Good shots won't fall for H-M-S

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn had the advantage in attempts and made baskets from the field, but South O'Brien was more efficient offensively and had a big advantage at the free throw line. Those factors led to the Hawk boys' 54-46 loss on Dec. 22 at Paullina.

H-M-S attempted 54 shots from the field compared to 32 by the Wolverines. But the Hawks only finished with two more made field goals, and only made 31.5 percent of their attempts compared to 46.9 percent by South O'Brien.

"Overall we played pretty well. I thought we played well enough to win," said Hawk coach Mark Petersen. "We got good looks and got good shots, but they weren't going in."

The teams traded leads throughout the first quarter, which ended with H-M-S on top, 9-8. South O'Brien came back late in the half to take the lead. The Wolverines' four-point advantage could have been larger if they had made the front end of their 1-and-1 opportunities at the foul line.

Kayl Jacobsma's three-pointer early in the third quarter gave the Hawks a brief lead, but they needed a three-point play and a basket by Lance Berends to stem South O'Brien's 11-0 run and keep the game close.

Consecutive three-pointers by Kooper Ebel knotted the score at 40-40, but a 7-0 run put the Wolverines in front to stay.

"I'm not going to fault my kids' effort. They really played hard," Petersen said. "I can't ask my kids to play any better than they did."

South O'Brien made their free throws in the final minutes after struggling to do so earlier in the game. They had 13 more made free throws than H-M-S and nearly 30 more attempts. The Hawks were whistled for 24 fouls while 11 were called on South O'Brien.

"The 37-10 discrepancy in free throws is concerning, but we have to overcome that," Petersen said.

Berends led H-M-S with 17 points. Ebel scored eight points, Ben Haack and Jacobsma scored seven and DJ Doyle scored four.

Berends finished with nine rebounds and two assists; Haack had five rebounds and two assists; and Ebel had four rebounds and four steals.

The bulk of South O'Brien's scoring came from Josh Johannsen and Jarome Jackson who scored 23 and 13 points, respectively.

The Hawks entered the break with an overall record of 3-4, but Petersen is looking forward to what they can accomplish in the 14 games that remain on the schedule.

"Offensively we have to fine tune some things. We have to shoot the ball better and rebound better," he said. "Defensively we're coming along."

H-M-S returns to action at home on Jan. 5 against Harris-Lake Park.