By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
With approximately 90 seconds remaining in the final home game, Fort Hays State University men’s basketball coach Mark Johnson made one final tactical move.
With his team leading comfortably by 20 points against University of Nebraska-Kearney, the longtime Tiger coach decided to pull his starters to give players on the bench some court time.
The crowd inside Gross Memorial Coliseum rose to its feet, clapping and delivering a standing ovation.
The reason the substitutions were hard to make for the FHSU coach was because he was seeing his seniors play for the final time at GMC.
“I was really happy for them. They’ve had great careers. They’ve won,” Johnson said. “They’ve gotten the most out of themselves of any group we’ve ever had … and they’re just a tough group. They’re very coachable. They work hard, and their No. 1 priority, of all four of them, is to win. It’s not about them; it’s just about us winning, and they’re committed to winning.”
Those four seniors — Kaleb Hammeke, Traejon Davis, R.J. Crawford and Shaun Riley — were instrumental in the Tigers’ MIAA Tournament opener Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri, as well. The foursome combined for 44 points in the Tigers’ 67-61 victory over University of Central Missouri. That victory put FHSU (20-9) into Saturday’s 2:15 p.m. semifinal against either Rogers State University or Missouri Western State University.
Davis and Hammeke said Senior night was loaded with emotions for the final home game.
“It felt weird, for sure,” said Davis, who averages 7.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. “I’ve been here five years because of the COVID years, so I kind of knew what to expect a little bit. But then, coming here and being in the game, it just felt a little different. I felt like I got a little slow start just because of it. But once the game started going, I was doing better as well, and it felt good.”
“You can’t take this crowd for granted,” said Hammeke, the program’s all-time leading scorer who is averaging 16.2 points and 4.8 rebounds a contest this season. “It’s been awesome the whole time here. The fans have been amazing since I got here, and it’s been a tradition for a long time. So it’s your blessing to be able to play here and play in this arena, in front of these fans, and I’m glad we’re able to do it how we did.”
The team played one of their best games of the season on Senior Night, winning 79-57, with a 27-point contribution from Hammeke. It was a fitting stamp on his career as the leading scorer in the program’s history.
Coach Johnson was happy he was able to give the players the opportunity to receive praise from the crowd.
The four seniors led the team to a No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament, posting the best defense in the nation by allowing only 59.8 points per game. Hammeke, in addition to his offensive skills and achievements, has led the team defensively with 1.4 steals per game.
“It’s been an unbelievable career here. I’ve had so many memories,” he said. “There’s so many great fans, and just the community has been amazing to me my whole time here, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.”
Davis, who spent five years at FHSU, said his time at FHSU has been special.
“I’m blessed, thankful for Fort Hays and everything — the coaches, all the great teammates I made along the way,” Davis said. “I was lucky. I was playing basketball in high school, and then one of the coaches saw me, reached out, started building a relationship. And then once I got on campus, I kind of knew this is where I wanted to be.”