Senior Kale Hammerschmidt goes through three Hugoton defenders on the way to the bucket to finish with the left hand. Hammerschmidt finished Friday’s game with six points. Photo by Dylan Funk." />
Senior Kale Hammerschmidt goes through three Hugoton defenders on the way to the bucket to finish with the left hand. Hammerschmidt finished Friday’s game with six points. Photo by Dylan Funk.
The Cardinals knew going into the semifinal round of the state tournament that they had to limit the firepower of No. 1 seed Hugoton.
This idea was easier said than done, however, as the Cardinals couldn’t find an answer against the 3-point shooting of their opponent. Hugoton hit nine 3-pointers Friday night in their 55-35 win over the Cardinals.
“One of our main goals was to limit threes,” senior Kale Hammerschmidt said. “But like I said, they’re good players. Four and five are some of the best [players] in the state, and they just made some tough shots.”
Hammerschmidt was referring to Hugoton’s seniors Ryle Riddlesperger and Carson Bennett who, respectively, wear numbers four and five. The two players combined for seven of Hugoton’s nine shots from behind the arc.
Senior Conor Dunback was at a loss for words when it came to Hugoton’s 3-point shooting.
“They weren’t all at the 3-point line,” Dunback said. “Most of them were pretty deep. I don’t know what else to say.”
Despite the bombardment of 3-pointers given up, head coach Kyle Deterding said he was proud of the team’s defensive effort.
“It’s hard to guard. If you watch those guys, good offensive players can beat good defense if they’re making them,” Deterding said. “They made a couple easier ones, but they made a couple that I don’t think our defense could have been any better.”
Hugoton scored 80 points in their first round matchup against Clay Center Community High School, but the Cardinals held them to 55.
“If you would have told me that they were going to score 50 points, I probably would have been pretty happy,” Hammerschmidt said.
The Cardinals dug themselves a hole early in the game as Hugoton started the game on a 7-0 run.
The team only scored four points in the first quarter and were down 11 by the end of the period.
Hugoton went on another run to begin the second quarter as they scored 9 points in a two-minute span before the Cardinals hit another basket.
Deterding said there wasn’t enough movement on offense by the Cardinals, which led to the offensive struggles.
“We dribbled too much,” Deterding said. “We didn’t make them guard movement near enough until the second half.”
The Cardinals were down 26-13 at halftime. Junior Logan Sullivan led in scoring at the break with seven points.
The team started to turn it around on offense after coming out of the locker room as Dunback kept finding space under the rim.
“I was just moving a lot,” Dunback said. “My teammates were finding me, so props to them for having their heads up and finding me.”
Dunback had a double-double on the night with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals started to gain momentum and cut Hugoton’s lead to single digits, but a questionable charge call on Dunback really hindered the team’s chance at a run.
Frustration started to mount for the Cardinals, and the team just couldn’t find a spark to come back in the game.
Deterding said he told the team that it is OK to be disappointed after a tough loss at the state tournament.
“I mean, it hurts. It hurts me. I love those guys in there,” he said. “They work really hard. They do things the right way. They’re going to be very successful 15 years down the line. So I’m very, very proud of that. That senior group especially leading this team. So it’s OK to be disappointed. If you’re not disappointed, you probably didn’t care enough.”
With the loss Friday, the Cardinals will play in the third-place game today against No. 6 seed Bishop Miege. Bishop Miege lost to McPherson 60-54 Friday night.
Dunback said the third-place game will be important because the team wants to end the season on a good note for Deterding.
Hammerschmidt said he is looking forward to playing one last game with his fellow seniors and teammates.
“Just another opportunity to play with my brothers and my family,” he said.
The Cardinals play Bishop Miege at noon today.
Hugoton moves on to play McPherson at 4 p.m. today for the state championship.
Here is the updated 4A state bracket.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].
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