out late.
The Indians, who ran 10 players in-and-out of the lineup, stayed in contention with their rough-and-tumble defense.
In an uptempo opening half, Hutchinson, buoyed by a trio of 3-point hits in the second quarter, went ahead 23-20 at halftime.
Hutch freshman Trevor Turner nailed a trey from the left wing during the opening seconds of the second quarter, sending the Salt Hawks on 15-9 run. After a Justin Goetz offensive rebound and spinning putback for the Salt Hawks, back-to-back 3s by Weber put Hutch ahead 19-18, a lead it took into intermission.
“They were probably some of the biggest shots of the game, even though they came in the second quarter because we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Henry said. “They were sagging a little bit in the lane, which opened up some outside opportunities.”
Hays led 9-2 during the opening 5:32 of the game before Hutchinson closed the gap to 11-8 at the end of the first period.
Pfeifer had success penetrating to the basket during the opening half, scoring seven points. Indians post player Zach Gaughan had six points during that stretch.
Grissom, Goetz and Weber each scored six first-half points for the Salt Hawks.
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The Tournament of Champions lid-lifter Thursday afternoon found Hutchinson High School and Hays playing to a near-offensive standstill.
Suffice to say, points were at a premium.
At the outset of the fourth quarter, with Hutchinson clinging to a 29-27 lead, the Salt Hawks were able to melt the game clock down the stretch, sank some critical free throws and held on for a 41-37 victory at the Dodge City Civic Center.
“It was an ugly basketball game,” Hutchinson head coach Nathan Henry said. “But you have to give credit to Hays. They really played us really hard defensively, and then we did the same to thing to them.
“It turned into an all-out war there, and those points at the end were huge.”
Hutchinson (5-2) advances to tonight’s semifinals at 7 against Wichita Heights (7-2). Hays (8-2) drops into today’s losers’ bracket versus Manhattan (3-5) at 2.
“I told our guys that I thought we could beat Hutch, if we didn’t let them beat us on the boards and beat us in transition,” Hays head coach Rick Keltner said. “They had 22 second-chance points and we had four ... I think that tells a lot right there.
“That stat pretty much jumped out at me.”
After starting spreading out the offense at four-minute mark, Hutch then sank 5 of 8 free throws in the final 57.8 seconds to keep the Indians out of arm’s reach.
Power forward Geneo Grissom had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, as Hutch came away knowing it should have shot at a higher percentage from the floor, making only 14 of 39 (35.9 percent).
Hays, meanwhile, wasn’t any better (15-for-42 for 35.7 percent).
“We just had to fight through and stay physical,” Grissom said. “We didn’t play our best game, and we can’t come out like that.
“We just had to have mental toughness and fight through all of the adversity.”
Salt Hawks perimeter marksman Scott Weber had 10 points, including 4 of 5 free-throw shooting in the final 30 seconds.
“He hit some big free throws late for us,” Henry said.
Hays was led by Tyler Rathke with 13 points, and point guard Dexter Pfeifer added 11 points before fouling out late.
The Indians, who ran 10 players in-and-out of the lineup, stayed in contention with their rough-and-tumble defense.
In an uptempo opening half, Hutchinson, buoyed by a trio of 3-point hits in the second quarter, went ahead 23-20 at halftime.
Hutch freshman Trevor Turner nailed a trey from the left wing during the opening seconds of the second quarter, sending the Salt Hawks on 15-9 run. After a Justin Goetz offensive rebound and spinning putback for the Salt Hawks, back-to-back 3s by Weber put Hutch ahead 19-18, a lead it took into intermission.
“They were probably some of the biggest shots of the game, even though they came in the second quarter because we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Henry said. “They were sagging a little bit in the lane, which opened up some outside opportunities.”
Hays led 9-2 during the opening 5:32 of the game before Hutchinson closed the gap to 11-8 at the end of the first period.
Pfeifer had success penetrating to the basket during the opening half, scoring seven points. Indians post player Zach Gaughan had six points during that stretch.
Grissom, Goetz and Weber each scored six first-half points for the Salt Hawks.
GAME NOTES — Grissom, a highly recruited NCAA Division-I player as a defensive end, de-committed to Kansas and committed to Oklahoma on Wednesday.
“Honestly, it’s the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Grissom said of de-committing at Kansas to commit at Oklahoma. “It’s tough, you know. You always want to make people happy and at the same time, you’ve got to do what’s best for you.
“I just feel that OU is the best route for me.”
67th Annual Tournament of Champions
At Dodge City
Dodge City Civic Center
Thursday
Opening round
GAME 1
Hutchinson 41, Hays 37
HUTCHINSON (5-2)
Tyler Fee 0-0 0-0 0, Deveon Dinwiddie 1-3 0-4 2, Ben Fangman 0-0 0-0 0, Ronald Boyd 0-1 1-2 1, Geneo Grissom 4-8 3-4 11, Justin Goetz 2-12 2-2 6, Deshawn Dinwiddie 3-4 0-1 6, Scott Weber 2-5 4-6 10. Ted Dower 0-1 0-0 0, Jereom Roehm 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Goodwin 1-4 0-0 2, Trevor Turner 1-1 0-0 3, Totals 14-39 10-19 41.
HAYS (8-2)
Derek Meyer 1-8 0-0 3, Seth Tophoj 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Herman 0-0 0-0 0, Bryant Bombardier 1-3 2-2 4, Dexter Pfeifer 4-9 3-5 11, Tyler Rathke 6-8 1-2 13, Travis Pfannenstiel 0-1 0-0 0, Daniel Moritz 0-5 0-1 0, Jordan Niemberger 0-3 0-0 0, Zach Gaughan 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 15-42 6-10 37.
Hutchinson 8 15 6 12 — 41
Hays 11 9 7 10 — 37
Three-point goals — Hutch 3-14 (Goetz 0-6, Weber 2-5, Turner 1-1, Dower 0-1, Boyd 0-1); Hays 1-8 (Meyer 1-5, Pfeifer 0-2, Bombardier 0-1). Total fouls — Hays 19, Hutch 14. Fouled out — Pfeifer. Rebounds — Hutch 31 (Grissom 10, Goetz 7); Hays 28 (Moritz 7, Meyer 5). Assists —Hutch 6 (De. Dinwiddie 3, Boyd 2); Hays 6 (Rathke 2). Steals — Hutch 8 (Goetz 3, Grissom 2); Hays 7 (Pfannenstiel 2). Turnovers — Hutch 16, Hays 15. Blocked shots —Hutch 5 (Goetz 3, Grissom 2); Hays (None).
