With basketball teams in Kansas able to play up to 23 games beginning this season, Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson knew the Wildcats’ schedule was going to have a different look to it this season.
 
Boy did it. Instead of easing into the season as they have in recent years where their first games didn’t come until the second week of the season, the Wildcats have jumped right into things.
 
Two weeks in, Hayden has already played in two tournaments. The Wildcats opened the 2025-26 season at the Hoops and Halos Showcase hosted by St. Mary’s Colgan in Pittsburg and last week made its annual trek to the Paul Terry Classic in Emporia.
 
For a team having to replace four starters off last year’s 23-3 team that finished third in Class 4A, such an early slate might have been a daunting ask. But Hayden was more than up to the challenge, capturing the championship at both tournaments to start the season 6-0.
 
“We were excited to do it, but it’s scary as a coach to play so many early because we have so much we have to improve on and we haven’t had the practice time that many teams have had,” Reynoldson said. “But it’s been good for us.”
 
Not only was Hayden going to have a much different look in terms of personnel this season, but also in style. Among the graduation losses from last year’s team were six-footers Amelia Ramsey and Brylee Meier, who were a formidable combination.
 
Not only could that duo wreak havoc in the paint – Ramsey finishing just shy of averaging a double-double at 14.5 points and 9 rebounds per game and Meier adding 13.3 points and 6 boards a game – they were also athletic enough to stretch the floor, putting constant pressure on opposing defenses. In a halfcourt setting, Hayden’s offense was tough to stop  a year ago with Hailey Schmidtlein adding another lengthy scoring option as an impact freshman and senior starters Norma Greco and Bella Reid also capable of big scoring nights.
 
“We were definitely an execution offense last year,” Reynoldson said. “This year, we’re a totally different team. You wouldn’t recognize us if you looked at last year’s film. We’re more athletic, faster and we don’t have the size that we had last year. Sometimes offensively it doesn’t look great, but when we play hard we put band-aids on that when we go into offensive slumps.
 
“We had mis-match problems for other teams last year and the prettier the game looked, the better we were doing. This year, it’s almost kind of the opposite. We want to muddy up the games a bit and that seems like where we thrive.”
 
Hayden’s new-look lineup was put to the test right away as the Wildcats opened the season against Colgan, a program that’s been on the of the best in Class 2A of the past half-decade and has lost just five regular season games over the past five seasons.
 
Hayden got out to a quick 12-2 start against the Panthers, but saw the tourney hosts battle back and lead by eight with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats buckled down in the final period and pulled out a 54-51 win.
 
That was the only test of that tournament as Hayden cruised past Ozark Catholic Academy (Mo.) 65-17 and St. Michael the Archangel (Mo.) 65-34.
 
Last week in Emporia, all three opponents Hayden faced were Class 5A programs. The Wildcat defense was on point at the tourney, holding Basehor-Linwood, Spring Hill and Emporia to 37 points or less in winning the tournament for the third straight year. Hayden’s closest game was a 38-28 win over Spring Hill and the Wildcats cruised to lopsided wins over Basehor (61-37) and Emporia (52-20).
 
“I like that tournament a lot, extremely well run and good competition,” Reynoldson said. “Overall, I would say we played good, but we had a lot of stretches we need to mature a bit and get out of, whether it’s not moving well on offense or getting to traps. It will be good to be practicing again to tighten up some things.”
 
While Schmidtlein was the lone returning starter for the Wildcats off last year’s team, Reynoldson couldn’t have asked for a better player to build this year’s team around. The 5-foot-11 sophomore has led Hayden in scoring in each of the first six games, averaging 18.8 points per game.
 
Schmidtlein scored 23 of Hayden’s 38 points in the win over Spring Hill and also 21-point games against Ozark and St. Michael and a 20-point game against Basehor.
 
“Hailey’s a great piece to build around because she’s got height, tremendous athleticism and handles the ball well and is a great teammate,” Reynoldson said. “Everybody looks up to her even though she’s just a sophomore. That’s the start. And we’ve had four seniors that have been playing since freshmen and kept getting better and better. They know what we’re trying to do and are good leaders. And then we’ve got a couple juniors and then a really talented sophomore class.
 
“We just have a lot of athletes that like to compete and that’s the best quality to have. It’s just been a really fun team to coach.”
 
Seniors Kadence Watts, Ella Foster and Reese Huscher have stepped into starting roles this season while fellow senior Lauren Borjon comes off the bench. Sophomore Blakely Walter has provided some scoring punch as well, going for 18 against Basehor and 15 against St. Michael.
 
Hayden will make an appearance in a third tournament this week, albeit a brief one. The Wildcats are filling in for one game at the inaugural Rock Creek Invitational, playing on the tourney’s second night against the loser of a quarterfinal game between Silver Lake and Hesston.
 
Each of those programs have been powers of late in Class 3A with Silver Lake beating Hesston for the 3A state title in 2024 after topping Hayden in the semifinals. Last year, the Eagles were 3A runner-up and Hesston finished third, suffering just one loss on the season.
 
