Vinson FT’s secure Yale title for HHS

Frontier’s offense slowed down.

Hennessey’s started to warm up.

Then the Eagles made more plays down the stretch to win their second tournament of the season.

Garett Vinson’s two free throws with 6.6 seconds left on Saturday sealed a 50-46 victory for Hennessey over Class A No. 4 Frontier in the finals of the Yale Tournament.

It’s the second time the Eagles have beaten Frontier in an invitational this season.

The first was in December, a 69-67 triumph over the Mustangs in the semifinals of their own Frontier Shootout.

This time around it appeared Frontier was poised to avenge the loss.

The Mustangs scored the game’s first eight points and led by as many as 10 points twice in the game.

“We just kept battling back and then battled at the end,” said coach Brady Page as his team improved to 14-2 and won their seventh straight game.

Frontier scored 20 points in the first quarter and had doubled Hennessey’s production.

The Eagles picked it up some offensively, but still trailed by 10 at halftime.

The second half saw Hennessey shut down the Mustangs.

After surrendering 34 in the first two quarters, the Eagles only gave up 12 in the second half.

A 12-4 run in the third quarter got them back within two.

“They played slower against our zone and were more patient instead of attacking like they did in the first half,” Page said.

Hunter Weber hit two big second- half treys and Vinson another. James Sims delivered a pivotal three-point play.

Camdyn Richardson put Hennessey on top with a pair of free throws and the Eagles’ defense did the rest.

Leading by two, the Eagles got multiple stops in the final two minutes before Vinson was sent to the line to seal the win. He finished with seven points, all in the second half.

Richardson and Jael Torres led the team with 14 apiece.

The two helped keep Hennessey in the game during the first half.

Both scored 10 points, combining for all but four of the Eagles’ points in the half.

Sims ended the game with nine. Hennessey got into the finals with Friday’s 69-52 win over Salina. Down a point after a quarter, the Eagles outscored Salina 23-9 in the second.

Sims scored 19 in the victory, closing it out with seven points in the fourth.

Torres added 17, all in the first three quarters and Richardson scored nine of his 12 in the third quarter.

Lady Eagles finish 4th

Hennessey’s offense never fully got on track Saturday.

It cost the Lady Eagles the third place trophy as they fell to Salina, 58-30.

The loss came a day after Hennessey was knocked off 46-33 by Frontier in the semifinals.

Against Salina, the Lady Eagles managed just nine first-half points.

The offense began to pick up in the second half, but not enough to close what was a 16-point halftime deficit.

Hannah Swart scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter to lead Hennessey.

Emma Copeland added six while Jocleyn Roman scored five.

Salina had three players score in double figures, led by Lilee Sanders’ 15 points.