FHSU pulls away for 'W'

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Sports
Ticker
I’ll take two
Brooks Brown scores on a layup
after beating Ellsworth’s Roy
Zelenka to the basket during Friday’s game in Salina.
Tanner Colvin
Special to The HDN
Tiger women roll to 15th straight
FHSU senior
Kate Lehman
slips past
Northeastern
State’s Bria
Pierce for a
basket on
Saturday,
at Gross
Memorial
Coliseum.
AUSTIN
COLBERT
HDN
By AUSTIN COLBERT
acolbert@dailynews.net
Saturday’s game against visiting
Northeastern State University had a
relaxing — if not boring — feel to it,
and that was perfectly all right for Fort
Hays State University women’s basketball coach Tony Hobson.
“It was nice not to have to come
from behind the second half. We’ve
had to do that probably half our
games since Christmas,” Hobson said.
“I think they cut it to maybe 15 but
we would come back and get it right
back it seemed like in the second half
and we were able to pull away at the
end. But it was nice. It was a lot more
comfortable for me.”
FHSU had little trouble against
NSU, rolling to a 71-41 win at Gross
Memorial Coliseum. It was the 15th
consecutive win for the Tigers, who
move to 16-1 overall and 9-0 in MIAA
play. Northeastern fell to 8-8, 4-5.
Senior Kate Lehman recorded her
11th double-double of the season (including her one triple-double) with 18
points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard
Chelsea Mason matched Lehman
with 18 points, the only other Tiger in
double figures.
Test
passed
Kansas State’s Thomas Gipson dunks against
Baylor’s Taurean Prince during the first half
Saturday in Manhattan.
lenge for eighth
straight win.
Page C3
On the
line
signs letter to
compete in
softball.
Page C6
AUSTIN COLBERT • Hays Daily News
FHSU senior Tom Gabric throws a no-look pass to Jeremy Wilson for a shot against Northeastern
State on Saturday at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
FHSU pulls away for ‘W’
By AUSTIN COLBERT
acolbert@dailynews.net
‘Game
Day’
KU was in Ames,
Iowa on Saturday
night, taking on
the Cyclones.
hdnews.net
Leopard
sweep
La Crosse girls,
boys take out
county rivals
Friday night.
Page C3
What I’m
thinking
Though it’s
going to be an
uphill battle
for the FHSU
men, there is
no clear favorite right now
in the MIAA.
At least, not
by current
records.
Nick McQueen
@HDNmcqueen
See FHSU, C6
Bo Rader • TNS
The TMP girls
survive a chal-
Hays High senior
C1
Sunday
Jan. 18, 2015
bench with a cast on his leg,
Moikobu was asked to step in
Senior guard Achoki Moikobu
and lead the Tigers on Saturjoined the Fort Hays State Uniday against Northeastern State
versity men’s basketball team last
University. In his first start at
season after a short stint at Yuba
FHSU, he was second on the
(Calif.) College. He averaged 13.2
team with 14 points, brought in
minutes per game as a junior,
nine rebounds and had six assists
never making a start. This season
to lead the Tigers to a 77-49 win
he averaged 22.6 minutes through
over NSU at Gross Memorial
Junior Craig Nicholson, two days Coliseum.
the first 16 games, but again
after breaking two bones in his
without a start.
“He played great. It’s probably
But when junior point guard
fibula, watches from the sideline. the best game I’ve ever seen him
Craig Nicholson fractured two
played point guard a lot. I haven’t play before,” Nicholson said. “It
bones in his left fibula in Thursstarted at all since I’ve been here,” was real hard for me. I’ve never
day’s game against the University Moikobu said. “Craig really sat
sat out a game ever in my whole
of Central Oklahoma, ending his me down, talked to me, gave me
life. I’ve never been this hurt beseason, Moikobu’s time as a bench some notes that he looks over be- fore. Usually when I’m hurt I just
player came to an end.
play through it, but I do whatever
fore the game. It really put some
“Even before the game I kind
I can to help the teammates out.”
confidence in me.”
of questioned myself. I haven’t
With Nicholson riding the
See TIGERS, C4
KSU rallies
for win
against Baylor
By ARNE GREEN
Special to The HDN
MANHATTAN – Whatever was missing
three weeks ago now is a distant memory.
The Kansas State Wildcats officially are on a
roll.
The latest evidence, before of a raucous Saturday afternoon crowd at Bramlage Coliseum, was
an impressive 63-61 come-from-behind victory
over No. 22-ranked Baylor.
Not only did the Wildcats run their winning
streak to four in the Big 12, they did it with a
12-point second-half comeback to push their
record to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
“We started getting everybody to come together,” said K-State coach Bruce Weber, whose
Wildcats were 7-7 and coming off three straight
losses when they began to right the ship. “Those
three losses, you either break off or you come
together, and maybe we’ve made a little bit of
strides at that.
“But it’s a long season, a lot of games to go
and we haven’t arrived yet. It was a couple of big
wins this last week but we got ourselves in a bind
so we’ve got to just keep taking them one at a
time and finding a way to win.”
A dreadful start against Baylor nearly did the
Wildcats in, but they ratcheted up their defense
over the last 10 minutes while finally finding
cracks in the Bears’ zone defense.
See KSU, C6
Garden City takes Round 1, beats Hays High boys
By AUSTIN COLBERT
acolbert@dailynews.net
perceived top two teams in the
Western Athletic Conference
Hays High School boys’
went to GCHS, which defeated
basketball coach Rick Keltner
the Indians, ranked No. 5 in
truly believes his team has made Class 4A Division I, 58-46 in
great strides since the beginthe HHS gym, played in for the
ning of the season. While most first time since having its court
nights have backed up this senti- refurbished over the holiday
ment, Friday’s game against
break.
visiting Garden City wasn’t one
Despite a season-high 23
of them.
points from senior Brady Werth
“I’m frustrated with some
and 15 more from junior guard
of the things we did late, some
Isaiah Nunnery, Hays High (7-2
of the lack of toughness we
overall, 2-1 WAC) was held to
showed on some things,” Keltits lowest scoring output since
ner said. “It’s kind of one of
losing 45-32 to Olathe North
those things we just got to work on Dec. 6 in the championship
at it and keep believing. … It’s
game of the Gerald Mitchell
not the end of the season. We’ve Hays City Shootout.
lost to Garden before in this
The Indians were plagued by
JOLIE GREEN • Hays Daily News gym and we still get a chance to
uncharacteristic turnovers and
Hays High senior Cash Hobson passes the ball to senior Bra- play them up there.”
struggled on the boards most of
dy Werth past Garden City junior Jared Koster on Friday.
Round 1 between the
the game.
“I don’t think our defense
was very good,” Keltner said.
“Then offensively when they
trapped our guards — we’ve
had trouble. I thought we had
gotten better. We’ve worked on
it. But we can’t throw a post
pass when we are being pressured. Our wings right now are
struggling to rip it through.”
Although, none of these
struggles were present in the
first quarter, when Hays High
jumped out to a 13-4 lead
behind three early baskets by
Werth and a pair of Nunnery
3-pointers.
But the second quarter took
a turn for the worse for HHS
as GCHS (7-4, 4-0) started to
dictate the game.
See HHS, C5