By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Hayden girls basketball coach Carvel Reynoldson has seen his team play a lot better than the Wildcats did Friday in their 2025 debut.
But thanks to a huge first half from senior Norma Greco and double-figure performances from all four players who cracked the scoring column, the third-ranked (Class 4A) Wildcats played plenty well enough to take a 60-47 non-league win over Shawnee Heights at Hayden.
Senior Norma Greco led Hayden with a game-high 17 points in Friday's 60-47 home win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We practiced really well over break and moved the ball really well and were strong with it,'' Reynoldson said. "So I don't know if the emotion of being in front of our home crowd for the first real tough game got the best of us or what, but it was definitely sloppy.''
Hayden, which improved to 6-0, trailed a couple of times early but the Wildcats took an 11-10 lead at the 2:54 mark of the opening quarter on a hoop from senior Brylee Meier and never trailed again.
The Wildcats led 19-14 at the end of the quarter and led by as many as 13 points in the second stanza before taking a 38-27 advantage to the locker room at the half.
Greco was the catalyst for the Wildcats, scoring 15 points in the half with four 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 17-point game.
"Norma had been struggling scoring,'' Reynoldson said. "She had been doing a lot of other things really well, but it was good to see her break through.''
After the Wildcats pushed their lead to 47-29 with 3:12 left in the third quarter on a Meier 3-pointer, the 3-2 T-Birds ended the quarter with six straight point to cut their deficit to 47-35.
Shawnee Heights got within 10 points twice in the fourth, but was never able to get within single digits.
Hayden senior Brylee Meier (left) scored 15 points while Shawnee Heights junior Reianna Vega had 14 points in Friday's 60-47 Hayden win over the T-Birds. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Millie Ramsey had 15 points and 11 rebounds in Hayden's 60-47 win over Shawnee Heights. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Meier and senior Millie Ramsey added 15 points apiece for Hayden, with Ramsey also grabbing 11 rebounds, while freshman Hailey Schmidtlein scored 13 points, including a seven of eight performance at the free throw line.
"That's what we've been talking about a little bit is it doesn't matter if I score, but it's about if we score and the balance is really important,'' Reynoldson said. "
Junior Reianna Vega led Shawnee Heights with 14 points while sophomore KK Emmot had 11 points and senior Kaydence Torrez 10 points. Senior Haley Bowers narrowly missed double figures for the T-Birds, finishing with nine points off the bench.
Hayden will open Centennial League play at Emporia on Tuesday while Shawnee Heights will play a United Kansas Conference game Tuesday night at De Soto.
HAYDEN GIRLS 60, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 47
Shawnee Heights 14 13 8 12 -- 47
Hayden 19 19 9 13 -- 60
Shawnee Heights (3-2) -- Emmot 2-12 5-6 11, Brees 0-2 0-0 0, Euwer 1-5 0-0 2, Torrez 5-8 0-0 10, Vega 6-12 1-3 14, Hamilton 0-0 1-2 1, Bowers 3-7 2-2 9. Totals 17-46 9-13 47.
Hayden (6-0) -- Schmidtlein 3-9 7-8 13, Ramsey 7-7 1-2 15, Reid 0-2 0-0 0, Meier 5-6 2-2 15, Greco 5-11 3-4 17, Walter 0-0 0-0 0, Foster 0-0 0-2 0, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Borjon 0-0 0-0 0, Watts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-35 13-18 60.
3-point goals -- Shawnee Heights 4 (Emmot 2, Bowers, Vega), Hayden 7 (Greco 4, Meier 3). Total fouls -- Shawnee Heights 14, Hayden 16. Fouled out -- Greco. Technical foul -- none.
