HAYSVILLE, Kan.—The Hutchinson Salthawk Boys Basketball team's run in class 6A state 2021 Tournament came to a close on Monday night as Wichita Campus proved to be too Strong for the Salthawks as the Colts out paced Hutch in the fourth quarter to win 70-61 in the opening quarterfinals played at Campus High School.
Strong, as in Senior Campus guard Stevie Strong was to Strong for Hutchinson as he paced the Colts with 26 points to lead both teams in scoring.
Campus jumped out to a quick 5-0 run but after a Hutchinson timeout, the Salthawks went up 9-5 in the first stanza. Campus finished off the first quarter with an 8-0 run to lead at the end of one, 13-9. The Colt's run continued in the second quarter and ended up being an 18-0 explosion to lead at the half by 10 36-26. Much of the Campus success was due to the fact that Hutchinson's leading scorer, Senior Myles Thompson was on the bench after picking up 3 first half fouls. Senior Trayton Peterson was also in foul trouble and sat for much of the first half.
Senior guard Jake Huhs got the Salthawks back into the game with 10 of his team high 20 points in the third quarter of play. Hutch opened the 3rd quarter strong with 6 straight baskets by Huhs to pull within four at 36-32 and within 4 minutes, the Salthawks had taken the lead over Campus 49-48. The third quarter ended with 3 Stevie Strong free throws after being fouled with 0.7 tenths of second left in the third quarter to tie the game 53-53. Hutchinson scored 27 points in the third which was a season high for points scored in a quarter for the Salthawks.
Campus took quick control of the game at the start of the fourth quarter to pull away from the Cinderella Salthawks and advance to the semi-finals with a 70-61 win.
Myles Thompson's Senior season ended midway through the fourth quarter as he fouled out and was held to 9 points. Trayton Peterson also fouled at at the 18.7 mark.
Hutchinson ends the season at 7-14, but played tough throughout March after punching their ticket to State for the first time in twelve years.
Campus moves on to the final four and awaits the seeding Tuesday of Class 6A as the tournament moves to Koch Arena on the Campus of Wichita State on Thursday.