Margaretta runs past Huron in 3rd quarter

KANSAS — Margaretta played alright the first 12 minutes Tuesday. The Polar Bears got the ball going the final four minutes of the first half. When the second half started, it was a full-on avalanche from Margaretta. The second-seeded Polar Bears scored 25 straight points during a 72-30 Division V district semifinal win over Huron at Lakota High School. "We talked about making the extra pass," Margaretta coach Steve Keller said. "We thought the back side was open. We missed a few of those in the first half. They really did a nice job and most of it came in transition. "They had five straight turnovers to start the third quarter. That creates high percentage shots for us and gets us going." Margaretta improved to 21-3 and will play sixth-seeded Bluffton (11-13) in Friday's 7 p.m. district championship game back at Lakota. "The good thing is we understand what we're in," Keller said. "We've been here before. They're coming into our site, which is another good thing for us. At the end of the day, we have to come in and compete and make it happen." The Polar Bears led just 25-19 after a score from Nixon Dike for the Tigers (10-14). From there, Margaretta took firm control. Buckets from Tyson Bailey and Judah Keller made it 29-19. Tyson Bailey scored again before a bucket and two free throws by Kale Bailey. Julian Washington then got out in transition and threw down a monster dunk. That gave Margaretta a 37-19 lead at halftime. Washington was unconscious early in the third quarter. He opened the scoring with a 3-pointer then turned a Huron turnover into a bucket. Washington then picked a steal and dunked once again. Then, he converted another Tigers turnover into a bucket. After eight points in the first half, Washington scored nine points the first 1:14 of the third quarter. "Coach tells me to be aggressive," Washington said. "That helps out our team tremendously. Stay on our guys and make sure we are playing the best we can as a team." The run didn't stop with Washington. Kale Bailey took a Huron turnover and scored before Keller made it 50-19. After Braden Hall scored for Huron, Keiygan Morris canned a 3. Kale Bailey then scored before a bucket and triple from Morris. Tyson Bailey scored twice more for a 64-21 lead. "I think coach Keller got after them a little bit at halftime and gave them a talking to," Huron coach Toby Miller said. "They came out with tremendous energy. We talked about how the start of the second half was going to be just as important as the start of the game." The Tigers were competitive early. Margaretta led 8-2 after a score from Washington, but later, a 3 from Parker Schafer cut the deficit to 15-11. The Polar Bears were up 21-12 after one quarter. Nixon Dike hit a 3 and buckets from Schafer and Dike brought Huron within 25-19. But, Margaretta scored the final 12 points of the half to start the runaway. "They're just so strong and athletic," Miller said. "You can survive it for spurts, but it just wears you down. I felt like in the third quarter like worn down." The Polar Bears were balanced throughout. Tyson Bailey led the way with 18 points. "Tyson does a nice job of being active," coach Keller said. "He has good bounce. He can score over bigger guys and plays a lot bigger than he is. He's a really, really important piece to our team." Washington added 17 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Kale Bailey and Keller (six assists) each tallied 12 points. Morris hit three 3s en route to 11 points. "Every starter that we have has scored 20 or more points in a varsity basketball game," coach Keller said. "We have two 1,000-point scorers and we have a lot of guys that a good shot might be a better shot with one extra pass. That's important. The unselfishness is really good on this team." Nixon Dike topped Huron with 12 points while Parker Schafer added 11 points and eight rebounds. Caleb Staley, Quentin Conway, Jack Raglow, Schafer and Landon Enderle are seniors for the Tigers. "We went through a lot this year. We started off 2-7 with a very front-loaded schedule," Miller said. "A lot of tough games early. Got bit with the injury bug hard this year. We had a lot of guys missing multiple games. We had every opportunity to quit with the way the season was going. "Coming into this game, we had won five of last seven games and were sectional champs. It turned out to be a very successful year for us." It was the sixth time in two years the rivals have met. Margaretta has won all six meetings. "It's not tough," Keller said. "I told the guys last week when we played Edison, three times is not a big deal to me. You have to have a few wrinkles in your back pocket, and we did. We didn't have to use them. That allows us to keep them and maybe use them in a game later on." HURON (10-14) Caleb Staley 0 0-0 0, Quentin Conway 1 0-0 3, Nixon Dike 4 2-2 12, Jack Raglow 0 0-0 0, Parker Schafer 4 2-4 11, Paul Murray 1 0-0 2, Braden Hall 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 11 4-6 30 MARGARETTA (21-3) Kale Bailey 4 3-4 12, Keiygan Morris 4 0-0 11, Julian Washington 8 0-1 17, Judah Keller 6 0-0 12, Tyson Bailey 9 0-0 18, Tyler Johnson 1 0-0 2, Ayden Miller 0 2-2 2, AJ Walters 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 31 5-7 72 Huron 12 7 6 5 — 30 Margaretta 21 16 29 6 — 72 Three-point goals: Huron 4 (Dike 2, Conway, Schafer); Margaretta 5 (Morris 3, K. Bailey, Washington)