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HAYFIELD – The Hayfield boys basketball team hit a rough stretch to close out the first half and they couldn’t get back in the game as they lost to Randolph 73-61 in Hayfield Monday night.

Hayfield (7-13 overall) pulled to within 20-14 in the first half when freshman Axel Meek, who had nine points, four rebounds and six steals, converted a score. However, the Rockets put together a 10-4 spurt and they gained even more momentum when Oren Alexander sank a buzzer-beating three before halftime to put Randolph (9-11 overall) up 38-26.

Hayfield trailed 49-29 early in the second half, but it was able to pull closer in the late minutes, as its young lineup battled.

“I was happy with how we competed for being a young team,” Hayfield head coach Chris Pack said. “We got down 20 and we never gave up. It’s a process with these guys, we had two freshmen and three sophomores on the floor for most of the first half. There are some growing pains, but at the same time, we’ve played 20 games and we’ve got to fix some of the mistakes.”

Sophomore Rylan Nelson scored 16 points for Hayfield and sophomore Drew Slaathaug had 11 points and three assists, while Randolph was led by senior Hunter Kriesel’s 26 points.

“They’ve got so many guys that can score,” Pack said. “(Kriesel) only averages 11 a game and he’s probably their third leading scorer. You have to pick your poison and he kind of beat us tonight. They’re a tough team to defend.”

Randolph 38  35  –  73

Hayfield 26  35  –  61

Hayfield scoring: Rylan Nelsen, 16; Drew Slaathaug, 11; Axel Meek, 9; Layne Nelson, 8; Christian Mealy, 8; Charlie Walker, 6