BY CORA TASSET
Tiger basketball was back in Hays against the Newman Jets on Thursday. The Tigers won against the Jets 68-50; they are now 12-2.
Senior Forward Whitney Randall led with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and one steal. She also shot 75% from the free-throw line going 6-8.
“I feel like coach really emphasized defense during halftime, and we realized we needed to focus and not allow them to have so many open shots,” said Randall. “I think bringing Jaden in the past couple years really helps us move the ball around, she is really good at feeding us the ball.”
Other leaders were Cydney Bergmann with 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Jaden Hobbs added six points, six assists, two steals, and two rebounds.
After the first quarter, Newman kept it close as Fort Hays led 18-11. By halftime; however, the Tigers pushed their lead to double-digits 39-29.
Randall had 12 points and four rebounds at intermission while Cydney Bergmann added all 11 of her points in the first half and five rebounds.
“Whitney played well, she hit a couple three’s and she was pretty good at the line,” said Coach Tony Hobson. “She’s a good three-point shooter and she really concentrated tonight and got on top of the rebounds.”
Randall is one of the top players for Tiger Basketball with game averages of 15.6 points and 4.9 rebounds. Bergmann adds 8.5 points and 5.9 rebounds. Hobbs leads the Tigers in points with a 16.2 average and adds a 2.9 rebound average.
At the end of the third quarter, FHSU led the Jets 54-38. Fort Hays beat the Newman Jets 68-50.
“We are just trying to get back on track and focus; if we want to host the conference tournament we just need the mindset to win every game we have,” Randall said. “We can’t take any game lightly because everyone is going to be coming after us, so they can move closer to the top.”
The Tigers will be playing Central Oklahoma (9-4) on Saturday, February 6th at 4 p.m.
“Central Oklahoma is very capable and they have a lot of talent,” Hobson said. “They will be ready to roll on Saturday, they can’t afford anymore losses in conference so they will give us their best effort and hopefully they get ours.”