By Moses Leos III

When the Austin High Maroons made their final push for a comeback Friday, the Hays Rebels pushed right back.

A furious Austin High rally late in the fourth quarter was thwarted by Hays, which outlasted the district leading Maroons en route to a 65-62 win at Bales Gym.

Hays was led by junior guard Charles Bohannon’s 23-point effort, while senior Dustin Bruno contributed 15 points.

Bohannon said maintaining intensity was the key to pulling off the upset.

“It felt good (to win). They were hot coming in,” Bohannon said. “We forced some pressure, played hard and got the win. Hopefully we can carry it on … [into] next week.”

Hays worked to corral Austin High’s guard play and its prolific offense led by guard S. Gary. Rebel head coach Sam Lunz employed a 2-3 zone to counter many of the Maroons’ ball screens for their guards.

Helping the Rebels in this cause was the return of senior Jake Krafka, who was out for the past month due to injury.

“We just talked about using the zone to throw them out of (their offense) and to do something different,” Lunz said. He added that the team’s overall length also contributed to some issues for Austin.

Krafka said the Rebels’ defense was switching on the ball screens to keep up. The tactic forced Austin to shoot from the perimeter, which led to long rebounds for the Rebels. But for Bohannon, keeping up the intensity played the biggest role in limiting Austin’s offense.

“We felt like the whole game, they couldn’t match our intensity,” Bohannon said. “We felt that if we kept the pressure up, we could keep them from scoring.”

But on offense, the Rebels struggled in the early going to consistently hit shots.

Hays led Austin 13-10 after a quarter of play. The Rebel lead grew to 17-12 in the second frame before Austin stormed back.

The Maroons went on a 9-1 run to take a 21-19 lead over Hays with roughly four minutes left in the first half. The run was capped off by a three-pointer from Gary. Austin held a 30-26 lead at intermission.

Bohannon and the Rebel offense responded right out of the gate in the third quarter.

Austin’s lead expanded to 36-30 in the third quarter. Hays then orchestrated a 12-4 run which put them back in the lead at 42-40 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Bohannon led the charge by scoring eight points; Hays outscored Austin 16-8 in the third.

He said controlling the tempo and taking a smarter approach to shot selection helped.

According to Krafka, winning the third quarter has been a priority for Hays this season.

“It’s always our biggest quarter. We always want to win the third quarter. That’s our main goal,” Krafka said. “If you beat a team in the third quarter, it’s going to be hard for them to come back.”

Austin High, however, didn’t get the memo as they stormed their way back into contention in the fourth quarter.

The Maroons began to chip away when the Rebels led 56-45 in the third frame. A 15-4 run pulled Austin to within a point at 60-59. Aiding the run were several Rebel turnovers. It was capped off by a four-point play from Gary, who was fouled on a three-point shot.

But the Rebels then turned to the foul line to stave off Austin high. The Rebels hit four of their final six free throws to earn the win. Hays finished the game by going 26 of 31 at the line.

For Lunz, continuing to develop a rather young team will be a task moving forward.

“I have confidence in those guys,” Lunz said. “They still make me nervous, but I have confidence they are going to do what we need them to.”