For the second year in a row, the Hay Springs boys had their season end with a lopsided loss to Wynot in the D2 district finals on a neutral court at Ainsworth – this time 74-34, an improvement from last year’s 79-27.
The Hawks never led and they tied the game just once at 2-2. They trailed only 7-3 after the first 3-minutes of the game, but Wynot then pulled away to lead 25-9 after a quarter, 40-17 at the half, and 58-28 going into the 4th quarter
There was a running clock off-and-on during the final period as the margin bounced back-and-forth over-and-under 35 points.
      All 5 Hay Springs starters scored along with 3 reserves, but no one reached double-digits. Dylan Young led the Hawks with 8 while Gage Mintken, who averaged 20 points a game this season and scored 16 against Wynot last year, was held to just 3.
Both Hay Springs and Wynot are now 17-7, but for the Hawks it’s the final record for the season while Wynot heads on to next week’s state tournament in Lincoln.
Three other teams in the region also played in the boys district finals last night, but Scottsbluff was the only one to advance to state as they beat Seward 49-46 in B-3.
. The Bearcats took the lead for good with 90-seconds to play and went 5-6 from the foul line in the last 21-seconds to ice it. Seward hit a 3 at the buzzer to close the gap.
The other games of regional interest saw Hyannis fall to Humphrey St Francis 76-34 in D2-7 and Gering lose to Omaha Roncalli 68-48 in B-6.