Indian seniors go out with win

By CONOR NICHOLL

Hays Daily News

The Indian cheering section provided the Hays High School boys' basketball team's four seniors with a standing ovation Tuesday night. With 9.1 seconds left and Hays High leading Dodge City by 17, head coach Rick Keltner took out his senior quartet to rousing applause.

Most of the fans in the gym and all of the Indian players on the bench were on their feet and congratulated the seniors in their last regular season home game at Hays High School. Each of the seniors hugged multiple players and senior point Jordan Juenemann gave Keltner a hug, too.

The scene capped a 53-36 victory against the Red Demons, the second time in four days HHS has beaten its Western Athletic Conference rival. The performance of the four seniors even trumped an odd first quarter that yielded a 14-minute delay because of a power outage.

"They are great kids," Keltner said. "I am happy for our seniors. They are important to the team and me personally."

Honored before the game were Juenemann, Jason Ball, Austin Dreiling and Evan Charles. Entering the night, those four had combined for 72 percent of the team's scoring and 65 percent of the total rebounds.

It was a similar situation in Tuesday's win. Helped by a strong defensive effort and balanced scoring, the victory moved Hays High to 12-7 overall and 3-4 in the WAC. Dodge City, which had four points each in the first and fourth quarter, slipped to 9-10 and 2-5.

Hays High won for the eighth straight time at home against the Red Demons and the sixth straight occasion overall.

"We really struggled getting into an offense sync tonight and you really had to credit Hays," Dodge City coach Dennis Hamilton said. "They played great defense, they really did."

Coupled with a 53-41 Indian victory on Saturday at Dodge City, the Red Demons have scored just 77 points in the two games against Hays High this year.

The 41 and 36 points allowed are the two best defensive efforts by the Indians this season and the 36 points Tuesday was the third lowest game Dodge City has had this year.

"I was pleased with our defense for the most part," Keltner said. "The effort was great on our team defense with our man-to-man and our help. We had five guys on the court who were doing what they asked them to do."

The seniors led the way.

Juenemann, the team's leading scorer this season at more than 17 points a contest, finished with a double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. It marked his second double-double in his last three games.

"I thought Jordan let the game come to him tonight," Keltner said.

Charles, who hadn't seen much playing time in recent games and entered the night averaging three points and three rebounds, started and finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

"Evan seized the day," Keltner said. "I thought Evan had a great game."

"I am surprised he doesn't play more," Hamilton added. "He is a big guy and when you have to guard him with a 6-2 kid, it makes it tough."

The performances, coupled with 16 points and six rebounds combined from Dreiling and Ball, allowed Hays High to lead all night. They also outrebounded Dodge City by 10, the third straight game the Indians have outrebounded their opponents.

"We blocked out and continued to progress in that area and I am really proud of our kids," Keltner said. "Other than the final score, rebounding is the most important stat in my opinion."

The contest, though, certainly had an odd beginning. With the Indians up 3-0, the lights went out at 8:12 p.m. when a power outage hit.

The gym went black before the lights came back on six minutes later. Both teams warmed up again and the contest restarted at 8:26 p.m. with about six minutes left in the first quarter.

Hays High led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter and was up by four entering the fourth. An 8-0 run to open the fourth put the game out of reach. Charles scored on several lobs inside and off offensive rebounds.

Juenemann had 10 points in the fourth quarter off drives to the basket, short jumpers, offensive rebounds and cuts to the basket. A Juenemann basket in the final seconds gave Hays High its final margin and helped produced the rousing sendoff.

Sports reporter Conor Nicholl can be reached at (785) 628-1081 Ext. 127 or at cnicholl@dailynews.net.

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