Third time the charm for Swather boys
Hesston cancels Trojans
state tournament plans, 54-50
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The Trojan faithful who make their yearly reservations for the 3A boys' state tournament in Hutchinson are probably demanding a refund right about now.
The team that was heavily favored to make it out of the Lyons sub-state for a ticket to Hutchinson sadly will not be in attendance.
Since 2001, the Trojans' road to Hutchinson has always run through Hesston.
Hesston coach Ty Rhodes has never been able to defeat Hillsboro in sub-state action, be it the title game or semifinals the past three years.
Already down 2-0 in the regular season to the Trojans, the third time proved to be the charm with Hesston eliminating third-ranked Hillsboro (21-2), 54-50.
For the first time in three years, the Trojans will miss the state tournament.
Saturday's title game of the Lyons sub-state was the one time the Trojans could least afford to look flat.
It was apparent from the get-go the Trojans were a step slower than they have been against the Swathers.
They got beat to the ball, off the dribble, out-hustled, and outplayed.
"We came out flat tonight," a dumbfounded and sullen Trojan coach Darrell Knoll said. "I don't understand why things weren't going. We didn't move well, we didn't make shots, and we didn't get the ball inside until after we were well done, but Hesston played really hard."
After Kyle Kroeker scored the game's first two points barely :20 in, Hillsboro was trying to run down the Swathers.
Grady Paul's triple fueled a 10-0 run for Hesston and the Trojans were in dire straits, missing their next eight shots.
Even shots from point blank range were hard to get for the Trojans as they had a whale of a time scoring on fast breaks.
Playing his final basketball game, Dan Deckert did all he could to keep the game from coming unraveled on Hillsboro.
Poor shooting the first half didn't allow that to happen with the Swathers grabbing a 15-7 lead after the first quarter, hitting 50 percent of their shots.
Deckert scored half of his 10 first-half points in the first 4:20 of the second quarter, but the Trojans were trying to fight back from double-digit leads for much of the second frame.
The Swathers threatened t0 blow the lid off the game in the opening minutes of the second half.
Hesston took off on a 7-0 run to double Hillsboro over, 34-17, by far the largest deficit the Trojans had yet to face this season.
The Trojans appeared to get their legs back under them with under 6:00 left in the third quarter.
Sensing their ticket to Hutch slipping away, Derek Hamm ignited a 17-2 flurry that got the Trojans back into the game and cut the Swather lead to 36-34 with 2:38 left in the third quarter.
"I'm proud of the character of this team because a lesser team would have been beaten pretty badly tonight, especially when we got down by 17," Knoll said. "We just dug ourselves too deep a hole."
The stubborn Swathers never relinquished the lead or let Hillsboro tie despite numerous opportunities down the stretch for the Trojans to do so.
With :2.1 left in the season and Hillsboro down 52-50, Ryan Johnson sealed the Swather victory with a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game.
Deckert's final game led to a game-high 14 points, Kroeker added 11, while seniors Eric Weinbrenner and Hamm ended careers on nine and eight point outings, respectively.
