By halftime, Vista Ridge’s Nikki Cardano-Hillary had seen enough.
It took Vista Ridge nearly six minutes to score its first points of the basketball game, after missing 10 consecutive shots.
Hays, the third-seeded team in the district, took advantage of a rare offensive funk from Cardano-Hillary to take a 35-26 lead at the break.
Then Vista Ridge unleashed Cardano-Hillary in the second half. She finished with a game-high 46 points – including 40 in the final three quarters – to seal Vista Ridge’s 67-59 win Tuesday night.
“They have a player that can take over games,” said Hays coach Danny Preuss. “She did this to us the first game.”
Hays saw its double-digit lead dwindle in the third quarter, when Cardano-Hillary poured in 12 consecutive points to shave the deficit to a single point.
And while Cardano-Hillary was mounting a comeback single-handedly, Hays lost its leading scorer for the game when Gabby Bosquez picked up her fifth foul in the third quarter.
Vista Ridge finished the quarter on an assist from Cardano-Hillary to Ansley Herrin, giving the Rangers their first lead of the game.
By then, the damage was done. Hays was reeling, Bosquez was fouled out and Choon-Hee Chae was sitting at four fouls entering the final period.
Chae earned her fifth foul later in the fourth quarter on a drive from Cardano-Hillary, joining two other starters twho fouled out. Preuss said Tuesday night’s game was the first instance in which three of his starters fouled out in the same game.
“It hurts when you foul out three starters in the game,” Preuss said. “You need players like that on the floor and we hung tough.”
Before the Cardano-Hillary show began, the Rebels jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. An 0-of-5 mark on 3-pointers in the first quarter prevented Hays from increasing its lead.
“We played hard, jumped on them pretty early,” Preuss said. “We were playing well. We played them tough, played an eight-point game just like the last time. It was a good effort.”
Vista Ridge completed its regular season with 27 wins and five losses, along with a share of first place in the district. Hays enters the playoffs with a 20-13 record and a 7-5 showing in district play.
With seven wins in its last 10 games, Preuss said Hays is playing its best basketball of the season.
But Cardano-Hillary didn't really seem to mind.
"Overall an eight-point game to the 19th-ranked team in the state isn't too horrible but I thought we had a chance to win," Preuss said. "We are peaking at the right time and that's only gonna help us for the playoffs."
