After suffering a winless season a year ago, the girls basketball team chalked one up in the win column after defeating Colby, 44-40, in the consolation round of the Hays City Shootout on Dec. 5.

The Indians, however, didn’t fare as well in the two other games of the tournament, losing to DeSoto, 37-30, in the opening round and then to TMP on the final day of the tournament, 53-27.

Against DeSoto, the Indians built a 22-11 halftime lead and it appeared they were on their win of the season. In the third quarter, DeSoto went on an 11-6 run to pull with six, 28-22, heading into the final quarter. That’s when the wheels fell off for the Indians as they were outscored by an 11-2 margin enroute to the 37-30 loss.

Leading scorer for the Indians was Audra Schmeidler with nine, followed by Summer smith with six. Talyn Kleweno and Mattie Schlaefli both has four, while Haley George, Emily Peckham added two points apiece.

Against Colby, Hays built a 23-14 halftime lead and increased it to 33-19 at the end of the third quarter. A 21-10 run in the final period by Colby made things interesting, but Hays was able to hold on for the four-point win.

Schlaefli was the lone Indians in double figures with 13. Schmeidler and Ashlyn Parish contributed eight and seven points, followed by George with six. Rounding out the scoring were Smith and Kleweno with three each and Maddie Keller and Peckham with two.

In the final game, Hays caught a cold from field, shooting only 17 percent from two-point range. The Lady Monarchs took advantage and jumped out to a 23-13 halftime advantage before going on a 30-14 run in the final two quarters enroute to the easy win.

Schlaefli and Kleweno had eight and six points, respectively, followed by Keller with four. Scoring two points each were Keller, Schmeidler, Smith, Brooke Russell, and Nicole Dinkel. Parish chipped in one point.