GODDARD, Kan.—Salthawk girl's coach Conor Riely first words on his post game radio show on Friday night was "I'm not going to give anymore pregame pep talks, I'm just going to send them out there." Of course he was referencing the slow start his Salthawk girls had again against Goddard. The game was tied 14-14 after the first quarter and Hutchinson only had a 23-21 lead at half time.
The third quarter was different however as Hutch went on a big run to start the quarter for a 37-21. The Salthawks (4-0) cruised to a 51-36 win over Goddard (1-3).
Hutchinson was let by Aliyah Green's 14 points with 11 coming in the first half when the Salthawk offense was sputtering. Hannah Ames owned the low block area with 13 points. Libby Jackson and Grace Posch chipped in 6 points apiece in the win.
Marayah Coleman and Lauryn Gordon paced Goddard with 11 points each.
The the Boy' game, Hutchinson jumped out to a huge 17-2 lead before Goddard roared back like Lions do to to pull within 10 at the half with Hutch on top 33-23 at intermission.
Goddard pulled within 1 point and a chance to tie on an "and 1" free throw by junior Jake Jasnoski but the free throw spun out and Hutchinson had a 42-42 lead. The Salthawks extended that lead and hit free throws down the stretch to win 59-50.
Goddard's Jasnoski and Nick Rogers combined for 30 of the 50 Goddard points with 15 points each to keep the Lions in the hunt.
Hutchisnon was led in scoring by Senior Wade Meyer's 14 points including 9 points in the 2nd half. Meyer hit a kep 3-point shot late in the 4th quarter to help propel Hutchinson to the win. Nic Lang followed with 12 points and Senior guard Garrett Robertson had 11 including clutch free-throw shooting hitting 5 straight late 4th quarter charity tosses when Goddard was trying to close the gap.
Hutchinson (4-0) will host Haysville-Campus on Tuesday to close out the pre-Christmas part of the schedule at home. Goddard (2-2) travels to Valley Center.