By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
The Seaman Vikings are off to the Class 5A state tournament for the first time since they won it all back in 2021-2022, taking down Hays, 52-46.
Seaman senior KaeVon Bonner hoists the Class 5A sub-state trophy while celebrating with fans Friday night. [Photo by Vince Lovergine/TSN]
Seaman poses for a team picture after Friday's 52-46 win over Hays. [Photo by Vince Lovergine/TSN]
The last time these two programs met was that same 2022 season in the sub-state championship and the Vikings would go on to beat De Soto in the state title game.
Seaman snapped the Indians’ five game win streak and pushed their own win streak to five after Friday's victoryand ended the season with a 12-2 home record.
“It’s been a group of seniors that I respect the fact of how much they care about each other,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "Every day in practice, they have a good time but they get their work done, they’ll challenge each other but it’s always in a fun way and it’s made it so enjoyable the entire season throughout every practice and these games.
"To be where we’re at right now is just outstanding.”
“Our seniors, we’ve played since seventh grade. We’ve had six years of chemistry now so I knew we were going to shock a lot of teams and nobody was going to be ready for our senior chemistry,” said senior KaeVon Bonner, who had a team-high 15 points.
The first quarter was slow moving for both teams. Hays jumped out to a 5-1 lead but Bonner converted an and-one opportunity with 4:30 left in the quarter. Senior Matthew McConnaughy scored four straight points to put Seaman back in front, 8-5.
Each team would trade the lead or tie quite often in the first half. Hays took a 13-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Vikings opened on a mini 4-0 run to regain the lead again (14-13), but then Hays went back up three (17-14).
Cox brought in junior Conner Scholes off the bench to hopefully provide a spark and he did just that, knocking down two 3-pointers to put Seaman back up three (20-17).
“He (Conner) hasn’t had a tremendous amount of opportunities, but he still has confidence. He’s not scared of the moment, he’s going to take the shot if it's there and he’s always going to give us 100 percent effort. I’m happy he knocked down a couple of shots and got us going,” Cox said.
“My teammates were telling me to shoot the ball and I hit that first one and they’re just encouraging me to keep shooting,'' Scholes said. "My teammates were doing great passing the ball around and then sharing the rock helped me knock down those threes and bring us back.
“In practice my team counts on me to put in that work because they know I’m off the bench. I should be out there and performing and coming out here on this big stage, it was definitely a nerve racking game for sure. But when I come off the bench, I have to go out there and perform my best and show out.''
The biggest lead in the half was just four (21-17) of Seaman. Hays tied it back up again at 21 but then Bonner hit two free throws in the final seconds of the half to go back up 23-21.
“Obviously we were worried about 34 (Dawson Ruder), he’s a big-time scorer and consequently that left 10 (Trey Oakley) open and made some shots and scored a bunch of points for them early,'' Cox said. "Overall I’m so proud of our defense because they’ve got a very talented team that can put up a lot more points if you don’t play good defense.''
That roller coaster of switching scores continued into the third quarter. Seaman pushed its lead to eight (32-24), the biggest of the game for both teams, but then Hays went on a quick 8-0 run to tie it at 32-32 after Oakley hit a triple.
But when Seaman needed a shot, it got them at the right time. Cameron Brian hit three threes in the third quarter, and went on his own mini 6-0 run. He drilled a trey in the corner to end the quarter, as the Vikings took the 38-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
Brian ended with 12 points.
The fourth quarter took over four minutes for either team to score a bucket until senior Landon Wiltz hit a big three on the left wing to push Seaman ahead up nine (41-32) with 3:43 left in the game, forcing the Indians into a timeout.
The Vikings got the lead to 12 (45-33) and then the fouling carousel came into play where Seaman held on and marked win number 21 on the year.
KSHSAA rolled out a new format for the state quarterfinals this year from previous years.
Seaman’s opponent, time and site location are all TBD after the conclusion of sub-states.
“The new format makes it more difficult… but we’re going to have to play the cards that are dealt to us and get ready as quickly as we can and hopefully we can do it one more time,” Cox said.
“We got to keep working at practice. Focus on Hudl film. And, for guys who came in the game like Conner, confidence. We’re in state now so hopefully our confidence is through the roof,” Bonner said.
SEAMAN 52, HAYS 46
Hays 13 8 11 14 – 46
Seaman 10 13 15 14 – 52
Hays (19-5) – Pfeifer 1 0-0 2, Oakley 7 1-6 19, ManMoney 1 2-2 5, Fox 3 3-4 9, Ruder 3 3-4 11.
Seaman (21-4) -- Wiltz 1 0-2 3, McConnaughey 4 0-0 8, Zuniga 2 2-2 6, Brian 4 1-2 12, Scholes 2 0-0 6, Becker 0 2-4 2, Bonner 2 11-13 15.
3-point goals -- Hays 7 (Oakley 4, Ruder 2, ManMoney). Seaman 6 (Brian 3, Schloes 2, Wiltz). Total fouls -- Hays 21, Seaman 21. Fouled out -- Fox, McConnaughey. Technical fouls -- Oakley.