“They’ve been really, really good,” Reynoldson said. “Whoever we get matched up with, it will be a tough test for sure.”
 
 

 
OTHER GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Osage City claimed the title at the Ike Cearfoss Tournament at Central Heights, going 3-0 in dominating fashion with wins over Iola (54-24), Heritage Christian (80-29) and Lebo (61-31), the win over the Wolves avenging a loss in last year’s title game that was the Indians’ lone regular-season loss a year ago. Emory Speece averaged 23 points and 3 steals per game at the tourney, while Kaelyn Boss added 13 points and 3 steals a game and Jayla Jenkins had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals per game in the three tourney wins.
• Chapman took the title at its home tournament for the first time since 2019, winning two of its three tournament games in overtime. The Irish topped Sacred Heart 56-52 in OT behind 20 points and 9 rebounds from Jai Rogers and 8 assists from Avery Baer. Rogers and Adelynn Kirkpatrick each had 14 points in a 54-7 win over Bishop Ward and then Chapman edged Rossville 75-68 in OT for the title, rallying from down 12 at the start of the fourth quarter. Kirkpatrick had 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and added 15 rebounds, while Rogers also scored 25 and added 9 rebounds and 4 assists and Baer had 11 assists. Rogers was named tournament MVP and Kirkpatrick and Baer were all-tourney picks.

 

• Marais des Cygnes Valley won the title at the Valley Tip-Off Tournament, going 3-0. In a 69-4 win over Altoona-Midway, Gracen Stahl (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Colbie Cormode (13 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles and in an 87-19 win over Southern Coffey County, Mady Rose hit 5 of 6 3-pointers for 21 points. In a 44-24 win over Hartford, Emily 13 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
• Wabaunsee captured the title at its home tournament, going 3-0 with wins over Northern Heights (67-18), Frankfort (42-26) and Manhattan CHIEF (59-27) to improve to 4-0. Grace Zeller averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5.5 steals in the three tournament games.
• Little River rolled to the tournament title at the Goessel Bluebird Classic, capping the title run with a dominating 58-29 win over Linn in the championship game in a battle of the runners-up at last year’s Class 1A state tournaments. The Redskins won their three tournament games by an average of 45 points per game.
• Hiawatha is off to a 5-0 start led by junior guard Kylie Nelson, who is averaging 20.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4 steals per game. The Red Hawks have shown a knack for pulling out close games, taking a 40-38 win over Troy, a 58-51 win over Horton and a 54-50 win over Maur Hill.
• Burlington is 4-0 with double-digit victories in all four wins, the closest victory a 63-50 win over Baldwin. Mac Medlock had a big opening week, averaging 23 points per game in wins over Anderson County, Neodesha and Holton with a high of 28 against Anderson County.
• Rylee Dick had a huge tournament at the Chapman Invitational in leading Rossville to a runner-up finish to Chapman, falling 75-68 in OT to the Irish. Dick had scoring games of 36, 19 and 47 points to average 34 points per game. Nora Burdiek had a triple-double against Sacred Heart with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and added a double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds against Bishop Ward. Dick, Burdiek and Bristol Miller were all-tourney selections.

 

• Wamego’s Lexi Hecht hit 1,000 points in leading Wamego to the title at the Wichita Trinity Tournament, topping the milestone with a 21-point outing in a 56-27 win over Cimarron that capped a 3-0 tourney showing. Hecht was named the tourney MVP while Mia Meyer and Kendall Mayer were all-tourney picks as well. Hecht averaged 21 points per game at the tourney and Mayer averaged 12.3 points per game.
• Washburn Rural finished runner-up at the De Soto Hardwood Classic, dropping a tough 47-46 decision to Liberty (Mo.) in the championship game. Brynn Anderson scored 22 points in the loss and finished the tourney averaging 15.3 points per game.
• Manhattan’s Jelena Depusoir had a pair of double-doubles last week for the Indians, getting 17 points and 15 rebounds against Salina Central and 10 points and 11 rebounds against Dodge City. The Indians took second at the Hays Shootout, falling 61-53 to host Hays in the championship game.
• Aubrey Lang broke Burlingame’s school record for assists in a single game with 10 in a victory over Seabury Academy, helping the Bearcats to a 3-1 start. Harper Seele is averaging 21 points and 8 rebounds per game after missing last season with an ACL injury and had 30 points against Seabury and 25 points and 14 rebounds against Waverly.
• Hartford’s Lauryn Finnerty averaged 38 points at the Valley Tip-Off Tournament, including an outing of 45 points, 14 steals and 7 rebounds against Altoona-Midway in a 64-15 win. The Jaguars took second at the tourney to Marais des Cygnes Valley.
• Rural Vista placed third at the Herington Tournament as Kaimey Evans averaged 17.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game and Lilliana Stilwell added 15 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals at the tourney.
• Goessel’s Bello O’Neill is off to a strong start to her freshman season, scoring 16 against Canton-Galva and 18 against Elyria Christian last week.