HAYS — Most coaches talk of taking the basketball inside to set up outside scoring opportunities.
Crest High’s Lancers ran into a team that took the opposite approach in the opening round of the Kansas Class 1A, Division II State Basketball Tournament here Wednesday.
Frankfort High’s Wildcats’ outside game propelled them to a 28-10 lead in the first half.
The Wildcats then went inside to thwart a Lancer comeback in the second half.
The end result was Frankfort advanced to the state tournament semifinals with a 74-60 win over the Lancers, ending Crest’s season.
“We never got started. We knew they had kids that could shoot but never did we expect they’d hit six of eight threes by halftime,” said Travis Hermreck, Crest head coach.
“The mentality at state is if a team does that it shakes you. Our kids played hard to the end but they were frustrated. I could see it in their eyes and their body language, but kept battling.”
Of those six three-pointers the Wildcats made in the first half, five came in the first quarter.
Junior Alex Surdez was the main long-range bomber for the Wildcats. He netted four of five shots from beyond the arc in the first half and three were hit in the first eight minutes.
The Lancers found themselves down 6-0 when junior Jordan Morton hit the Lancers’ lone three of the first half. Kyle Hammond, another junior, downed two free throws to make it 9-5.
Frankfort went on an 11-4 run to finish out the first quarter and lead by 11. Surdez downed a trey at the 5:22 mark of the second period to push his team’s advantage to 28-10.
Cole Bowen, senior guard, led a six-point surge by the Lancers. Senior Jayden Bowen sank two free throws and Morton scored off a pass from Hammond on a fast break. Crest was down by 14, 34-20, at intermission.
Surdez did most of the damage in the first half, scoring 14 of his 18 points for the Wildcats.
But the Lancers weren’t ready to fold their tent and go home. They were going to “battle to the end.”
Morton delivered the message coming out of the locker room for the Lancers, hitting a three. Then Crest upped its defensive pressure, which led to a Cole Bowen steal and layup.
