By MAYAN PAZ Photos by PARKER NISBETH and RORY MOORE
Tiger Media Network
The annual youth day at Gross Memorial Coliseum hosted over 3,500 spectators to watch the Tigers play Central Christian College on Tuesday. The Tigers took full advantage of the increased support of the local Hays children and delivered a convincing 89-54 win.
#22 Kuet Gatwech on defence for FHSU 
#23 Shaun Riley going for a layup 
Shaun Riley slamming the ball for a dunk 
Shaun Riley jumping for the ball 
Tiger wins 84-59 vs. CCC Tigers 
#32 Eli Lawson shooting a free throw 
Traejon Davis shooting a contsted layup 
#2 Traejon Davis shooting a free throw 
Shaun Riley going for a layup
Lifted by the loud cheering of the fans, the Tigers opened the game strong with a quick 18-4 run in the first seven minutes of the game, creating a large gap to separate themselves from Central Christian. Kaleb Hammeke led the charge early on, connecting two quick three-pointers on his way to 14 points in the first half, giving the Tigers a 20-point lead, 50-30.
The veteran graduate student said that starting the game strong was something the coaches emphasized before the game.
“I was glad to see some shots fall early. Coach has been telling me to be aggressive, so I tried to get some shots falling,” Hammeke said. “Then the guys continued, and Aidan (McDowell) played well. Shaun (Riley) played well. Traejon Davies always plays well. I mean, it’s just a great team game. A lot of confidence-building for us.”
Central Christian started the second half with a quick five-point run to cut the lead to 15 prompting a timeout from FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson. The Tigers responded with a 12-0 run, extending the lead to 27 and ensuring the win. In the second half, the team was led by freshman guard McDowell, who scored the first five points for the Tigers out of the timeout and finished with a career-high 11 points, all scored in the second half.
“I feel pretty good, You know, my teammates told me to keep shooting after the first half and were really trying to keep me confident in the game. They got my looks, and I just had to make the shots,” McDowell said.
Johnson spoke about the team’s ability to respond to Central Christian’s run in the second half.
“I wasn’t happy with the way we came out to start the second half for the first couple minutes, but our guys did an unbelievable job to respond. I think they cut it to 15, and we just immediately went back and took it up to 27, so that’s what you want to see your team, at that moment, come out of a time out and respond as they did,” he said.
He also recognized McDowell and the importance of his performance for the team.
“It was nice to be able to get him into a game like this. You’re only going to really gain confidence playing more games right now. We haven’t had enough games, and we do a lot of practice,” Johnson said. “It was nice for them to be able to get out there and hit some shots and shoot the ball. Well, just gain some confidence in themselves.”
For Hammeke, beating Central Christian and playing tune up games only helps before the rigors of MIAA play begin.
“We’re moving in the right direction. We’re just gonna keep building confidence, keep knocking in our shots, and get ready for next week,” he said.
FHSU men’s basketball added dunks, three-pointers, and plenty of other plays to the season highlight reel in Saturday’s win over Manhattan Christian College. With a final result of 95-62, the game was not competitive, especially in the second half, but was still highly entertaining for the 1,425 fans that were in attendance.
L. Hammeke sprints past Jaxon Hurla with a live ball. 
Guard Traejon Davis shoots a layup. 
Kyle Grill attempts to recover a live ball after missing a shot. 
K. Hammeke was the lead scorer for the Tigers with 18 points in 35 minutes played. 
Davis snags a loose ball from Manhattan Christian while Hammeke assists. 
L. Hammeke jumps past a blockade of Manhattan Christian defenders to shoot. 
Muhamed Kante collides with Landon Gray while struggling to control the ball. 
Davis spins past an opposing defender. 
Forward Dan Mukuna shoots while sandwiched between a pair of defenders. 
Guard Aidan McDowell slides between Thunder defense. 
McDowell goes for a basket while facing tough blocking from the Thunder. 
Guard Kaleb Hammeke leaps over Manhattan Christian defense for a layup.
Right from the start, the Tigers exhibited a strong defense and stopped MCC from getting a field goal for seven minutes. Rokey Davies broke the streak with a lay-up, but by the time he scored it, the Tigers were already up 14-5. The FHSU lead stayed around 10 points throughout most of the first half, although MCC did manage to cut it down to five with five minutes left to play in the half. The Tigers took a timeout and immediately responded with a Kaleb Hammeke 3-pointer to extend the lead, which eventually stood at 46-35 going to the locker rooms.
FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson responded to the first-half performance.
“The first 10 minutes of the first half and then the second two were completely opposite. I thought we guarded really well in the first 10 minutes of the game, and we just struggled to score,” he said. “We didn’t shoot the ball very well. And then, in the next 10 minutes, we really started scoring, but we didn’t get very many stops anymore. So that’s why the lead was only 11 at halftime.”
The Tigers emerged from the locker room with new spirits and quickly went on a 10-3 run to start the second half – a run that MCC could not overcome. Despite the large deficit, the game continued to be entertaining and was a good opportunity for a number of FHSU players to come off the bench and play some significant minutes. This was also enabled by the absence of team star Shaun Riley, who got hurt in the previous game, and it’s still unclear when he will return, although there is optimism that he will be able to play against Central Missouri on Thursday.
Dan Mukuna, a sophomore out of Dortmund, Germany, capitalized on the opportunity and scored a career-high 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Lucas Hammeke also had a career-high in points and assists, scoring nine and dishing six. He was also a part of the highlight of the evening, stealing the ball at half-court and lobbing it up for his older brother Kaleb, who finished with a slam.
“Growing up, we always lowered the goal in our backyard, and we threw each other lobs so we could dunk before we were able to dunk on a regular size basket,” Lucas said. “So, to be able to pull it off in the game, during a fast break like that. That was pretty sweet.”
Kaleb himself had a terrific night, scoring 18 points and moving up in the all-time FHSU scoring list. He is now number three and is two points away from number two. He is also one steal away from becoming number five on the steals all-time list and he is currently number four in the FHSU all-time assist list.
Kaleb himself was more concerned about how the team was doing and said he wasn’t very aware of the history he was making.
“It’s great to be a part of the history here, but at the end of the day, I just try to get a win for us, and that’s what really matters, just winning every day and trying to get a championship for the team,” he said.
The Tigers won three consecutive games and have a record of 3-2 just before they move on and start to play the conference games this week. Johnson knows that now it’s a new level of competition.
“Now it’s conference play. It’s a whole different level of competition. And the big thing for the MIAA is that it’s just a whole different level of physicality. And so some of our new guys are going to have to really make that adjustment,” he said.
The Tigers will host Central Missouri on Thursday and will stay at home to play Washburn on Saturday.