Wichita high school basketball scores: Halstead girls rally to stay perfect
The Halstead girls basketball team has made a habit of living on the edge, and surviving it, for more than a year now.
On Tuesday night, the defending Class 3A state champions added another dramatic chapter to their undefeated season.
Down 18 points at one point and still trailing by double-digits in the fourth quarter, Halstead stormed back with a suffocating defensive surge and a last-second layup to stun rival Hesston for a 51-49 home victory. The comeback preserved the Dragons’ perfect season and pushed their record to 15-0, extending a run that now includes 40 wins in their last 41 games.
The final sequence captured everything that has defined Halstead’s run: defensive instincts, unselfish passing and poise under pressure.
With the score tied in the final seconds after a putback by Onnyka Nedich, Hesston had a chance for the go-ahead bucket but the shot missed. The Swathers rebounded to regain possession, but an attempted pass out was picked off by Halstead’s Addisen Wills, who was seemingly everywhere defensively for the Dragons, and that started a mad dash the other way with the final seconds ticking off the clock.
Wills sliced past a defender with a behind-the-back dribble and pushed the ball ahead to Jordy Schroeder sprinting ahead. Instead of forcing a contested shot, Schroeder immediately delivered a perfectly weighted touch pass to Bailey Bernal streaking alongside her for a wide-open layup at the buzzer.
“I was thinking, ‘Should I call a timeout?’” Halstead coach Derek Schutte said of the final possession after Wills’ steal. “But I decided to let them play. You just trust that they’re going to make the right play and they made two great plays.”
It was a stunning reversal from how the night began.
Hesston dominated the first half with its physicality, repeatedly scoring in the paint. Sophomore post Jacy Proctor scored 14 of her game-high 19 points before halftime, as the Swathers led by as many as 30-12 and carried a 17-point advantage into the break.
Halstead managed just four field goals in the first two quarters and looked a step slow in its fourth game in six days, following its championship run at the Haven Wildcat Classic this past weekend.
“Hesston just played really well and they’re big and they’re physical,” Schutte said. “They just took it right at us. Credit to Hesston, they came out ready to go.”
Evan when Halstead began to find traction, Hesston answered. A 3-pointer by senior Ashley Lehman early in the fourth stretched the Swathers’ lead to 44-31 and appeared to steady the visitors.
Instead, it ignited Halstead’s final push.
The Dragons cranked up the pressure and let their athletes swarm on defense. At the other end, Piper Schroeder sparked the rally with back-to-back finishes in the lane. Wills followed with a floater of her own. Jordy Schroeder added another bucket in the paint, as Hesston’s once-comfortable cushion began to shrink.
“We ramped up our pressure and were able to turn them over and not let them get to the paint as easy,” Schutte said. “It just looked like we had more juice in our legs after halftime. And it helps when Addisen Wills just does Addisen Wills things.”
Wills’ fingerprints were all over the closing stretch. She recorded a steal and free throws to cut the deficit to four. Moments later, she scored on a layup to make it a two-point game. Another steal with under a minute left created the possession that led to Nedich’s tying basket with 25 seconds remaining.
Halstead outscored Hesston 37-18 in the second half.
“We’ve got some girls who have a really high IQ and are just really skilled,” Schutte said. “That’s one of our best assets. We’ve got really good passers at multiple spots. We’ve got five girls who can make those passes, opposed to just one or two.”
Halstead had a balanced scoring attack, led by Wills with 14 points and Jordy Schroeder with 13, while Piper Schroeder and Bernal each scored nine.
Hesston (10-7) did everything right for three quarters, controlling the paint and forcing Halstead into misses. But against a veteran group that thrives in late-game chaos, even a near-perfect script wasn’t enough on Tuesday.
The comeback fits a broader pattern for the Dragons. Halstead has already survived two other one-score games this season — 32-30 over Hillsboro and 43-41 over Augusta — and notably rallied from a double-digit deficit against Silver Lake to win the 3A state title last spring. The Dragons are currently ranked No. 2 in 3A behind Silver Lake.
Halstead now turns around to host Hillsboro on Friday in a rematch of another nail-biter. If history is any guide, the Dragons won’t mind if it’s close again.
“These girls just keep playing hard and they never give up,” Schutte said. “I know they were tired, but they just kept battling the whole time. They were flying around and making plays. These kids have been in a lot of close battles before, so they have a sense of knowing what we want in those situations.”
Wichita high school basketball scores (Tuesday, Feb. 3)
City League
Boys
Bishop Carroll 60, East 43
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 60, South 33
Northwest 67, North 35
Southeast 62, West 59
Girls
East 69, Bishop Carroll 23
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 56, South 27
North 41, Northwest 35
Southeast 64, West 20
Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League
Boys
Andale 56, Nickerson 35
Andover 64, Newton 53
Andover Central 51, Goddard 42
Augusta 63, Rose Hill 56
Buhler 63, El Dorado 39
Circle 62, Clearwater 45
Collegiate 72, McPherson 53
Derby 76, Valley Center 39
Eisenhower 69, Arkansas City 55
Maize 71, Salina Central 54
Maize South 69, Hutchinson 44
Mulvane 63, Wellington 41
Salina South 50, Campus 42
Winfield 66, Labette County 62 (OT)
Girls
Andale 74, Nickerson 18
Andover 66, Newton 20
Andover Central 39, Goddard 17
Buhler 47, El Dorado 42
Clearwater 34, Circle 32 (OT)
Derby 76, Valley Center 30
Eisenhower 56, Arkansas City 27
Labette County 37, Winfield 29
Maize 64, Salina Central 57
Maize South 57, Hutchinson 27
McPherson 66, Collegiate 28
Salina South 58, Campus 43
Wellington 53, Mulvane 43
Other Wichita-area
Boys
Argonia 47, Udall 36
Berean 64, Moundridge 40
Burden-Central 66, West Elk 49
Cedar Vale-Dexter 57, Caldwell 40
Cheney 53, Garden Plain 47
Conway Springs 50, Kingman 31
Hartford 70, Douglass 51
Hesston 74, Halstead 34
Hillsboro 47, Larned 44
Inman 50, Sedgwick 29
Marion 45, Remington 38
Norwich 70, Hutchinson Central Christian 44
Pratt 67, Haven 39
Trinity 79, Belle Plaine 25
Girls
Argonia 63, Udall 26
Burden-Central 52, West Elk 28
Canton-Galva 59, Herington 24
Conway Springs 45, Kingman 10
Eureka 42, Chase County 28
Garden Plain 53, Cheney 50
Goessel 2, Centre 0 (forfeit)
Halstead 51, Hesston 49
Haven 41, Pratt 29
Hillsboro 42, Larned 40
Hoisington 45, Smoky Valley 30
Hutchinson Central Christian 43, Norwich 36
Hutchinson Trinity 36, Wichita Central Christian 34
Inman 82, Sedgwick 27
Moundridge 55, Berean 22
Remington 55, Marion 34
Sterling 51, Classical 47
Trinity 54, Belle Plaine 35
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