By CAYDEN SANDERS
Tiger Media Network
After a few games away from Central Kansas League action, the Hoisington Cardinals were in action on the road against Smoky Valley on Tuesday. Hoisington made the road trip worth it, earning the sweep over the Vikings.
Girls’ Game –
The Lady Cardinals never trailed in their 45-30 victory over the Vikings. Hoisington needed a victory to keep pace in the Central Kansas League race and to secure better sub-state seeding. The victory was made even more impressive considering Smoky Valley was coming off a four-game winning streak.
“We are just trying to take one game at a time, but I can’t say enough good things about these girls,” Head coach Trina Lutters said. “The body language, the confidence of this team, and the way that they want to play for each other. That can carry us to the end of the season.”
The Lady Cardinals got out to a fast start, scoring 13 unanswered points throughout the first four minutes of the opening quarter. Hoisington led 15-4 at the end of the first quarter, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Smoky Valley cut the lead down after outscoring Hoisington 8-5 in the second quarter; however, Hoisington still led 19-13 at halftime. In the second half, the Vikings got as close as 4 points before a 9-2 Lady Cardinal run to end the quarter allowed Hoisington to close out the victory.
Senior guard Tianna Lutters led the Lady Cardinals with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals, good for her second double-double of the season. Junior forward Addison Hanzlick led Hoisington in scoring with 14 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks – besting all of her season averages in those categories.
“We have had conversations that we need to take what the defense gives us,” Trina Lutters said. “We have players on the court that can take over a game. So having mentally strong girls to know who is playing well and trying to get them the ball makes us hard to defend on any given night.”
Last season, the Lady Cardinals went 6-15 and 2-8 in conference play. With 8 games left on the schedule, Hoisington could have a great turnaround story.
“That’s what I want to believe, that they are playing for each other,” Trina Lutters said. “A lot of girls from last year’s team are with us this year, and all of them are competitors. We were talking the past two weeks of how we are doing it, and turning around this program into a post-season contender.”
The Lady Cardinals finish the rest of the week with Rock Hills at 5 p.m. tonight at home, then go on the road to Ellinwood on Friday.
Boy’s Game –
The Hoisington boys faced a must-win on Tuesday, and the Cardinals got the job done in heart attack fashion, picking up a come-from-behind victory, 45-37.
“This game was eerily similar to our first matchup in December,” Head coach Kyle Haxton said. “It was low scoring and we are struggling to get buckets. I loved the discipline that my team played with, and played their role.”
Hoisington felt that Smoky Valley was a team to beat to best position themselves in the conference standings.
“We have already lost to the top two teams in this conference, and we felt that Smoky Valley could be up there if Pratt and Hesston were not as good as they are,” Haxton said. “If our goal is still to finish as high as we can in the CKL, then we need to win this one to give ourselves a chance to move into the third-place conversation near the end of the conference race.”
The Cardinals trailed by as many as 16 points midway through the second quarter. The first time Hoisington had a lead was 2:43 left in the game.
With halftime adjustments from the Cardinals, Smoky Valley scored just 12 second-half points after scoring 25 in the first half. The Vikings shot 43% from the floor in the first half, but managed just 36% shooting at the end of the game.
“I think the difference in this game was our defense in the second half and I would attribute our win to that. The boys really stepped it up in the second half,” Haxton said. “At halftime, I told them that for us to get to where we want to go, we might need to go 8-0 for the rest of our games, but I need them to be able to fight and move to 1-0 tonight.”
The Cardinals scored back-to-back 14-point quarters to finish the game, converting 7-of-19 from the floor in the second half, including going 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
Senior guard Mason Martin led all scorers with 16 points. Junior forward Drew Hekele scored a season high 9 points, despite averaging 1.6 points per game this season. Hekele was the main scorer in the first quarter to keep the Cardinals in the game.
“Drew Hekele really stepped up for us in the first, scoring the ball and playing his best half this season by far,” Haxton said.
Freshman forward Drake Gruis has played significant minutes since early December, but none were better than his minutes in the second half, as he held Smoky Valley senior Kristian Ryan to just 2 second-half points. Ryan came into the game averaging 23 points per game.
“Drake Gruis grew up tonight, playing spectacular defense and getting on the boards. I am really proud of the effort of the play he had tonight,” Haxton said.
Hoisington picked up their ninth win of the season, and their first Central Kansas League win.
The Cardinals will be back in action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Ellinwood for one of their final non-conference games of the season.
This story was written for INF 349: Convergent Media Lab, a course within the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University.