DODGE CITY, Kan.-The Hutchinson Salthawks boy's basketball team gave up a 3 point basketball to Newton's Ezra Entz to trail the Railers early, but that lead didn't last long as the # 1 tourney seeded Salthawks rolled to a 53 to 25 win in the opening round game of the 80th Dodge City Tournament of Champions.
The Salthawks (9-0) started the 2nd quarter with their reserves getting most of the action after building a 33 to 14 halftime lead produced by a 18-2 run midway through the quarter.
Hutch was led by sophomore Terrell King with 10 points and senior forward Wade Meyer's 7 points. Sharp shooter Garrett Robertson scored 6 points. The Salthawk bench contributed 24 points in the win. Hutch shot 54.3% for the game while holding the Railer's to a 30.3% clip.
The Newton Railers (1-9) were led by Camden Carr who had 9 points off 3 for 9 shooting from outside the arch.
Hutchinson will now face the Junction City Blue Jays who pulled away from Shawnee Mission South in the 2nd half to win 50 to 35 after only having a 18 to 17 point lead at halftime.
Junction City is 8-3 on the season and has a strong front line that score 31 of the 50 Blue Jays points on Thursday afternoon.
The Hutch vs Junction City semifinal game will tip at 2:30 pm on Friday and can be heard on KWBW (1450am/98.5fm) as well as on-line streamed at kwbwradio.com.
Other TOC games on Thursday included Derby winning over Dodge City 58-53 and Maize South using a strong 2nd half to win over Bishop Carroll 83-58.