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THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

After six straight wins by an average of 33.2 points a game, Hayden girls basketball team dropped its first game of the season Friday night at home against undefeated Shawnee Heights.

And while the loss was disappointing for the Wildcats, it also probably was inevitable.

"When you look at the people we play on our schedule, going undefeated was never one of our goals," said Hayden coach Doug Finch, whose team will return to action tonight in a 6 o'clock Centennial League game at Class 6A power Washburn Rural. "Obviously, everybody would love to do that, but that's not very realistic and it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the girls.

"We went through that last year (17 straight wins to open the season) and we've tried to diffuse that a little bit this year. The whole concept for us this year is to make sure that we're doing things to get better each and every game."

Even though Hayden, now 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial League, dropped a 52-43 decision to Heights, Finch thought his team did a lot of good things against the T-Birds.

Hayden led 43-39 well into the fourth quarter before Shawnee Heights, second-ranked in 5A, scored the game's last 13 points to win going away. Three Hayden players fouled out, including the Wildcats' two NCAA Division I signees, Amanda Holmes and Kalee Silovsky.

"We went through some serious foul trouble and I had some young kids out there who really weren't Centennial League battle tested," Finch said. "With the foul trouble and everything that we experienced, I really had no complaints with our kids."

The schedule certainly doesn't get any easier for the Wildcats, beginning with tonight's road game against a second straight undefeated team --- Washburn Rural, ranked No. 3 in 6A. Bill Annan's Junior Blues are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Centennial League after a 45-31 win over Seaman Friday night.

After facing Rural tonight, Hayden will host Emporia on Friday, then entertain Sabetha in a Saturday makeup game.

"We're looking at an NBA-type schedule," Finch said. "We don't have a lot of time to practice physically, so we've got to do it mentally."

Tonight's game will showcase the city's top two scorers --- Washburn Rural senior Sarah White and Hayden's Silovksy. White, a Nebraska signee, is averaging 19.8 points a game, while Silovksy is averaging 19.1 points. Holmes is scoring 17.4 points a game.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:35 AM