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Hayden boys win vs. Vail Christian, 80-70

Girls basketball loses against Little Snake River team, 57-28

Luke Graham

Hayden’s Jorge Valdez saved the biggest game of his career for a night when the Tigers clearly weren’t their best.

The sophomore poured in 31 points and grabbed 21 rebounds Tuesday at Vail Christian, helping Hayden to an 80-70 win.

“He had a man-sized game,” Hayden coach Mike Luppes said.



The Tigers weren’t as sharp as they could be Tuesday, but they used a 60-17 rebound advantage to pull out the win.

The Tigers trailed the Saints, 21-16, after one quarter, but tied it at 35 at the half. Hayden took a 59-50 lead going into the fourth quarter, and despite a late Vail Christian run, they held on for the win.



The game was so close because of Hayden turnovers.

The Tigers had 28 in the game, compared with four for the Saints.

In addition to Valdez’s big game, Ben Williams had 13 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists. Mark Doolin had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Graig Medvesk chipped in 12 points.

Hayden, now 5-1, resumes play at 8:30 p.m. Friday at home against West Grand.

Hayden girls fall, 57-28

The Hayden High School girls basketball team got a reality check Tuesday night against Little Snake River in Wyoming.

The Rattlers, who have as strong a basketball tradition as there is in the region, had a huge second half, running away with a 57-28 win.

It was a wake-up call for the Tigers, a team with big goals that now stands at 10-2.

“We couldn’t even come close to matching their intensity,” Hayden coach Eric Hamilton said. “They out-rebounded us, out-hustled us and out-played us in every aspect of the game.”

Hayden played right with Little Snake River for one quarter, trailing just 15-13 after eight minutes. But the Rattlers extended their lead to 27-19 at the half and outscored the Tigers 30-9 in the second half to get the win.

“We’re going to try and make it into something positive,” Hamilton said. “Not that we can think of that now. We have to come to practice (today) and get after it and work hard. We have to find a different level of intensity. Snake River is a very good team, and we’ll see teams like that down the road.”

Hayden resumes play at 7 p.m. Friday at home against West Grand. The game will be part of the nationwide Coaches vs. Cancer campaign, with the Tigers wearing pink uniforms and most of the proceeds from the game going toward cancer research.


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