By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Playing for the first time in three weeks, Washburn Rural's boys basketball team showed some understandable rust in Friday's 2025 debut against Hayden.
But Alex Hutchins' Junior Blues were sharp enough to improve to 5-1 with a 67-54 road win over the Wildcats in the Centennial League opener for both schools.
Junior Simon Rowley scored a game-high 18 points Friday night as Washburn Rural improved to 5-1 with a 67-54 win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I felt like it kind of ebbed and flowed,'' Hutchins said. "There were periods of the game where I thought we looked real good and sharp and then there were periods where it was pretty sloppy.
"The first game after being off that long and the kids haven't been at school for a week, there were a lot of factors that could have been excuses and maybe are excuses, so we're happy to get a win. But at the same time, there's things we need to clean up. We know we need to clean some things up and get better.''
Rural junior Simon Rowley, who led all scorers with 18 points, agreed with his coach.
"It was a tough win and we weren't really executing like we wanted to rebounding,'' Rowley said. "It was kind of like the Chiefs. It was ugly, but we won.''
Washburn Rural jumped out of the gate with nine straight points and built a double-digit lead at 12-2 at the 4:13 mark of the opening quarter before Hayden responded with a 9-0 run, capped by a Mason Becker 3-point play to knot the game at 12 with 2:25 left in the quarter.
But Rural built its lead back to 18-14 by the start of the second stanza and used a 13-5 second quarter to take a 31-19 cushion into the halftime break.
The Junior Blues went on to lead by 18 points on three occasions in the third quarter before Hayden (3-4) cut its deficit to 13 points (49-36) at the end of the period.
Hayden continued to rally in the fourth quarter, getting as close as eight twice, before Rural stretched its lead back to double-digits down the stretch.
Senior Amare Jones scored 15 points as Washburn Rural improved to 5-1 with a 67-54 Centennial League win over Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Kaden Ballard scored 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers in Washburn Rural's 67-54 road win at Hayden. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rowley was one of four double-figure scorers for the Junior Blues, with senior Amare Jones adding 15 points, junior John Hoytal 11 points and Kaden Ballard 10 with a pair of 3-pointers. Junior Draden Chooncharoen also hit a pair of treys off the bench for the Junior Blues, finishing with six points.
Senior James Kuta and junior Kade Mitchell scored 12 points apiece for Hayden while Becker added 10 points.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 67, HAYDEN 54
Washburn Rural 18 13 18 18 -- 67
Hayden 14 5 17 18 -- 54
Washburn Rural (5-1, 1-0) -- Jones 6-8 2-7 15, Leonard 0-2 1-2 1, Ballard 4-9 0-0 10, Rowley 8-15 1-4 18, Hoytal 4-9 3-6 11, Schwinn 2-4 0-0 4, Chooncharoen 2-4 0-2 6, Preston 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-59 7-21 67.
Hayden (3-4, 0-1) -- Kuta 6-9 0-0 12, Deister 1-3 0-0 3, Hanika 1-3 0-0 2, Mitchell 5-10 1-3 12, Becker 4-13 1-1 10, Banks 1-1 0-0 2, Heinen 0-0 0-0 0, Power 0-0 0-0 0, Compton 1-5 1-2 4, Wolff 0-0 0-0 0, Zwiesler 2-3 5-5 9, Kidd 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 8-11 54.
3-point goals -- Washburn Rural 6 (Ballard 2, Chooncharoen 2, Jones, Rowley), Hayden 4 (Deister, Mitchell, Becker, Compton). Total fouls -- Washburn Rural 18, Hayden 20. Fouled out -- Kuta. Technical foul -- none.
