EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Hays jumped out to a 7-0 start against the Liberal Redskins, and Liberal never recovered in a 70-34 loss Tuesday in The Big House.
Freshman Eathan Hernandez was the first to score for the Redskins, and Xavier Tafoya had a strong move to the basket to cut the lead to 7-4, but turnover after turnover led to fast breaks for the Indians, and by the end of the first quarter Liberal trailed 19-8.
Hays continued to add to the lead and jumped ahead 29-12 with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Redskins traded with baskets with the Indians the rest of the period, and by halftime the Redskins trailed 36-20.
Hays opened the second half on a 6-0 run before Liberal responded with five straight points to cut the lead to 42-25, but a Hays three sparked another run, and the Indians outscored the Redskins 18-2 the rest of the third quarter to take a 60-27 lead.
The running clock was initiated for the fourth quarter, and both teams made massive substitutions. Hays coasted to the 70-34 win.
Tafoya led the Redskins with 13 points who continued to play without James Fieser who was still held out of the line-up with a medical condition.
Dawson Ruder led Hays with 17.
“We did a good job attacking Ruder when we needed to,” Liberal coach Brandt Rogers said. “We needed to do it a lot more just to see the way he would play. He is going to be in contention for WAC player of the Year. Tafoya had the best game in his career against a guy who is going to be up there. Kudos to him for that.”
But Liberal needs more players to perform, according to Rogers.
“We need more than just Tafoya stepping up,” he said. “We need leadership and everyone else to pull together like we did against Rye.”
Liberal travels to Woodward, Okla., for a pair of weekend games.
