GLEN GRUNWALD
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan.—The Hutchinson Salthawk Boys Basketball team used a tight man-to-man defense from the opening tip to rattle the Topeka West Chargers, forcing numerous early turnovers on the way to an impressive 66-38 sub-state championship win at the Salthawk Activity Center (SAC) late Saturday afternoon.
It could have been like a scene out of the historic late 80's movie "Hoosiers" when Coach Norman Dale tells Buddy, “Stick with your man. Think of him as chewing gum. By the end of the game, I want you to know what flavor he is.” That is how relentless the Salthawk defense was through out the whole game.
Then, the defense fueled the offense for Hutchinson as the Salthawks hit seven treys in the first half to take a commanding 36-20 lead at the half. The Hutchinson offense never faltered in the second half. The Salthawks added 30 more points over the next two quarters.
The defensive pressure continued in the third and fourth quarters as the Salthawks kept forcing turnovers with a relentless trapping defense that frustrated the Chargers and contributed to their eighth loss of the season. Hutch forced a running clock over the final 4 minutes of the fourth quarter to seal the win, 66-38.
Hutchinson was led in scoring by Garrett Robertson with 17 points. Julian Smith was outstanding coming off the bench to score 14, including four three pointers. Terrell King had his usual solid effort with 14 points. Wade Meyer scored in double-figures for the second straight game with 11 points. Brayden Rodriquez started for the injured Nic Lange and scored four. Lange did play some limited minutes and scored two points as did Devon Spiller and Dauntay King to round out the Salthawk scoring.
Topeka West was led in scoring by Keimani Paul with 10 pts. Xavier Alexander had eight, Calab Noonoo six, Malachi Berg and Mason Jones scored four each. Malakyah Duncan, Ja'Vian Chambers and Eliha Guest had two each. Topeka West's season ends at 14-8.
The class 5A State Basketball Boys' Tournament has its first round on Thursday with first round games being played at White Auditorium in Emporia.
This will be the second trip to State for the Salthawks in the past three seasons. Hutch also qualified in 2021 in Coach Bryan Miller's first season.
Hutchinson (21-1) will have to wait until Sunday morning to see where they will be seeded, but most likely they will be the #3 seed and will draw Pittsburg. Pittsburg (17-5) edged Shawnee Heights 53-52 to win their sub-state Saturday night.
There will be a couple Cinderella teams in this years State Tournament with a 14 sub-state seed Basehor-Linwood (9-13) winning by beating the #3 seed KC-Piper in the first round. #10 seed Overland Park Blue Valley Southwest (14-8) took out the #2 seed and #7 seed to win their sub-state.
FAN INFORMATION FOR 5A TOURNAMENT IN EMPORIA
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