BY CHARLES CHANEY
AUGUSTA, Kan. — Coach Ryan Petty told Brody Haskell to take over the game late in the fourth quarter as El Dorado was making a furious run to steal the game.
So, the junior who has hit a ton of big shots during his three years at Augusta did just that.
Haskell caught a pass just to the left of the Oriole logo, did a single dribble and pulled up from 30 feet and sank what felt like the dagger as it doubled the lead.
It would be the eventual game winner in the 59-51 win over rival El Dorado on Friday night.
“Coach told me to take over the game, to close it out,” Haskell said. “I said all right, just took a shot and believed myself in knocking down.”
Petty said Haskell can take whatever shot he wants.
“He knows he has the green light,” he said. “I did tell him to take the game over. He’s the most experienced player on the court for us. I said you need to make a play and take over. He did, so probably got the win.
“You know, it’s a two [wins] in one week, against tough competition, but happy we’re able to hold on.”
The win wasn’t always in such secure hands.
El Dorado and Peyton Wight provided a tough test and Wight was hitting anything and everything early on. The sophomore had 13 in the first quarter alone. The Wildcats held pace with Augusta early, going shot-for-shot with Augusta and had fought back from being down 15-5 in the first quarter.
Wight would help fuel El Dorado back in front as El Dorado would get back-to-back buckets from Zac Jacobs and a three from Charlie Beggs as El Dorado had climbed in front 25-21 with 5:04 remaining in the half.
“We just don’t communicate very well, “Petty said. “I felt when we’d communicate, we’d run it right and we’d get a high percentage look. Not going to say we score every time, but we get high percentage looks.”
“In spurts we were really good but in spurts we were really bad and they made us pay for it.”
After a timeout, Augusta came out with motivation. Haskell hit a lay up and then Haskell hit a jumper. Sophomore Brice Martin got into the action with his only bucket on a put back as Augusta had flown back in the lead within a couple of minutes. Owen Roberts had cut through the heart of the paint for lay up as they went up 29-26 with 2:28 remaining in the half.
Augusta led 34-26 at the break, ending the half on a 13-1 run that was punctuated by their defense.
They continued their momentum into the second half as Beckham Stoops returned to the line up with some veracity. He hit a 3, scored a backdoor lay up and the lead had ballooned to double digits. Roberts then had an and-one with 4:40 remaining to put them back up 42-30.
It felt everything Augusta could do in the third quarter, they got. They shot 5 of 11 in the quarter and forced five turnovers.
Then, El Dorado switched to a press on the defensive side in the fourth quarter and it worked. The Wildcats were able to force a handful of Augusta turnovers and it bothered the Oriole shot selection. This allowed the Wildcats (3-11) to creep back in the game.
First it was Abe Pena slicing through the lane for a lay up and then Will Lechtenberg canned a three. Wight scored a bucket on a euro-step through the lane, cutting it to 52-46 with 4:23 remaining.
We had ourselves a ball game.
El Dorado would cut it down to 52-49 with on a free throw from Jacobs with 2:27 remaining in the contest.
The ‘Cats would never get any closer due to Haskell’s heroics.
Stoops, who had missed the previous night’s game with an illness hit 4 of 4 free throws, with Roberts pair of free throws, to keep El Dorado at bay over the final minutes of the game.
Augusta only went 1 of 8 in the fourth quarter, with Haskell’s big 3 being the only bucket. That’s the only bucket they needed.
One of the biggest differences in the game was Augusta free throw shooting, compared to El Dorado’s. Augusta was 12 of 17, while El Dorado was only 2 of 10. Stoops was huge, going 5 of 6 in the game to secure the win for Augusta.
Stoops finished with 18 points, going 5 of 6 at the line in the fourth quarter.
“Any time he misses a free throw I’m surprised,” Petty said.
Roberts had nine, Brody Chappell had five and David Sullivan finished with four points.
For El Dorado, Wight finished with 17 points, 13 in the first half. Sam Greene had eight points in the second half, Jacobs had nine and Jase Peffly had six for the Wildcats.
El Dorado shot 43.5 percent (10 of 23) in the first half and 35.7 percent (10 of 28) in the second half. Overall, they were 41.2 percent from the field (21 of 51). They were 7 of 19 from 3-point range, as they went 5 of 10 in the first half.
Augusta shot also 41.2 percent (21 of 51). They were 14 of 32 (43.8 percent) in the first half and 6 of 19 in the second half (31.6 percent). They were 5 of 22 from 3-point range in the game (22.7 percent).
ugusta now sits tied with Circle for eighth in the Class 4A west standings. Circle, by way of tiebreaker, would host Augusta for now. The two are set to play again on Feb. 25 in Augusta.
Haskell finished with 19 points as the Orioles improved to improved to 8-6 on the season and are now tied for eighth in Class 4A west standings. They’re tied with rival Circle, who would own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
While the schedule allows for very few breaks with Buhler, McPherson, Wellington and Circle on Feb. 25 still to play, Haskell knows they can win them all and compete at the highest level.
“That’s the goal,” he said of a home playoff game. “I’ve always wanted that. I had it freshman year and the feeling was super cool.”
Augusta 59, El Dorado 51
El Dorado 18 8 13 12 — 51
Augusta 21 13 15 10 — 59
EL DORADO 51: Greene 4 0-0 – 8; Pena 1 0-0 – 2; Jacobs 4 1-2 – 9; Wight 4 (3) 0-6 – 17; Riddle 1 0-0 – 2; Peffly 0 (2) 0-0 – 6; Beggs 0 (1) 1-2 – 4; Lechtenberg 0 (1) 0-0 – 3. TOTALS: 14-32 7-19 2-10 – 51.
AUGUSTA 59: Haskell 3 (3) 1-2 – 19; Sullivan 2 0-0 – 4; Carrell 1 0-0 -2; Roberts 3 3-5 – 9; Stoops 5 (1) 5-6 – 18; Chappell 2 3-4 – 5; Martin 1 0-0 – 2. TOTALS: 16-29 5-22 12-17 – 59.
