By Ryan Mayner
The Hays Rebels boys basketball team defeated the visiting Anderson Trojans 65-53 at Bales Gym on Friday night in a 6A Region II District 14 bout that saw Hays improve their record on the season to 7-2, 2-0 in district. Anderson fell to 6-7, 1-1. Hays currently sits in the second spot in the district behind powerful Lake Travis, heading into an away game against Austin next Friday.
Rebel head coach Sam Lunz said about his team’s performance, “We did exactly what our game plan was, and the kids outworked the other team. The effort level, the intensity was exactly what we were looking for, and all the other things just fall into place from there. So I couldn’t be more pleased just because of the effort that we put in.”
The Trojans burst out of the gate with 17 of the first 21 points in the game, with Foster Allen scoring or assisting on 13 of those quick points, including 3-3 on 3-point shooting. But Rebel’s junior Jake Krafka, a 6’5” shooting guard, responded with two three-pointers, a driving layup, and two turnovers forced on defense.
Senior point guard Nathaniel Alvarado missed his first two 3-pointers and failed to make much of an impact on the game until he made a driving layup and was fouled with 3 seconds left in the first, drawing some hopeful cheers from the home court fans. Then, as his free throw attempt bounced back out, the 5’5” Alvarado got his own rebound and put it back in with no time left on the clock, bringing Hays back to within six points and giving the team momentum that carried into the second frame.
“We kept the same game plan from the first quarter to the fourth quarter,” Lunz said. “Anderson is a good basketball team; they knocked down a bunch of shots in the first quarter, and we knew that we just needed to continue to put defensive pressure on them and make them have to go make plays, and it paid off for us in the end. “
Allen finished with 22 points for Anderson, but when he finally missed his first three-pointer early in the second, it was symbolic of the air going out of the visiting team’s game. Hays’ lead ballooned to 19 points in the fourth when Anderson made a small run to get back into it, but the Rebels hit their free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
“What they did tonight as far as effort and intensity goes is exactly what we expect to have every night,” Lunz said. “We haven’t been consistent with it all year, and that’s something that we’ve been working at. We did have one little spurt in the fourth quarter where we got a little bit comfortable and didn’t know what to do with ourselves, so if we can maintain that intensity level, then we have all the pieces and the players to go make plays and be successful.”
