McKay scores 25 in Leyton boys' win

The Leyton High boys’ basketball team shook off some holiday rust in the second half to overcome the Haxtun (Colo.) Fightin’ Bulldogs 65-48 on the road Tuesday night.

The Warriors (3-4, 3-0) trailed 11-6 after one quarter and 39-22 at the half before dominating the second 16 minutes. Cody McKay led all scorers with 25 points while James Rushman and Kenny Ernest were each good for 11. Lance Chapdelaine and Kaleb Anderson topped the Bulldogs’ list with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

“In the first half, it was like we were playing in sand,” said Warriors’ head coach Gary Oltmann. “I guess it was like a tale of two halves because we were a much better team in the second.”

Rushman helped ignite the second-half Warriors’ offense by nailing three treys. McKay, who spent much of the night working the inside, went 15-for-19 from the foul line. As a team, Leyton sank 27 of 37 free throws. Haxtun was just 6 of 11 from the stripe. Ernest did much of his damage in the second half as well.

“We talked at halftime about getting the ball inside, and we were pretty successful with that,” Oltmann said. “Cody was drawing fouls and making his free throws.”