The first game of the 202526 season is in the books for the Hay Springs Hawks Boys Basketball team and the new era of Head Coach Beau Hanks has officially begun.
The Hawks welcomed in the Arthur County Wolves for their first game on Saturday, December 6.
Things started out good for Hay Springs as they jumped out to a 25-21 halftime lead on Arthur County.
The Wolves would respond though, erasing the lead and taking one of their own, 39-37, heading into the fourth quarter.
The onslaught from the Wolves would continue into the final stanza as they stayed ahead for the win, 50-43.
Leading the Hawks in scoring was sophomore guard Hunter Thies who poured in 16 points. He also tallied 4 steals.
Freshman Arian Mata pulled down 11 rebounds and scored 8 points as well.
Sophomore Easton Mintken chipped in 6 points for the offense.
The Hawks struggled at the charity stripe, only making 4 of their 14 attempts at a 29% percentage.
This is only game one of what looks to be an exciting season for a young and talented group.
Coach Hanks will lead them into battle in his first season as the Hawks leader.
“This group of men has an unbelievable work ethic and a great ability to learn and implement things quickly and effectively,” said Coach Hanks.
“A winning attitude and culture can be achieved with this group,” he added.
Coach Hanks has been impressed at practice and is continuing to learn and build the program with the pieces in place.
So far, things have been going extremely well and only trend in the direction of getting better.
He highlights many pieces of that roster and what they can do to help put wins on the record but is overly impressed with the improvement as a unit.
“It’s hard to single out any name when you’ve watched the collective roster as a whole improve so much,” said Coach Hanks. “They are all hard working and contribute positively.”
The Hawks did play one more time this week on a road trip to Morrill. The results from that contest on Tuesday, December 9 were not available at the time of print.
Following the game against Morrill, the Hawks will turn their attention to a home matchup with Banner County on Saturday, December 13 before heading to Hemingford to face the Bobcats on Tuesday, December 16.
“My expectations are as big as the team wants to make them. There is no such things as boundaries on goals and dreams. I believe this group is capable of the most,” said Coach Hanks.