Holcomb’s repeat bid falls just short
The Holcomb Longhorns fall short of a state championship and lose 65-57 to Topeka-Hayden, Holcomb moves to 23-2 on the season and takes second place at the state tournament in 4a division 2.
The Longhorns would jump out to a 7-0 lead behind 4 points from Kobe Dickson with 5:45 to go in the first quarter. Then the Wildcats would go on an 8-0 run to be up 8-7 at the 4:00 minute mark in the first quarter. The Longhorns would finish the quarter on a 5-0 run and be up 13-8 at the end of the first quarter. Topeka-Hayden would go on a 5-0 run to start the second quarter to tie it up at 13-13 with 5:30 to play. Holcomb would then have an 18-15 at the 4:00 minute mark of the second quarter, when the Wildcats would go on a 7-0 run to take a 4 point lead 22-18 with 2:45 to go in the first half. Holcomb would go on a 7-3 run to make it 25-25 with 15 seconds in the first half before free throws by Zach Harvey would give Topeka-Hayden a 2 point lead at halftime 27-25. There would be 3 ties and 2 lead changes in the first four minutes of the second half and Topeka-Hayden would be up 37-33 with 4:00 minutes to go in the third quarter. They would stretch it to an 11 point lad 45-34 with 1:15 to go in the third quarter, and the Longhorns would be down by 9 points 45-36 going into the fourth quarter. Holcomb never gave up and would claw back in the game and be down by just 3 points 52-49 with 2:45 to go in the game. But Holcomb could not make enough shots down stretch and Topeka-Hayden was lights out going 16-23 from the field for 70% in the second half and the Wildcats would hang on and win 65-57.
Topeka-Hayden shot 25-44 from the field for 57%, and went 5-14 behind the arc for 36% and shot 10-17 at the foul line for 59%. Holcomb shot 21-55 from the field for 38%, and 5-17 behind the arc for just 29% but went 10-12 at the foul line for 83%. The Wildcats had 8 turnovers, 13 assists, 5 blocks and 6 steals. They also had 36 points in the paint and 15 points off of turnovers.
The Longhorns had 11 turnovers, 14 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. They also had just 24 points in the paint and just 8 second chance points. The Longhorns outrebounded the Wildcats 32-24 and 13-3 on the offensive glass. Topeka-Hayden was led by Zach Harvey with 34 points, DeShawn Hanika added 11 points and 8 rebounds. The Longhorns were led by Trey Gilbert with 14 points and 2 assists, Kobe Dickson also had 13 points and 10 rebounds for a double double, Paden Cornelson added 10 points off of 5-6 at the foul line and 10 rebounds for a double double, and off the bench Carter Blackburn had 10 points and 3 rebounds. All 10 seniors for the Longhorns played their hearts out tonight but they lose to Topeka-Hayden 65-57 and fall short of a state championship. The Longhorns finish the season at 23-2 and second in the state in 4a division 2.
