A frenetic second half comeback spurred by junior guard Gabby Bosquez helped the Hays Rebels surge past the Akins Eagles in a tight 59-52 win Tuesday at Bales Gym.
Bosquez led the way by scoring 11 of her team high 24 points in the final 16 minutes of the game. Bosquez’s play, along with key buckets from junior Jada Finister and senior Meagan Andrews, helped the Rebels outscore Akins 31-16 in the final two quarters to secure the win.
“(Bosquez) is a scoring machine and we need that,” Rebel head coach Danny Preuss said.
Both teams were even at the start of the game as they tied 15-15 after the first quarter.
But Hays struggled to contain Akins guard Denae Lofton, who scored ten of her game-high 26 points in the second frame.
Hays’ offense, however, struggled to find its rhythm. Preuss said the Rebels missed a lot of free thorws and “little shots” in the first half. The Rebels went 5 of 12 from the free throw line in the first 16 minutes.
“They weren’t bad shots, but we just missed them,” Preuss said.
Hays was also its own worst enemy at times as turnovers quickly turned into transition buckets for Akins.
The Eagles grabbed a 24-19 lead before the Rebels rallied for a 4-0 run. But the Eagles, which clung to a 24-23 lead, closed the first half by outscoring Hays 7-5 to take a 36-28 halftime lead.
Akins hit the ground running at the start of the second half as they leapt out to a commanding 41-30 lead.
The Rebels, however, stormed back with a vengeance by orchestrating a 12-2 run in the final five plus minutes of the third period. Akins lead was cut to 43-42 heading into the third quarter.
Preuss said pushing the ball down the floor wore Akins down in the second half, which allowed the Rebels to find success. Hays also utilized its height and speed to generate turnovers and transition buckets.
Bosquez helped clamp down on Lofton, forcing the Eagles to find another source of offense, Preuss said.
“When you keep it out of her hand, they’re not that good of a team,” Preuss said. “I thought making the others handle the ball was good for us. Gabby did an excellent job sotpping her.”
Hays kept momentum rolling into the fourth quarter as Bosquez, Finister and Andrews pushed the Rebels over the edge and into the lead. Finister scored seven points in the fourth quarter while Andrews had six.
Back-to-back buckets by Andrews with roughly six minutes left in the game gave Hays a 48-45 lead. Hays followed with an 11-7 run to close the game.
Preuss said the win was a “full team effort” and that everyone “got a good play in.”
However, he believed Hays could get the ball to Finister as Akins couldn’t matchup with her size.
“I told her before the game, she needs to do that every night. I tell you, ‘as you go, we go,’” Preuss said. “I can have the best guards in the world. If she can play the way she can, there’s no one that can stop us.”
