1971

1971-72 Return to Year-by-Year HOME Update: 8/6/2018

STATE CHAMPIONS 5A: Wichita East 4A: McPherson 3A: Chapman 2A: Atwood 1A: McCracken

Hayden's 1971-72 team was led by Pat Weissbeck (ALL CLASS All-State: Topeka Capital-Journal) and Marion Carver. Early season losses seemed to discourage fan confidence that this team would advance farther than the 1970-71 team in the State tournament. However; the team came together and gained a share of the Centennial League title. Hayden bombed out all Sub-State opponents, including a very good Atchison team, at Hayden's home court.

Fan interest caused huge crowds at Emporia's White auditorium and Hayden responded with two wins. Goddard and Phillipsburg put up good resistance but Hayden managed to stay in control throughout both contests. This seemed to be the pattern for the championship game. Hayden never could build a large lead and Chapman was a well coached team that had some outstanding shooters. Calvin Schrader, their top player, had finally recovered from regular season injuries and was key in wins over #1 Parsons and Thomas More Prep.

Hayden had possession with 13 seconds left and the score tied. A pass was intercepted and our player was forced to foul to prevent an easy lay-up. The Chapman player hit the free throws giving them a two point lead. A last second shot launched from the corner by Weissbeck almost connected to force an overtime. There can always be second guessing in disappointing losses like the Chapman game. Coach decided to play a deliberate game in the final - Chapman had scored over 80 points against Thomas More Prep. Hayden, except for Marion Carver, had a terrible shooting night and sometimes the deliberate game seems to prolong a team's shooting woes. Hayden ran a delay game with 2:10 left in the game and should have had the last shot.

*The intercepted pass was simply a case of our guy losing track of a Chapman defender. The Chapman player had slipped behind the player with the ball. Our player never saw the defender until the ball left his hands. The Chapman player had alertly stepped up to intercept the pass and had a free line to the Chapman goal. The referee actually was caught out of position and appeared to slow down the Chapman player's drive to the basket. Rick Flynn was able to catch up and appears to have blocked the shot - but Tegan Swoboda was trailing the play and also made a desperate attempt to block the shot. Under the circumstances, no one could be blamed for fouling the Chapman player. Later analysis of the film shows that Tegan and Rick both raised their hand to acknowledge the foul. Unfortunately for Hayden, Chapman hit 15 of 17 free throws including the last two to win the game.

Hayden fans had assured a very profitable tournament for the KSHSAA by turning out in large numbers, filling out the entire lower east side and much of the balcony for the championship game. A spectator was quoted in the 3/11/72 TDC as saying "They must all be here (616 students)... and everybody else that's ever gone to school there." Coach Bueltel was very upset that our fans did not receive the Sportsmanship Award. He also did not appreciate the interruption of our school song by the tournament official announcing the awards.

So, Hayden finished second, which was the highest finish ever in a State Tournament. Coach Bueltel would become known as "the greatest high school coach to never win a State title." Hayden fans would stick by their players and their coach - SEE 1972-73 and "Ken Bueltel Day".

	1971-1972		18	7


	Centennial		7	3	COACH: Ken Bueltel



12/3/71	Atchison	W	59	49	Centennial	Atchison
12/4/71	Salina South	W	57	53		Bueltel A.C.
12/10/71	Seaman	W	61	47	Centennial	Bueltel A.C.
12/11/71	Topeka West	W *	50	48		Topeka West
12/17/71	Highland Park	W	64	44	Centennial	Highland Park
12/18/71	SM-Miege	L	50	58		SM-Miege
1/7/72	Washburn Rural	L *	33	38	Centennial	Bueltel A.C.
1/14/72	Leavenworth	L	58	73	Centennial	Leavenworth
1/15/72	Shawnee Heights	W	66	65		Shawnee Heights
1/19/72	Lawrence	L	45	52	Topeka Invitational	Municipal Auditorium
1/21/72	Highland Park	L	43	53	Topeka Invitational	Municipal Auditorium
1/22/72	Topeka High	W	48	45	Topeka Invitational	Municipal Auditorium
1/28/72	Atchison	W	67	57	Centennial	Bueltel A.C.
2/4/72	Seaman	W	92	65	Centennial	Seaman (Bueltel A.C.)
2/11/72	Highland Park	W	46	43	Centennial	Bueltel A.C.
2/12/72	Topeka High	W	76	66		Bueltel A.C.
2/18/72	Washburn Rural	W	62	54	Centennial	Washburn Rural
2/19/72	Topeka West	W	59	52		Bueltel A.C.
2/25/72	Leavenworth	L	59	61	Centennial	Leavenworth
3/1/72	Effingham	W	94	63	CLASS 3A SUB-STATE	Bueltel A.C.
3/2/72	Shawnee Heights	W	70	56	CLASS 3A SUB-STATE	Bueltel A.C.
3/3/72	Atchison	W	61	39	CLASS 3A SUB-STATE	Bueltel A.C.
3/9/72	Goddard	W	41	37	CLASS 3A STATE	Emporia-Civic Auditorium
3/10/72	Phillipsburg	W	56	46	CLASS 3A STATE	Emporia-Civic Auditorium
3/11/72	Chapman	L	37	39	CLASS 3A STATE	Emporia-Civic Auditorium

			1454	1303

PLAYER	No	G	FG	FT	TP

Pat Weissbeck		25	162	102	426
Marion Carver		25	151	90	392
Mike Leiker		25	75	80	230
Rick Flynn		23	44	48	136
Tegan Swoboda		21	38	17	93
Leo Leiker		24	20	24	64
Craig Bond		22	14	16	44
Roger Howard		19	9	15	33
Rick Weissbeck		14	7	2	16
Rick Gardner		8	5	1	11
Steve Schmidt		4	0	3	3
Mike Custenborder		2	0	2	2
Max Beier		2	1	0	2
Larry Russell		1	1	0	2
Mark Laird		1	0	0	0

					1454

* I was able to see a copy of the game film to verify what happened in the last 13 seconds. Funny how my memory of this play could be so far off from what really happened. I thought the ball was thrown to a spot where our player had just vacated. I also thought the Chapman player had driven too far under the basket to hit the lay-up and it would have been better to not foul him. Tegan and Rick have the distinction of playing in one of the most disappointing (Chapman 1972) and exhilarating (Leavenworth 1973) games ever played by a Hayden basketball team.

February 25, 1972 Leavenworth game box score from LVT