By KEVIN THOMPSON

Special to The Hays Daily News

GARDEN CITY -- It was a tale of two halves.

Lucky for Hays High School, the Indians won the second half.

The Indian boys' basketball team came out strong after being tied at intermission Friday to post a 52-40 victory over Garden City in Western Athletic Conference action.

Hays High held the Buffaloes (6-7 overall, 1-3 WAC) to just one basket in the third quarter while going on a 22-8 run to put the game away.

The Indians (11-4, 3-0) picked it up on both ends of the court in the second half after a guarded 3-pointer by Garden City's Jake Curran at the first-half buzzer tied the score at 20-all at intermission.

"It was a battle the first half. It was a real dogfight," Hays High coach Rick Keltner said. "We missed layups we should make, and I give Garden credit for that. We also missed too many free throws."

Hays High was 6-of-12 at the line in the first half and missed 12 free shots for the game.

Tied at 25 at 5:48 left in the third quarter, Hays High went on a 13-2 run before junior Cody Bernbeck hit Garden City's only basket of the quarter at the two-minute mark. When the buzzer sounded, Hays was up 42-28.

The Buffaloes tried to come back in the fourth quarter. But Hays High met every rally Garden City could throw at them, answering basket for basket.

The Indians' height inside proved too much, though, as they were able to thwart the Buffaloes' low-post game, and turnovers cost Garden City down the stretch. A stripped ball while driving for a layup was the last straw at 1:49 as Hays was able to run out the clock for the win.

For Hays High, it was a tale of two halves, and Keltner said his team's defensive effort was the difference.

"I'm really proud of the defensive effort the second half. A 17-3 run is something to be proud of," he said. It means five guys on the court are doing what they're supposed to with some passion and some execution."

The Buffaloes started the game on fire, hitting eight of their first 12 shots. The second half, however, they were just 5-for-17 from the field and committed 19 turnovers for the game.

Garden City, which had no one score in double figures, was led by Patrick Garcia with seven points.

All 10 Hays High players who got into the game scored, led by seniors Dexter Pfeifer with 11 points and Dan Moritz with 10.

"We shot a really good percentage," Keltner said of his team's 20-of-38 (53 percent) for the game. "Tonight we were strong with the ball. The first half they had us on our heels; we were backing away. They played great defense. The second half we did a better job of going at them. It was really a team win."

The Indians outrebounded Garden City 25-16, with 14 of those on the offensive end. Moritz and senior Jordan Niernberger led Hays High in rebounding with four each.

"Our body language was great tonight," Keltner said. "Those kids play with passion, and tonight we had a bit of a swagger that we haven't had for a couple of weeks."