By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
It was a struggle at times, but Hayden's girls basketball team survived a low-scoring nail-biter to advance to Saturday's Top Gun Invitational championship game with a 32-30 win over Nemaha Central Thursday night in Wellsville.
Carly Stuke
Hayden, which improved to 7-3, will play Spring Hill for the tournament championship at 5 p.m. Saturday in Wellsville.
The Wildcats were locked in an 8-8 tie with the Thunder at the end of the first quarter before using a 12-4 second quarter to take a 20-12 halftime advantage.
Nemaha Central outscored Hayden 18-12 in the second half, but the Wildcats were able to hold on for the victory.
Senior Carly Stuke led Hayden with eight points while Lauren Sandstrom added five points. Three other Hayden players scored four points.
Spring Hill, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, advanced to the championship game with a 59-54 win over previously-unbeaten and No. 3 Lansing.
WICHITA SOUTHEAST GIRLS 45, SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 38 -- Coming off a lengthy break, Shawnee Heights showed some rust in the early going of Thursday night's opener in the Glacier's Edge Invitational at Emporia, which cost the T-Birds in a 45-38 loss to Class 6A school Wichita Southeast.
Wichita Southeast jumped out to a 16-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter and the Buffs led 26-13 at the half.
Shawnee Heights, ranked No. 9 in 5A, came to life in the second half, but it wasn't enough to pull out a win.
"Slow start after not having a game for two weeks,'' Heights coach Bob Wells said in a text. "(We) had to adjust to their speed and quickness.''
Junior Haydin Hill paced the T-Birds with 11 points while senior Abby Schulte added seven points and senior Zoe Oczko six.
Shawnee Heights will play a consolation game on Friday.
SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST BOYS 71, WASHBURN RURAL 59 -- Shawnee Mission Northwest's boys team ran its winning streak to nine games with a 71-59 non-league home victory over Washburn Rural Thursday night.
Northwest, ranked seventh in 6A, improved to 11-2 on the season while Rural fell to 5-6.
