Twin killing

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn earned two boys' basketball wins on consecutive nights last week against Twin Lakes Conference teams.

Hosting Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Dec. 14, the Hawks needed their best offensive production of the season to claim an 80-65 win.

While the bulk of GT/RA's scoring came from sophomores Kory Hough and Max Hough with 27 points each, several players contributed to the Hawks' balanced offense. Scoring 14 points each were Ben Haack, Sam Heyn and Kayl Jacobsma. Kooper Ebel scored 12 points and Lance Berends added 11. Nearly in double figures was DJ Doyle with nine.

The Hawks had 20 assists on 29 made field goals, including seven by Ebel, four by Berends and three each by Mason Brinkman and Haack.

H-M-S jumped out to a 19-8 lead but GT/RA would not go away. They cut the gap to eight before H-M-S regrouped to build a 36-24 advantage at half time. The Titans pulled to within seven late in the third quarter before Brinkman answered with a three-pointer and Haack hit another to make the score 53-42.

"That was huge," Hawk coach Mark Petersen said. "That gave some momentum back our way."

GT/RA rallied again to within 68-58 with 3-1/2 minutes left, but consecutive three-pointers by Heyn and defensive stops down the stretch helped stave off the Titans.

"We knew going in that they are well-coached and play a very intense brand of basketball," Petersen said. "Our kids responded and didn't make some of the mistakes we made in the past."

Berends led H-M-S with 12 rebounds and two blocks; Haack had eight rebounds, three assists and two steals; Jacobsma had five rebounds; Ebel had four rebounds and three steals; and Heyn grabbed four rebounds.

• vs. West Bend-Mallard

A big lead and a strong finish propelled H-M-S to a 74-31 non-conference win at West Bend-Mallard on Dec. 15.

H-M-S led 18-6 after one quarter and 37-18 at half time. After increasing the lead by five points by the end of the third quarter, the Hawks finished the game on a 21-2 run to wrap up the win.

Scoring leaders were Berends with 22 points, Ebel with 13, Doyle with nine, Heyn with eight, Haack with seven, and Kayl Jacobsma and Keevyn Jacobsma with four each.

Berends had a big night on the boards with 13 rebounds, along with six assists and two steals. Doyle had eight rebounds and two assists; Haack had seven rebounds and two assists; Ebel had three rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Dawson Schiphoff added three steals.