by Moses Leos III
An emphasis on defensive stops during practice last week paid dividends for the Hays Rebels Friday at Bales Gym.
Hays’ ability to limit Del Valle’s offense in critical situations, primarily a last second shot attempt at the buzzer, provided the Rebels a thrilling 67-66 win in front of a raucous and wild crowd.
“It was stressful, but it was a good team win. We played good and in the end we pulled through for a defensive stop” Hays senior guard Dustin Bruno said. “That’s what we needed, we’ve been working on it in practice. I’m glad we could pull it together.”
Obtaining defensive stops was the focus for head coach Sam Lunz, who said the Rebels “haven’t done a good job with it.” In addition, the Rebels also focused on finishing possessions and taking care of the basketball.
“We have to value possession and the basketball. The turnovers were a lot less and the defense was better,” Lunz said. “There were a lot of points scored, but we won the game.”
But Hays got off to a rocky start as Del Valle quickly leapt out to a 5-0 lead within the first 60-plus seconds of the game. The move forced Lunz to call a timeout and talk it over with his team.
“[It was] reminding them of the things we have to do so we could turn around and get a stop,” Lunz said.
The Rebels followed by outscoring Del Valle 21-7 to close the first quarter to take a 21-12 lead.
Guiding the Rebel effort was Bruno, who scored a team high 18 points in the ball game, 14 of those points in the first quarter. Helping the Rebels was the shooting of senior Charles Bohannon's 12 points, while Dawson Moreland had 11 points.
“I knew I had to come out with a hot hand…to have this confidence,” Bruno said. “I knew if I had this confidence [in shooting], (the team) would follow.”
Hays continued to hold their lead, taking advantage of possessions and claiming a 39-29 lead at halftime.
The Rebel lead ballooned to as much as 13 points at 48-35 in the third quarter before Del Valle roared right back.
Del Valle slowly chipped away at the Rebel lead by using adept shooting from the three-point line.
But the Cardinals used their size advantage over Hays in the paint to snag offensive rebounds and keep possessions going. While Hays outrebounded Del Valle 24-23, the Cardinals crashed the offensive boards to outrebound Hays 13-11.
Lunz said his team was in position, but it was a situation where the opponent "is a little taller than you." Rebel senior Hayden Hoekstra said the team worked to limit Del Valle's offense in the paint.
"It was physical," Hoekstra said. "We tried to keep them out (of the paint) and tried to push them out as far as we could."
Del Valle, led by Kareem Chever-Moore's team high 17-points, rallied back to tie the game at 60-60 midway thorugh teh fourth frame. They eventually took a 63-61 lead with under four minutes to play.
What followed was a fast and frenetic finish with both teams trading buckets and lead. The high-octane pace of play transcended to the crowd, which hung on every shot, rebound and foul call.
But a three-pointer from Matthew Rindahl, along with a Rebel free throw helped Hays take a 67-66 lead with ten seconds left.
Del Valle had one last attempt to win, but struggled ot get a shot off.
With the second half of district on the horizon, Bruno said the win was important for team momentum.
"That's the momentum we needed," Bruno said. "Coming together as a team with this win, we got the ball rolling and we're ready."
