Eagles dominate Sayre in 2A regional opener

Last year, Hennessey knocked off a highly-ranked Alva team in the opening round of the regional tournament.

This year, the Eagles are that highly-ranked team with big expectations.

They, however, didn’t fall prey to the early upset.

Sayre never could quite figure out the Hennessey zone defense and eventually found itself on the wrong end of a 51-26 loss on Thursday at the Eagle Event Center.

The victory pushes fourth-ranked Hennessey into a Class 2A regional fi- nal Saturday night against Fairview in Hinton.

Fairview upset No. 10 Hobart 62-51 on Thursday. The Yellowjackets have won six of their last seven games.

The loss? It was a 59-35 setback to Three Rivers Conference foe Hennessey on Feb. 9.

“They’re really tough,” said Hennessey coach Brady Page of Fairview. “We played really well against them the last time and got on them early. Some teams have trouble scoring against our zone and they did that night.”

Count Sayre among that group as well.

James Sims helped the Eagles get out to a 16-7 lead in the first quarter, then Hennessey’s defense limited Sayre to two field goals over the next two frames.

That included none in the third quarter.

Hennessey extended its lead to 22 points during that stretch.

Sims was a big factor in the first-half attack as he scored eight in the first quarter and buried two treys in the second.

He finished with a gamehigh 17.

Jael Torres added nine points while Layton Choate and Ethan Munroe scored six apiece.

Hennessey goes into the regional final with a 21-3 record. The Eagles have won 10 straight games.

The Hennessey girls, meanwhile, saw their season come to a close.

They were defeated 3723 by Sayre in a consolation quarterfinal game.

Hennessey finished the season with a 7-17 record.