Tigers ousted by Hawks

 

PARKERSBURG- The power of revenge.

South Hamilton played with the ‘Eye of the Tiger’ and took down the South Hardin boys’ basketball team, 54-39 in a Class 2A, District 14 semi-final contest here Thursday.

The Hawks with a chip on their shoulder after losing 62-60 on a buzzer-beater to the Tigers in the regular season, were sharper from the start in the rematch.

South Hamilton scored the game’s first five points and never trailed, stretching the lead to 20-9 after one quarter. South Hardin was within 10-7 on a Kael Carr three-pointer when the Hawks closed the first on a 10-2 spurt and never looked back. Eight of the 10 points came on two baskets each for Cade Balvanz and Quinton Grove.

“The biggest thing was the first game we didn’t play with an edge, we didn’t have a ton of defensive energy. We had to be aggressive and I felt we did that. We threw the first punch and then just kept winning,” said South Hamilton coach Matt Juber.

The second quarter was one of defense or lack of offense as the Tigers were limited to one free throw and were down deep 28-10 at halftime.

Like the first half were South Hamilton delivered the first punch, the Hawks jab first again in the third quarter with a quick six points, stretching the advantage to 34-10.

The Tigers bounced back with a 12-2 run early into the fourth to pull within 36-22, and outscored the Hawks, 29-26 in the second half, but the damage was done.

“Offensively we struggled to make our shots. They were physical and we didn’t do a good job of matching that. But hey, you can’t score one point in a quarter,” said South Hardin coach Nathan Gevelinger.

A Beau Butler basket at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter ended a 13-minute stretch where the Tigers scored just three-points on free throws and went without a field goal.

For the full story see Tuesday's (Feb. 25) edition of the paper.

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