By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
HUTCHINSON -- For the second year in a row, the Silver Lake boys basketball team rebounded from a disappointing semifinal defeat to bring home the third-place trophy from the Class 3A state tournament.
As he has so many times in his career, senior Dayne Johnson took over the game in the third period, leading the Eagles to a 61-45 win over defending 3A champion Hesston Friday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Silver Lake boys basketball poses for a team picture after finishing third in Class 3A Friday in Hutchinson. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Silver Lake coach Shannon Kruger was proud of the way his team overcame a 57-43 loss to top-seeded Wichita Collegiate on Thursday.
“We knew we had a chance to be here and to finish in Hutch somewhere,” Kruger said. “Obviously, we wanted to be playing for the championship. We got beat by a really good Collegiate team. I thought last night we were right in there in the third quarter. They just made more plays than we did, and all credit to them.
“So, to be able to regroup less than 24 hours later, it’s a credit to the guys that we always talk about next play, one play at a time, one day at a time, and they epitomize it.”
Hesston, winners of four of the previous five 3A titles, had to put aside the devastation of a triple-overtime loss to Burlington in the semifinal round. They had to do so quickly, playing in the early afternoon on Friday after being on the court until after 10:30 p.m. the previous night.
Silver Lake jumped on the sleep-deprived Swathers early, but the Eagles’ lead quickly disappeared when they went to sleep for nearly six minutes in the second period. Silver Lake was fortunate that Hesston scored just five points during that interval.
Johnson closed the first half with highly contested bucket in the lane at the buzzer, putting Silver Lake back on top 25-24. Johnson would then score all of the Eagles’ next 12 points as they increased their lead to 37-28 over a five-minute stretch.
Silver Lake senior star Dayne Johnson hoists the Class 3A third-place trophy after Friday's win over Hesston. [Photo by Todd Fertig/TSN]
Johnson finished with 29 points, six rebounds and three assists. It was a fitting end to a brilliant career.
“He could have scored zero points and got zero rebounds, and he would still be obviously the best player statistically to ever come through Silver Lake,” Kruger said of the senior. “But for him to finish his career with an epic Dayne-type of performance, he just carried us. Everybody looks at the offense, but defensively he just does everything right.
“I don’t want to think about not having Dayne yet. I want to enjoy it one more day. Everybody knows how great of a player he is. But people that know him understand what a great kid he is. We’re just grateful he was with us for a while.”
“It’s been awesome,” Johnson reflected on his high school career. “We’re a very close team and there’s no one I would rather play for than Silver Lake. I think these will be some of the best memories of my life.
“Obviously, we wanted to get the win yesterday. Collegiate was a great team. We could have pulled it out, but we’re just proud of the year we’ve had. We had one more chance to go out with a bang, so we did that. For the first couple of hours, you beat yourself up because you just lost. But after that, I knew I had one more game with my friends.”
Johnson’s friends provided balanced output. Three Eagles – Hunter Rooks, Joel Miller and Carson Kraus – each scored six points. Camden Kruger added five. Grady Bergmann pulled down six rebounds.
“We played a great program, a great team, and we played really well,” coach Kruger said of defeating the defending champs. “So as far as today’s game goes, I’m really satisfied, really proud of the guys.”
SILVER LAKE BOYS 61, HESSTON 45
Hesston 14 10 10 11 -- 45
Silver Lake 15 10 17 19 -- 61
Hesston (25-4) – Landes 2-3 0-0 4, Larson 1-9 0-0 3, Unruh 8-15 3-4 22, Lumbreras 0-0 0-0 0, Bartell 5-10 2-2 13, Haug 0-1 1-2 1, Humphreys 0-3 0-0 0, Schrag 0-0 0-0 0, Deering 1-2 0-0 2, Bartlett 0-0 0-0 0, Roth 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 6-8 45.
Silver Lake (22-7) – Kruger 1-5 3-6 3, Johnson 10-15 6-10 29, Rooks 2-5 2-2 6, Bergmann 1-3 2-4 4, Miller 2-5 1-2 6, Womack 0-0 2-2 2, Kraus 2-5 0-0 6, Eisenbarth 0-0 0-0 0, Vanvactor 0-1 0-0 0, Renfro 1-1 0-0 3, Ray 0-0 0-0 0, Fisher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-40 16-26 61.
3-point goals – Hesston 5 (Unruh 3, Bartell, Larson), Silver Lake 7 (Johnson 3, Kraus 2, Miller, Renfro). Total fouls – Hesston 22, Silver Lake 12. Fouled out – Unruh. Technical fouls – none.
