By STEVEN SCHWARTZ
steven@iolaregister.com
HAYS — The gym went silent as Brock Ellis hit the court, writhing in pain from an apparent knee injury. It was the beginning of a chain of events that would ultimately lead to an emotional loss for the Crest Lancers.
The Lancers lost their Class 1A, Division (I state tournament opener to the Sharon Springs Wildcats Thursday, 72-62, after a hard-fought, controversial and emotional four quarters.
“We didn’t catch a single break today, in shots, calls or otherwise,” head coach Travis Hermreck said.
With four minutes left in the first half, Ellis made a pass and collapsed to the floor. He held his knee on the ground for several minutes, limping off of the court with the help of trainers. By that point, the Wildcats were in the double bonus and the Lancers’ leading scorer, Kyle Hammond, already had four fouls.
Despite the rough first half, the Lancers held close to a 41-34 deficit at intermission.
Sharon Springs’ Eli Kuhlman hit first to open the second half, but Jordan Morton quickly responded with a 3-pointer of his own. Hammond hit on a driving floater to the basket, followed by another field goal from Jesse Boone.
Cayden Daily hit a 3-pointer for Sharon Springs, followed by another 3-pointer from his teammate Nate Klinge. The Wildcats had edged their lead to 53-46 with just over one minute left in the quarter.
Then Hammond took over.
He had two driving baskets to end the third, bringing the Lancers to within four.
He hit two more driving baskets to start the fourth, tying the game at 54-all.
Then things started go south. The quick whistles from the referees had already put the Crest players in foul trouble from the start. Boone was the first victim, fouling out with mroe than six minutes to play in the game.
Morton hit a long 3-pointer for the Lancers to make the score 58-57 Wildcats.
Kuhlman, who was red-hot throughout th contest from 3-point range, hit from outside. Hammond then drove to the basket and was called for an offensive foul, to the dismay of the Crest fans.
He walked off of the court, having fouled out at the 3:53 mark, as the Lancer fans howled in protest.
Morton was the last Lancer to feel the sting of fouls in the contest; he was called for a technical foul with just under three minutes to play in the game, after being whistled for a blocking foul. Kuhlman hit the first two foul shots for the Wildcats, and Daily went 1 for 2.
The score was 66-57 Wildcats with 2:23 left on the clock.
Hunter Frazell drained a 3-pointer for the Lancers to pull them within four. Morton attempted a steal at midcourt and was called for a foul.
